About a 1.5 months ago, I rolled over my 401K into IRAs. There was an ‘after tax’ amount that I rolled over into a Roth IRA; converted it into a Roth IRA (with the intent of not withdrawing it for at least 5 years). A financial representative made me aware of this option and helped me with it. I reviewed Publication 590 (2008 Federal Tax publication) at length. Pages 65 and 67 – 69 provided details of the process and future tax considerations for withdrawals; special 5-year period, ordering rules, etc..

Because my income is currently very low, I would like to also convert part of an ‘old’ existing traditional IRA to a Roth IRA; I can do about 4K without having to pay any taxes (based on walking through a 1040 and considering my deductions, etc.). The financial representative told me that he thought a person could only do one Roth IRA conversion per year. And, he suggested that the conversion of pre-tax money from my 401K would be the one Roth IRA conversion I am allowed.

Is this correct? Or, can I also convert additional money from my traditional IRA to a Roth? Basically, can I do more than one Roth IRA conversion in a tax year? If I can do it, I would like to do it by 12/31/09 to initiate its 5 year period this year.

Thank you,
Kevin.