Implications of combining Traditional IRA and Rollover IRA
Hi:
At age 67 and currently employed, while a potential financial planner was reviewing my finances, he stated that I should simplify my finances by combining my Rollover IRA account with my traditional IRA account in Fidelity. My Rollover IRA account has multiple employer traditional 401k rollovers(Traditional 401k to Rollover IRA account). My traditional IRA does not have any rollover dollars. Next year, I plan to execute Roth conversions over multiple years converting all Rollover IRA and Traditional IRA dollars to Roth IRA.
- What are the implications of combining the Traditional IRA account with the Rollover account? My understanding is that the rollover account allows me the following if I execute a rollover back to an employer plan (a) employer plan loan, (b) Delay 401k RMDs if keep working at employer (c) 401k dollars are protected from creditors and judgements in Wi. Any other implications? I do not expect that I will ever need a loan or need to delay RMD’s.
- Can I move the rollover IRA dollars to an employer 401k even though these dollars are from multiple employers? The only reason I’d do this is if I was getting sued for something(remote chance of this occurring).
- When I complete the Roth conversion from the Rollover IRA to Roth IRA, do I loose all advantages of separating the Rollover IRA so all advantages of having a separate Rollover IRA account are eliminated?
Permalink Submitted by Alan - IRA critic on Wed, 2024-12-18 15:13
If you combine the accounts, the remaining account will no longer be a rollover IRA. That does not mean that a 401k would not accept your IRA rollover, but some plans may not because it is no longer a rollover IRA. The advantages of moving your IRA into the 401k are as you indicated, and an additional one is doing back door Roth conversions if applicable for you.
WI IRA and Roth IRA creditor protections are good, basically as good as an ERISA plan, but you may not always live in WI. However, the majority of states provide equally good creditor protection, around 10 that do not. A couple provide less protection for Roth IRAs than for non Roth IRAs.
Since you will be converting your pre tax balance to Roth your situation does not warrant rolling your pre tax IRA balance to your 401k unless you plan to move to a state that has poor creditor protection for Roth IRAs. In that case, if your 401k has a Roth option and offers in plan Roth rollovers, you might roll your pre tax IRAs into that plan and convert in plan rather than to a Roth IRA. Otherwise, you might as well retain your IRAs and convert them as you wish. If you later end up in a state that does not protect Roth IRAs, you could reduce your bankruptcy exposure by purchasing a personal Umbrella with sufficient limits.
Q 2 – If a 401k plan accepts IRA rollovers, they don’t care how many former plan balances have been combined in your rollover IRA. But from what you indicated, there is no real benefit to rolling any pre tax balance to your 401k unless you plan to move to one of the few states that do not protect Roth IRAs.
Q3 – Yes, but only in those states that do not protect Roth IRAs. They are CA, Georgia, Maine, Miss, Neb, WV, and Wyoming.