IRA transfer to Roth IRA to Pay Student Loans
Can I transfer my IRA into a Roth IRA and use my Roth IRA contributions (what I transferred from my IRA) to pay off student loans without a penalty or waiting period on my Roth IRA?
Can I transfer my IRA into a Roth IRA and use my Roth IRA contributions (what I transferred from my IRA) to pay off student loans without a penalty or waiting period on my Roth IRA?
Permalink Submitted by Alan - IRA critic on Sat, 2016-01-30 01:14
No. You would owe taxes on the conversion and for the first 5 years you would owe a 10% penalty on distributions taken from the conversion amount. A student loan payment is not considered a qualified higher education expense. The penalty is waived when the higher education expense is paid by the loan money, not when the student loan is paid. Therefore, the distribution from an IRA must be timed correctly so it occurs when the qualified expense is actually paid. Note that if you just took a distribution from your TIRA and paid the loan the taxes and penalty would be the same as a conversion and withdrawal of the conversion unless you wait 5 years after the conversion.