Roth Conversions / Recharacterization Strategy

I’m in my mid fifties and planning to do Roth conversions as follows
* Do Roth Conversions annually to fill up the 15% bracket till I take Soc Sec at 70
* Multiple conversions would be done in Jan each year separated into multiple accounts by asset class
* Total conversion amount each Jan would exceed 15% bracket need substantially
* In November each year I’d keep the winner(s) and re characterize the rest back to the IRA
* In November if some accounts have risen in value by 10% in the year, then I’d convert into the 25% bracket.

I understand I can have much longer to recharacterize but I want to keep things a bit simpler

Does this plan sound reasonable? Any big holes?

Thanks,
Ray



  • No big holes, and your plan could increase your Roth balance the most possible per tax dollar due. You should still make thorough explanatory statements regarding each recharacterized conversion to reduce IRS inquires, but doing the recharacterizations in the conversion year will improve clarity by producing 1099R and 5498 forms for the current year. 
  • Account management is subjective, and you will have to be very organized with respect to. For example, will you recharacterize each conversion back to to a new TIRA account, or just to the source account of the conversion? You will have to be sure your custodian allows empty accounts to stay open for future use, and hopefully your custodian will tolerate all the activity this may generate.

Thanks for your feedback. I spoke with Vanguard about the plan and settting up the multiple accounts. They said that was okay.  

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