Can Pension Beneficiary convert to Roth or IRA?

Submitted by Gary Tompkins on Thu, 2021-04-22 13:14

My wife and I are receiving a one-time monthly payment (50%/50%) of her aunt’s pension from the U of CA system. Since that is a ‘retirement’ based income, is it possible we can convert the payments to a Roth or IRA? Is it dependent on how the system rules are set up or is governed by the IRS? It’s not a lot of money be we don’t need the income. (We are retired and in mid sixties.) Thanks!



Submitted by Alan - IRA critic on Thu, 2021-04-22 15:23

As non spouse beneficiaries, if a check is made out to you personally, it cannot be rolled over. It also cannot be rolled over if this is either part of the year of death RMD or a beneficiary RMD. You would have to get this info from the plan. Otherwise, it could be directly rolled over to either an inherited IRA or inherited Roth IRA. This one time monthly payment is not typical, so any more info could be helpful.

Submitted by Gary Tompkins on Thu, 2021-04-22 22:27

OK, so I finally was able to reach and talk to the account institution and they are inidcating, and it IS an option on the forms I need to fill out, that I CAN roll this over to an IRA and presumably a ROTH. I guess time will tell, but that’s what I’m told.

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