Just making sure I have my breakdown of these rules correctly.

I am not talking about the 5-year distribution rule when the beneficiary is a non-designated beneficiary. I’m talking about the other two 5-year rules surrounding the taxation of Roth distributions.

The 5-year clock on Roth contributions – which starts ticking the day you open your first Roth ever – is solely about income tax. Benes could possibly owe income tax on an inherited Roth if they empty the account and it was less than five years since the decedent owner opened their first Roth.

The 5-year clock on Roth conversions – which applies a separate clock to each conversion – is solely about the 10% penalty, and would not apply to beneficiaries, as they already have the death exception to the penalty anyway.

In other words, the 5-year “blanket” clock on contributions *could* apply to Roth beneficiaries (e.g., a recent conversion *was* the first Roth ever), but the 5-year per-conversion clock *never* applies to beneficiaries.

Is that correct? Plz and thx.