Roth Conversions: Today’s Slott Report Mailbag

Thursday, March 06, 2025

By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF®
IRA Analyst

Question:

Hello,

If a person is turning 73 years old in March, s/he would be required to take required minimum distributions for the year. Can a person do Roth Conversion prior to turning age 73 (say in February)?  Does the first money out rule still apply?

Regards,

Ravi

Answer:

If you reach age 73 in 2025, then you have a required minimum distribution (RMD) for 2025, and the first money out of your IRA this year will be considered your RMD. If you convert prior to your 73rd birthday in March, you will still need to take your 2025 RMD prior to the conversion.

Question:

Is it possible to reverse part of the Roth conversion that I did from my traditional IRA?

Thanks

Answer:

No, it is not possible to undo a conversion. In the past, an unwanted conversion from a traditional IRA to a Roth could be recharacterized back to a traditional IRA. However, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act eliminated recharacterization of Roth IRA conversions back in 2018.

If you have technical questions you would like to have answered, be sure to submit them to [email protected], to be answered on an upcoming Slott Report Mailbag, published every Thursday.

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