Maybe you made a Roth IRA contribution for 2021, but your income was too high. Maybe you made a traditional IRA contribution without having any earned income. These are both examples of excess IRA contributions. The bad news is that excess IRA contributions happen can easily and often. The good news is that if you properly correct the contribution, you can avoid penalties.
This may seem like a rudimentary topic, but it is the basics that are often so confusing. A fundamental understanding of Roth IRA distributions is essential for Roth IRA owners. In a blog post from June 8 (“One Roth IRA Bucket”), I created a scenario where a person had five Roth IRAs, a couple of traditional IRAs, and was doing Roth conversions. The point of that exercise was to demonstrate how the IRS knows what dollars within all of a person’s Roth IRAs are contributions, what are conversions, and what are earnings.
Question:
Hi Mr Slott,
I read somewhere but couldn't remember where, if a person needs to withdraw an RMD but doesn't need the money, can he convert this RMD to a Roth IRA?
Thanks in advance
Questions on how age affects the decision to convert to a Roth IRA are common. What age is too old to convert? There is no easy answer to this question because there is no magic age when conversion makes the most sense or no longer makes sense at all. Conversion can be the right move at any age.
An advisor called to discuss Roth IRA conversions. His new client made some decisions before speaking with him, and he was trying to untangle her self-inflicted knot. She was 69 years old, a single tax filer, still employed, and had a $1 million traditional IRA. Based on advice from her brother (who is not a financial professional), she had already ripped through Roth conversions of $200,000 for both 2021 and 2022. The brother’s only consideration in making his recommendation was, “The market is down.”
Question:
When converting an IRA to a Roth IRA, do the investments (stocks, bonds, ETFs, etc.) have to be sold or can they be transferred directly from the IRA into the new Roth account?
Question:
My husband is the sole beneficiary of a Traditional IRA owned by his cousin, who recently passed away. From my research, I believe my husband fits the exception criteria of "eligible designated beneficiary" in that he is not more than 10 years younger than the deceased (he is 9 years younger…he is age 72 and the deceased was age 81). As such, from what I read, he does not have to empty the inherited IRA account within 10 years and can withdraw his RMDs using the stretch IRA method.
Question:
Can an RMD from an inherited IRA be taken out of you own traditional IRA?
Jack
You may have heard how converting to a Roth IRA is a great move for younger people. This is no surprise. A younger person who converts has two big factors working in her favor. She may pay taxes on a smaller IRA balance, and she has many years to accrue tax-free earnings in her Roth IRA. But what about older people? It is a mistake to write off conversion just due to age. Older individuals should not overlook the potential tax benefits of converting later in life.
SCENARIO: John owns multiple Roth IRAs. He believes it is necessary to maintain all these accounts to keep things properly organized and to track his 5-year conversion clocks. He has contributed to Roth IRA #1 for over a decade. He did a partial Roth conversion from a traditional IRA many years ago (to Roth IRA #2).
