T. Rowe Price Personal Investor - Can You Save Money by Converting Assets to a Roth IRA? (2024)

FAQs

Can you save money by converting assets to a Roth IRA? ›

By converting to a Roth IRA, you'll have assets that won't be taxed when withdrawn, potentially allowing you to better manage your tax brackets and enable more personalized tax planning during retirement. You have irregular income streams and lower than usual income this year.

Since 2010, all investors have been allowed to convert assets from a Traditional individual retirement account (IRA) to a Roth IRA. Because conversions are not subject to income restrictions, people at any income level can take advantage of the Roth IRA's key benefit—tax-free qualified distributions.

When you convert to a Roth IRA, your taxable income for the year rises. A Roth IRA conversion may not make sense for you if you are in your peak earning years. Recall that when you convert money to a Roth IRA, your taxable income for that year increases, which could bump you into a higher tax bracket.

In retirement, it's not too late to convert your money into a Roth IRA. The IRS will let you convert qualified funds at any time, as long as you pay the associated taxes. It might, however, be too late to get real benefit from that decision.

In its simplest form, the decision in favor or against a Roth Conversion can be boiled down to one question: Are you paying a lower tax rate now than you will be in retirement? If yes, there's a good chance that conversions make sense. If not, a conversion likely does not make sense.

Even when you're close to retirement or already in retirement, opening this special retirement savings vehicle can still make sense under some circ*mstances. There is no age limit to open a Roth IRA, but there are income and contribution limits that investors should be aware of before funding one.

Stocks, bonds and mutual funds are all investments you may choose to hold in an IRA.

If you expect yourself to be in a higher income tax bracket in retirement, a Roth IRA conversion may make sense. It's an opportunity to be tax-efficient with your retirement funds by paying the tax when your tax bracket is lower. In many instances, it is difficult to influence your tax bracket.

The point of a Roth IRA is that it's already taxed money that grows tax-free. So, to convert your traditional IRA to a Roth IRA you'll have to pay ordinary income taxes on your traditional IRA contributions in the year of the conversion before they “count” as Roth IRA funds.

Why do financial advisors push Roth conversions? ›

The other incentive financial advisors have to promote Roth IRAs is that most of them make their money via Assets Under Management (AUM). This means that their fee is paid by a percentage of the investments they manage for you. The industry norm is 1%, and in many cases, higher.

You'll owe income tax on the entire amount that you convert from a traditional IRA into a Roth IRA in the year you make the switch. The amount of tax will depend on your income tax bracket and income tax rate—between 10% and 37%. 1 The money you convert is added to your gross income for the tax year.

However, there are no limits on conversions. A taxpayer with a pre-tax IRA can convert any amount of funds in a year to a Roth IRA. Roth IRAs also are exempt from required minimum distributions (RMDs). These mandatory withdrawals from retirement accounts begin at age 72 and can create a tax burden on affluent retirees.

This rule for Roth IRA distributions stipulates that five years must pass after the tax year of your first Roth IRA contribution before you can withdraw the earnings in the account tax-free. Keep in mind that the five-year clock begins ticking on Jan. 1 of the year you made your first contribution to the account.

You may convert just a portion of your assets, and there is no limit to the number of conversions. To help manage the taxes due on each conversion, you may convert smaller amounts over several years.

Typically, you wouldn't convert a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA if your plan is to retire soon and start making withdrawals. Usually, the goal is to allow the funds to grow and compound over time without any tax erosion.

Market Fluctuations

Given that the money in retirement accounts, including IRAs, is typically invested, the overall value of the account is subject to the whims of the market. That means that if the market experiences a downturn or correction, your Roth IRA balance is likely to decline as well.