AboutDavid M Iannopollo Expertise I am a professional financial advisor who can assist you with answers on mutual funds, annuities, IRA's, rollovers, qualified and non-qualified retirement plans, retirement planning, educational planning, life, disability and LTC insurances.
Experience I have over 20 years experience in the business and financial world.
Question I am 61 years old and my husband is 66 years old. We are not working now. When we take Minimum required distribution/or distribution from our IRA/401K/TSP accounts - can we convert them to ROTH IRA after paying taxes. I understood that to convert to ROTH, we have take the distribution and pay the taxes on the entire distribution, then can we put that amount into ROTH? -- Thanks
Answer Hi Rama,
Technically that is not a conversion because you would have taken it as a required minimum distribution. You would not be able to contribute it to a Roth because you would have no earned income to qualify for a Roth contribution. You could do conversions now and that would help you avoid the RMD's on any amount you converted. Depending on how much you have this may or may not make sense and you may in fact be better off leaving the funds in their present status. If it made sense to convert, you could do it over time to avoid a large tax bill in any given year. Keep in mind, conversions need to be held for 5 years before distribution or you face a penalty.
I would highly suggest you meet with a professional to figure out what your best avenue would be. I hope this helps. Good luck!
