You’re Retired! How to Use Your Accounts: Should I Convert My IRA to a Roth? And Other Conversion Questions

You may be wondering, should I convert my IRA to a Roth? It’s hard to know when the time is right for a Roth conversion. So today we continue the discussion on how best to use your retirement accounts and plan your tax strategy. But first, in the Hot Topic session, you’ll learn how important vision is to planning your retirement. So many people are stuck in the prison of their mindset. Listen to this episode to hear more about how important tax strategy is, whether you should convert your IRA to a Roth, and how to break free from your institutionalized mindset and really rock your retirement.

Do you have a lack of vision about your retirement?

When many people make their retirement plans they are still institutionalized. We have been working our whole lives. That every day 9-5 stunts our creativity and many can’t really visualize what to do with all the time freedom that retirement entails. To simply stop working takes much more forethought than you think. This is why so many people change their retirement plans drastically after they retire. You are only limited by your creativity and your resources. Do you have the vision to dream big?

A Roth conversion can help you balance your tax equilibrium

At this point in your life, you have probably accumulated plenty of assets in tax-deferred IRA’s and 401K’s. You have set yourself up well for retirement, but you know there is a big tax liability looming ahead of you. At the age of 70 ½, you’ll have to take the required minimum distribution (RMD). If you have a lot saved in tax-deferred assets your tax liability could be significant. This is why proper tax planning could lessen your burden significantly. One possible solution to balance your tax load could be to do a Roth conversion.

Should I convert my IRA to a Roth?

If you have money in an IRA that you haven’t paid taxes on you can take all or part of that and convert it into a Roth IRA. The catch is, you have to pay taxes on the income the year that you do the conversion. Then the money can grow tax-free for the rest of your life and you won’t have to worry about the RMD. In effect, you are pre-paying your taxes. That is what a conversion is.

Taxes are at an all-time low and many believe they will only increase in the future. Some people choose to do a Roth conversion all at once but others choose to do a partial Roth conversion. By studying your modified adjusted gross income with an online income calculator you can choose the amount of money in your IRA that you want to convert that will not push you into the next highest tax bracket.

Careful tax strategy can be even more effective than an investment strategy

When deciding how to convert your savings into a Roth you need to consider your tax strategy. Do you want to be aggressive about converting the money into tax-free assets? Or do you want to do rolling Roth conversions and think about your tax burden year by year? Here are some things to consider when planning your tax strategy:

• How will your income change impact your ACA premiums?
• Use an online calculator to realize your effective federal income tax.
• How might your savings impact your social security?
• How will it affect your tax rate
• What is the time frame for your money, is it multi-generational wealth?

If you plan well you can save a significant amount in taxes. If you can convert and save 10% of a million dollars that’s $100,000! Talk about your tax strategy with your financial advisor to decide what the best choice is for you to start planning how you will begin filling your retirement income buckets

OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN HOT TOPIC SEGMENT

• [2:10] Do you have a lack of vision about your retirement?

PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT

• [9:15] A Roth conversion can help you balance your tax equilibrium
• [13:19] What are some strategies you can use?

THE HAPPY LAB SEGMENT

• [19:10] Treat yourself even if it is spontaneous

TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT

• [20:45] Start looking at potential Roth conversions the year after you retire

Resources Mentioned In This Episode

Rock Retirement Club

Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That

BOOK - Rock Retirement  by Roger Whitney

Work with Roger

Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

The Retirement Answer Man Facebook Page