- quote -

Oh John and all.... thanks for the reply

Im 46..... make 20k a year..... and have 40k in the rollover IRA

Im thinking it best to just leave the rollover IRA alone.... and start
a separate Roth IRA

In article <20040402212951.16845.00000595[at]mb-m28.aol.com> , PaulMaf
<paulmaf[at]aol.com> wrote:

- quote -

I think what the last post was referring to is that when the Roth
was first created, you could do a conversion, but spread the taxes
out over 4 years. That option is no longer available, as far as
I know.

-john-

--
================================================== ==================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708 john[at]johnweeks.com
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
================================================== ==================

If you're really interested in delving into this subject DEEPLY, I
recommend that you read "The Retirement Savings Time Bomb...and How to
Defuse It" by Ed Slott.

As another poster has stated, there are many factors to consider, and
this book goes into all of them.

I'm still wrestling with the same question -- only involving
substantially higher balances -- What it boils down to is either pay the
tax once now (convert to a Roth) or pay the tax later (don't convert)
every year that you dip into the IRA.



me6[at]privacy.net wrote:

- quote -

It depends on several things. If you will not be drawing out from
the IRA for a long time, it would probably pay off to convert.
You will have to pay taxes on the amount you convert to ROTH.
So you can convert enough to avoid going into the next higher tax
bracket to avoid higher tax rates. There is no reason that you could not
convert the Rollover IRA to a ROTH over many years. This would
keep the annual tax hit to a relative minimum. Be sure to have extra
money withheld or file estimated tax for the additional amount of tax
due. The drawback to spreading the conversion out over a long time is
that the gains during that time are not tax free.

<me6[at]privacy.net> wrote in message
news:30dr605u08vo3u85rudptpa4mfrhm35fcn[at]4ax.com...
- quote -

He is not talking about a rollover. He is talking about converting
an existing rollover IRA to a ROTH IRA.

Edj

"BMS" <mcfarland[at]yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:%Cmbc.167373$po.975182[at]attbi_s52...
- quote -

- quote -

Not true. You can convert any part or all of your regular IRA to a Roth at any
time unless your income exceeds the limit.

Even without consideration to a roth, you can roll over part or all of your
401K to an IRA. if your 401K account is substantial enough that so that you
leave at least $5,000 there.

Cannot partial roll it over. Either you do it or don't.

"Leigh Menconi" <lmenconi[at]earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:USibc.8697$yN6.7810[at]newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net...
- quote -

In article <30dr605u08vo3u85rudptpa4mfrhm35fcn[at]4ax.com> ,
<me6[at]privacy.net> wrote:

- quote -

Yes, you can convert an IRA to a Roth. You will have to pay taxes
on the IRA money when you do this conversion. That can bump you
into a higher tax bracket. Check with your tax accountant to see
what the impact would be on your taxes.

As far as being desirable, the jury is still out. Some folks say
to never pay any taxes to the government unless you cannot avoid it.
That indicates that you go with the IRA, and defer the taxes until
old age. Other folks say that the government has many years to
think about changing the Roth IRA rules, and tax you anyway later
on, so you shouldn't trust them. Still others say that the decision
should be based on the amount of taxes you would save doing it
one way or the other. This is hard to figure out since you have to
assume how much you are going to contribute, what rate of return you
are going to get, and when you pull the funds out. In general, it
makes sense for younger people, and doesn't make sense for older
folks.

- quote -

If you do separate accounts, you will have to pay two sets of
account fees. These range from $25 to $50 a year, which can be
a lot if your accounts are small.

-john-

--
================================================== ==================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708 john[at]johnweeks.com
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
================================================== ==================

<me6[at]privacy.net> wrote in message
news:30dr605u08vo3u85rudptpa4mfrhm35fcn[at]4ax.com...
- quote -

You have to pay taxes on the rollover, it will be added in with your gross
income. A few years ago there was an option to spread the rollover income
over four years but I think it expired so you have to pay it all in the year
it's rolled over. You could probably do a few thousand a year to lessen the
impact of the taxes due.

Leigh

me6[at]privacy.net writes:

- quote -

Yes, it is.

- quote -

It depends, and depends on lots of different things:
* your age
* your tax bracket
* what you expect your future income to be like
[just for starters]

--
Rich Carreiro rlcarr[at]animato.arlington.ma.us

I have abt 40k in a rollover IRA.

Is it possible to convert it to a Roth IRA..... and is
it even desirable to do that?

Or is it best to just start a separate Roth IRA and
keep this money in the rollover IRA?