Roth Conversions:
At age 77, I have a large traditional IRA. My goal is to convert this sum to a Roth account. Would it be advisable to do annual Roth conversions within my tax bracket – or, following my husbands death, use a portion of his life insurance benefit to fund the entire conversion at that time.
Terry Says
Whew, I’m in the process of writing a long article on Roth Conversions. The first question is WHY are you even considering this at your age???
Who advised this? There are huge negative implications to doing a conversion at this point. First, it will raise your Medicare Part B and D premiums substantially.
Second, are you doing this to avoid RMDs? Why would you rather use up all your liquidity to pay taxes NOW, just to avoid paying them (or having your heirs pay them) later? Since the election, it appears there is no rush to avoid higher tax rates in the future!
Is someone trying to get you to invest with them — and using a Roth conversion as a pretext to change all your investments (and earn a lot of commissions along the way)???
I suggest you do the Roth Conversion analysis at www.MaximizeMySocialSecurity.com. And please wait until I finish my article, which should be posted on my website in the next two weeks, so I can give you a direct link for help.
