Quote:
Originally Posted by jimandthom
I've thought about the same thing from time to time, but it often appears from reading here and elsewhere that Roth $$s are never ever to be spent. Never wanted to raise the consideration.
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I don't think that's the case at all. There's just a priority order in which you should tap accounts (for tax efficiency). As I noted above, it's different for different people. For me, I'm less likely to touch my highly appreciated taxable mutual funds, unless the stepped-up basis tax law changes.
Most of us are planning for at least a near worst case scenario. If that doesn't happen, we're going to leave money behind. But if things are bad, we will not hesitate to use all money, including Roth funds or whatever funds you plan to tap last. So it's not a matter of "never ever" tapping those funds, it's that those are the last resort funds, which may not be needed.
I think that's a big difference from declaring an account as off-limits and never ever to be spent.