Roth - Traditional - Roth Conversion???

[CorporateSoldier]

Looking for some help - I have had two Roth IRAs (one in my name, one in my wife's) for 5-6 years. A couple of years ago my income started exceeding the maximum for a Roth. I have read somewhere that there's a way to convert to a Roth from a traditional even if you exceed the income max for a Roth.

Do I have to convert to a traditional IRA?

Can I convert to a traditional and then back to a Roth? If so, how?

 

[kaneohe]

Not sure I really understand the question but if you are asking if you have to get rid of your existing Roths that were legitimate at the time.........you can keep them if you qualified for that yr. In yrs when your income is too high to contribute to a Roth,
you can contribute to a traditional (probably can't deduct contributions but check to be sure). Was that the correct question?

If you contribute to an IRA of any type and later (within time limits) decide
you need it to be the other type, you can recharacterize it.....ask your broker how to do it......they probably require you to fill out a form.

 

[travelover]

Google "Backdoor Roth". The caveat is that if you have pretax dollars in your IRAs, you have to do withdrawals or conversions pro rata, i.e. proportionally between pre and after tax across all IRAs.

How to Fund a Roth IRA Conversion Through the 'Back Door' - WSJ.com

 

[ronin]

You can get quite a bit of info here:

Guide to Roth IRA, 401k and 403b Retirement Accounts

Scroll down about half the page to the conversion section.

 

[soupcxan]

Some good info in this thread:

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/im-getting-too-much-cash-54578.html