Roth IRA keeping old documents

[Lakewood90712]

I have been de-cluttering for a couple of mo. and came across old IRA account statements. I converted these to a Roth over 10 years ago.

IIRC once it's a Roth, basis / original contributions are irrelevant .

Any need to keep those old documents ( other than being amused by my trading activities back in the day.). IIRC once it's a Roth, basis is irrelevant .

 

[Sunset]

I keep tax stuff forever, it really only takes 1 file folder box for a couple of decades to a lifetime of proof.
I think there is no limit on how far back IRS can go if they decide you committed fraud with your Roth conversions/contributions.

 

[kaneohe]

Are you over 59.5? If so ,that and your oldest Roth account over 5 yr. old, make it a qualified acct. so all withdrawals are tax and penalty free. Might want to keep documentation showing when oldest Roth was established.

If you are under 59.5 and you make withdrawals, you may be asked to prove when the contributions/conversions were made and earnings when withdrawn will be taxed/penalized. You will need a record of all contributions/conversions and withdrawals/recharacterizations to fill out F8606 when making withdrawals.

Fairmark Forum :: Retirement Savings and Benefits :: Distributions from RIRA after TIRA transfer

 

[RunningBum]

I have been de-cluttering for a couple of mo. and came across old IRA account statements. I converted these to a Roth over 10 years ago.

IIRC once it's a Roth, basis / original contributions are irrelevant .

Any need to keep those old documents ( other than being amused by my trading activities back in the day.). IIRC once it's a Roth, basis is irrelevant .

I don't think the basis in the tIRA was ever relevant, was it?

As Kaneohe says, if you're under 59.5 it's important to keep track for conversions and contributions to the Roth. But you are talking about the tIRA before the conversions, and that's nothing to worry about, and never was, to my knowledge.

I save the yearly account statements from Vanguard, and of course the tax statements, but that's it. No trade records or quarterly statements. I'm under 59.5 so those yearly statements help prove when conversions were done, so what is eligible to withdraw from my Roth penalty and tax free. I'll probably keep them after that until I eventually move and do a major purge.

 

[kaneohe]

Well, there is this one small detail discussed here: Fairmark Forum :: Retirement Savings and Benefits :: Distributions from RIRA after TIRA transfer

If you have basis in TIRA , when you convert to Roth part of conversion is taxable (prorated vis F8606). That means part of each conversion is taxable and part is non-taxable. If you look at the table by kawill in the attached link, you will see that at some point (after all original contributions are withdrawn), then you start withdrawing conversion contributions (oldest first) and within each conversion, you start withdrawing the taxable part first. In order to determine the tax consequences in the younger ages, you need to know how much of each was made...........whether you consider that TIRA basis info you need or tax return info, you will need something.

You could also consider that part of the Roth info you should keep.....might be easier to keep it as a separate sheet w/ the relevant info.....conversion date, total amount, taxable amount of conversion, non-taxable amount. Whether you need to keep the original source info, you can determine.

And just to make things interesting.....there is basis in TIRAs (non-taxable contributions) and basis in Roth (original contributions, conversion contributions.....taxable and non-taxable parts).

 

[Senator]

I do not keep old account statements after 7 years or so. Tax documents used for tax filing I keep forever.