I always mention one more advantage of Roth conversion - assuming you can pay the taxes from already taxed savings: If you have a TIRA of $1000, what is it actually worth? It's worth $1000 MINUS whatever taxes you will eventually pay. If you have a Roth of $1000 it's worth $1000 since you don't have to pay taxes on it. What if you could "magically" change your TIRA to a Roth? You would now have a MORE VALUABLE asset. The "magic" is to pay the taxes with already taxed savings. (So the magic is not free.) But once you have done so, your Roth has been upgraded in value by the amount you paid in taxes. That EXTRA value gets to grow in the Roth TAX FREE until you eventually cash it in. SO... By paying some taxes, you get a "larger" Roth than you used to have as a TIRA. If you don't follow this, read the book. I'm sure they explain it MUCH better than I have. YMMV