Roth rollovers: 403b vs 457 vs IRA?

eyeonFI

Recycles dryer sheets
Joined
Mar 21, 2005
Messages
105
I FIRE’d this year, so now I’m trying to guesstimate what my income will be for the year and plan a Roth conversion to get it where I want. All my IRA money is already in Roth accounts, so I will convert money from either my 457 (at Nationwide) or 403b (at TIAA-CREF). I think I have the following options:

1. Rollover from 457 to Roth 457
2. Rollover from 457 to Roth IRA
3. Rollover from 403b to Roth 403b
4. Rollover from 403b to Roth IRA.

I’m happy with my fund selection in both plans, so that is not a deciding factor. I read something (https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/retirement-plans-faqs-on-designated-roth-accounts#irr5) that seemed to indicate that in-plan rollovers cannot be recharacterized. Seeing as I’m a complete newbie to this, I think there’s a strong probability I will get it wrong enough that I want the option to recharacterize. So that would seem to argue against options 1 and 3.

Any thoughts on pros/cons to options 2 vs. 4? Or other reasons that 1 or 3 might be the way to go?

I’m 45, single (with 2 kids), and living off my after-tax savings for the foreseeable future (15+ years), if that makes any difference. I find my head spinning trying to guess what my capital gains will be, figure out my “optimal” income, and plan Roth rollovers accordingly…

Thanks!
 
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