Greetings,

I have a client who is 76 years old. He doesn't need the forced distributions from his traditional IRA and his AGI will allow him to convert the IRA to a Roth. However, I'm wondering if he will need to wait 5 years after the initial conversion to access the money?

He will not need to wait five years to access his conversion money. If he withdraws the conversion money and gets into income, he will be taxed if five years have not elapsed. But the original, converted money is accessible without tax or penalty immediately.

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Barry Picker, CPA/PFS, CFP
New York, NY