Tax impact of Traditional to Roth IRA Rollover

[Guest akscott]

Here's a softball for you:

I'm a student, in the 10% income tax bracket. I have a traditional IRA valued at $200K, which I'd like to convert to a Roth.

At which rate will I pay tax on the conversion -- my present rate or the 33% marginal rate (as if I "earned" $200K + this year)?

Thanks for your help.

[dh003i]

akscott,

As a prelude, have a look at this series of articles on IRAs.

You're in a good situation. If you convert the entire Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, you will be taxed as if you're in the 33% tax bracket. Only considering the Federal Income Tax, you will pay

$35,717 + 0.33 * ($200,000 - $146,750) = $53,289.5

However, you may not want to convert all of it at once. You can avoid taxes by rolling over portions of it over several years. This would minimize your tax liability, as the rollovers would be taxed in smaller tax brackets (with smaller %).

Two things you may want to consider when rolling your money over to a Roth IRA, outside of taxes. (1) Roth IRA's may not enjoy the same creditor protection enjoyed by Traditional IRAs in all States. Check your State's laws on it. If you aren't insolvent, it shouldn't be a problem. (2) The State has the power to retroactively eliminate the advantage of a Roth IRA. This may not be constitutional according to proper readings of the Constitution, but it wouldn't be the first time the government's acted unconstitutionally, and it wouldn't be the first time retroactive laws were enacted. They have tanks, we have blanks. Thus, they can do whatever they want.

These are risks you'll have to decide to take or not to take.

[John G]

akscott - the account amount and the student part are puzzling. Did you inherit this IRA? If so, your options will be limited.