retired and looking to open a Roth Ira

[Guest fastfreddy066]

I'm a retired 57 year old and collecting a pension, would i be able to open a Roth IRA. i want the stretch for my grand kids.

Thanks

[John G]

Do you have a part-time job or any "earned income"? If not, then you are not eligible for a Roth.

You might be able to convert an existing IRA to a Roth, but that may not be attractive because you would be paying taxes on the conversion. The math is pretty complex and the "answer" depends heavily on the assumptions you use about current and future tax rates.

You mentioned grandchildren. One option you might consider if they have earned income from a newspaper route, babysitting, summer jobs, etc. is that you could encourage them to set up a Roth account. This does not directly benefit you, but might get your grandchildren to learn about investing and give their initial contributions more years to grow.