401k rollover of retiree

[Guest FGordon]

I am over 59-1/2 and when I retired,I rolled my 401k into a traditional IRA. I am not working, thus no taxable income.

Can my IRA be rolled over to a Roth?

What are the advantages and will I have any tax obligation by doing so?

[Ervin Barham]

Without knowing your specifics, generally the answer is yes, you can rollover a traditional IRA to a Roth. There are some rules that you cannot rollover any required distributions after you attain age 70 1/2.

Generally, you will have to pay income tax on the rollover amount.

If your income is less than $100,000 for 1998, it may make sense to convert your IRA in 1998. There is a special rule that allows the income to be computed as if it were over a 4 year period.

Since I am not a financial planner and these comments are of a general nature, I would suggest that you talk to your CPA or a financial advisor about what's best for you. There are also some Web sites at the various brokerage/mutual funds that can assist you with the calculations and some more details.

I hope this helps.