Can I roll over my 401(k) moneys into a Roth IRA?

[Guest kevking]

i am about to change jobs, and i just want to make sure i am able to roll my 401k into my roth ira.

are there any conditions or restrictions i need to worry about. i don't make 100k/yr.

[Mary Kay Foss]

You can't roll your 401k benefits directly into your Roth. You'll need to roll them into a traditional IRA first. A Roth conversion must always come from a traditional IRA.

[Guest Michael R]

well, I am glad I searched this board before asking my question about rolling a terminated 401K to a ROTH and I see that can't be done directly.

Can the rollover from 401K to IRA to ROTH be done in the same year? or is there some time limit that must pass before converting the traditional IRA to a ROTH?

Also, could I roll the 401K into a traditional IRA and just leave that alone, and at the same time open a new ROTH and start contributing to the max?

thanks

[Guest kevking]

yes and yes

[Guest UKH]

You can rollover your 401(k) into a traditional IRA and start contributing into a Roth IRA provided you are eligible to open up a Roth IRA.

I found this good article on the web. You may want to read it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There’s Something About Roth

by Greg Reymann, J.D., LL.M.

© 1998, Greg Reymann

The following copyrighted article is available exclusively on the Roth IRA Web Site:

http://www.rothira.com/reymann.htm

[Guest Michael R]

thanks so much to everyone for the responses. I am going to roll the 401K into a traditional IRA and just leave it alone, and start a ROTH to start making new contributions to.