"Your retirement account's weak performance offers the opportunity to save some taxes ... through converting your traditional [IRA] to a Roth IRA.... A few things to consider ... [1] Will your income tax rate be lower now, or during your future retirement years? ... [2] Do you have a source of funds to pay the income taxes, other than the converted funds? ... [3] Are you converting an IRA that owns different kinds of assets? ... [4] Make sure that if you do decide to recharacterize, you implement your recharacterization within the required timeframe."  MORE >>