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IRA Conversion to Roth -- start a new Roth?

dstone42
in Other Investing
With the RMD waiver, it's a good year to convert some of my Rollover IRA to a Roth IRA.
(I'm retired, older than 75)
I already made a QCD to my church.

I already have a Roth IRA. Are there reasons to start a new one, or should I take the easy route and just roll funds into the existing Roth account?

My accounts are at Fidelity -- the conversion appears to be easy to do online. I'll probably still call to check whether I'm missing something.

Thanks for advice from our knowledgeable board,
David

Comments

  • MarkMark
    Easy to do online at Fidelity as you noted. I just completed rolling my traditional IRA into my Roth a few weeks ago. Be careful not to bump yourself up into a higher tax bracket however. Why would you want to open a new Roth? I'm unclear as to any advantages for doing so.
  • royal4
    The reason to start a new roth from what I've read is suppose the market tanks and you want to re-characterize. It's easier to do with a new roth aka earning etc... I'm not 100% sure but remember something along those lines. If you want more details....google is your friend.
  • MarkMark
    @royal4 - I had considered that but if the market goes up from here there doesn't seem to be a reason for doing so.

    ALSO: " A Roth IRA conversion made on or after January 1, 2018, cannot be recharacterized. For details, see “Recharacterizations” in Publication 590-A, Contributions to Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs)."

    IRA FAQS - Recharacterization of IRA Contributions
  • royal4
    oh... I didn't realize that there are no more recharacterizations. I've never done a recharacterization so don't pay much attention to that space.. Thanks for the update.
  • dstone42
    @ Mark
    My reasoning for conversion - if I assume that the positions grow at the same rate in the Roth IRA as they would have in the IRA, the tax hit will be smaller (eventually) because the growth won't be taxed. I'll probably stay in the same tax bracket (but rates may go up from here).
    Of course, I have to pay the tax this year on whatever I convert.
    The only reason I could imagine for opening a new, separate, Roth IRA is ease of tracking each pool, old and new.
    Thanks,
    David
  • MarkMark
    That's a good reason for the conversion. It's why I did it as well. It also allowed me to eliminate one account my heirs would have to deal with.
  • RbrtRbrt
    Going the other way - if the OP were to open a new account, would he need to wait 5 years before making any “qualified” distributions?
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