Should I Convert to a Roth IRA
As mentioned elsewhere on the site, Glenn Daily is one of the top fee-based financial planners in the country.
He is also very generous with his time/thoughts and he publishes frequently.
Glenn published an outstanding piece that discusses and analyzes the decision about whether to convert to a Roth IRA.
The paper is highly recommended for financial advisors and the general public--it can be viewed by clicking here.
tom wrote on Wed, 02/24/2010 - 14:54:
A related and excellent paper from Glenn Daily can be found here:
http://www.glenndaily.com/documents/wakeupcall.pdf
Mostly relevant and of interest to the financial advisor community.
tom wrote on Tue, 03/16/2010 - 09:42:
Some excellent information on whether to convert from a traditional to a Roth IRA from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College:
http://crr.bc.edu/briefs/should_you_convert_a_traditional_ira_into_a_rot...
The gist of the findings are that people will find a Roth IRA conversion attractive if they:
- expect their tax rates to rise in retirement;
- prefer more flexible withdrawal options; and/or
- wish to increase their tax-sheltered assets.
Anonymous (not verified) wrote on Mon, 04/19/2010 - 19:24:
Are rising federal tax rates really a question at this point?
I should think that the state tax rate that you are in now vs the state tax that you plan on living in during retirement would be a more valid concern.
tom wrote on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 08:26:
Not sure I am following the argument.
Federal tax rates already have (and will likely continue to) increased in a meaningful way as a result of federal health reform.
This increase includes taxes on "unearned" income and a pending increase in capital gains rates.
Why do you believe the state-level issues are more pressing?