We’re getting closer and closer to the end of a tumultuous 2019 and almost daily in our Chicago tax office, we’re handling phone calls from clients asking for more ways to save on their tax bills.
Now, that’s nothing new, but these days, the strategies are. One of the biggest savings, long-term, is converting traditional retirement savings structures to Roth-based structures.
The granddaddy of all of these, of course, is the Roth IRA. What makes it so special? Well, for starters, you pay taxes up front. In 401(k)s and Traditional IRAs, those taxes a deferred until retirement or a certain age is reached.
Guess what? That’s a terrible idea! Who knows what the tax bill could look like in two, three or even four decades! Pay those taxes now and get them out of the way.
Here’s what makes most people nervous about converting a traditional 401(k) or IRA into a Roth structure.
You gotta pay taxes on it. Period. That’s it! You’ll pay – at least this year, on what you converted. In the future, of course, you’ll have already paid taxes on those monies or earnings prior to placing them into a Roth, but for a lot of people, that one-time conversion “tax” can be painful.
Don’t let it be. You’d have to do nearly the same thing if you took an “emergency” dispersion due to a financial challenge that forced you to crack open one of those retirement accounts. In most cases, anyway, the funds will be diverted out automatically, so your “payment” is really painless.
Just a little mental anguish.
Besides, you’re paying taxes on money you literally have in your hands!
Once you actually have a Roth set up, it’s surprisingly easy to convert old accounts to them.
You’ll essentially do one of three things:
• Execute a “Rollover” where monies from one account are drafted in a check to you, the account holder, and deposited into the new account within 60 days.
• Execute a “trustee to trustee transfer” where your current institution will transfer the monies from your account there to your Roth account elsewhere.
• Or execute a “same-trustee transfer” where you’ll merely instruct the institution to convert the current account to a Roth standard.
See? It’s not hard and, in fact, it’s easier than many types of banking we all do on a daily or weekly basis. In the long run, though, the tax savings can be considerable, and when you consider this is the money you’ll be using to fund your retirement, it’s important to understand – or know – all that money is yours, not the taxman’s!
Let us know how we can help you sort through all these challenges and we’ll chat soon! Although we’ve given you the basics, this is not an all-inclusive article. Should you have questions, need help with tax debt, business tax preparation, business entity creation, business insurance, or business compliance
assistance please contact us online, or call our office toll free at 1-855-743-5765 or locally in Chicago or Indiana at 1-708-529-6604. Make sure to join our newsletter for more tips on reducing taxes, and increasing your wealth.
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