Pros and Cons of Converting Your IRA to a Roth

By Dan Caplinger – Feb 20, 2013 at 10:15AM

Roth conversions make a lot of sense, but they're not for everyone.

In this edition of our Motley Fool Conversations series, Fool personal finance expert Dayana Yochim and retirement planning analyst Dan Caplinger discuss whether converting traditional IRAs and 401(k) plans to their Roth counterparts is a smart move. Although you pay taxes up front on a conversion, the payoff is that you never have to pay taxes on your Roth assets again -- even when you take withdrawals during retirement.

Dan and Dayana go through the pros and cons of doing a Roth conversion with some specific ideas on helping you make the right decision for your own personal financial situation. In addition, Dan points out how you can take advantage of special "do-over" provisions of Roth IRA conversions in order to maximize your returns in stocks facing big binary events that will make or break their futures. Overall, whether converting makes sense depends on what your current tax rates are compared to what you expect they'll be when you retire.

Fool contributor Dan Caplinger and personal finance expert Dayana Yochim have no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.