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Monday, January 11, 2010

How To Determine The Best Roth IRA

By Bill Timmer

Weighing your retirement options is an important process, and looking into the best Roth IRA opportunities is crucial to this process. Well-thought out choices are vital to making your retirement funds work for you.

A retirement choice in which your contributions are after-tax is referred to as a Roth Individual Retirement account. This is different from the pre-tax contribution option known as a traditional retirement account, in which you have not paid taxes on money going into the account and will not pay taxes until you reach retirement age. If you predict that, you will be earning less when reaching retirement and will therefore be in a lower tax bracket than you are presently, then a traditional IRA. If the reverse may be true then a Roth IRA may be the best choice for you. Remember to consider the pros and cons of each option with your tax accountant or financial advisor.

If you decide to start up a Roth IRA, know that there are Roth IRA limits to be aware of, such as the income limit. Earning more than $105,000 as a single filer? You may be ineligible to contribute fully to the Roth. This figure changes annually and you need to look at the IRS website, www.ors.gov, for the most up to date information. Another issue is that earnings distributions are not permitted to be made without penalty before age 59 . Furthermore, you must have your Roth IRA open for a minimum of five years to avoid penalties. Stay aware of contribution limits for the IRA as well. As of this writing, the current limit is $5,000 per year. Remember to subtract what you have already contributed to any traditional IRAs you may have-the total of all IRAs, both Roth and traditional, cannot go above $5000.

If you have read about your options and the Roth individual retirement agreement seems like a good option for you, then you should also read about Roth Ira rollovers. A rollover simply means that the funds, which are sitting in your traditional retirement account, can be transferred over to a Roth for tax reasons. This way, you can benefit from a tax-free source of income upon retirement.

Yet it is important to remember that you will need to pay taxes on the retirement funds that you are rolling over, which could potentially create a real financial burden for you in your current economic situation. Please note that another consideration is that beginning in 2010, the adjusted gross income limits, which are currently in place for rolling over to a Roth, will no longer apply, though it will be best to consult the Internal Revenue Service and also review your options with your financial advisor or tax accountant.

There are a number of details to be aware of with the changes in 2010. For example, not only is there the elimination of the income limits currently in place, there are also unique conversion opportunities. For example, the IRS is allowing taxpayers a one-time option to spread out the payment of taxes paid on conversions in the year 2010 to both 2011 and 2012. The government is trying to ease the conversion burden and this could be of great help to many of us.

The best Roth IRA decisions are those based on a careful assessment of your needs and opportunities. Do not let the opportunities pass you by-instead, stay informed of IRS guidelines so that you can make wise choices. - 23200

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