Robert Brokamp

But even so, those contributions will come out tax and penalty free.

And I think this is important to think about.

Especially for people, if you're sort of on the edge, you're like, you know, I'd like to contribute to my Roth IRA, but I might need that money sooner for an emergency fund or I'm sending kids to college or something like that.

I just think it makes you feel better knowing like, okay, I'm going to put this money in this Roth IRA.

I hope to leave it alone until I am 59 and a half or until I retire.

But...

I know I can get to it if I have to.

And I think that just makes people a little bit more comfortable contributing to the account.

All right, let's move on to benefit number five, leaving tax-free assets to your heirs.

Yeah, you touched on that 10-year rule, right?

And this is the issue with many people who inherit retirement accounts.

They do have to be distributed within 10 years.

And if that money is in a traditional IRA and the heirs are in their peak earning years, that is really going to be a big tax bill.

Okay, so those are the benefits, but are there any sort of hidden traps to contributing to or converting to a Roth that you think people should be aware of?

I'll double down on that and maybe broaden it out in that by contributing to a Roth or converting to a Roth, you're not only paying more taxes this year, but it may make you ineligible for all kinds of deductions and credits that are based on your AGI.

You have to look at the whole picture.

Well, I had my own final thoughts here.

There are plenty of online tools that can help you run the numbers on whether you should contribute or convert to a Roth.

So use a few of those.

And then if you're still not sure, seek out the advice of a tax professional or a financial advisor.