IRA - Roth Conversion Analysis

You can use this calculator to calculate the difference between leaving the regular IRA balance where it is or rolling the regular IRA balance into a Roth IRA.

To open this calculator, click Calculators in the toolbar, and then click Retirement > IRA - Roth Conversion Analysis in the left panel.

You can export the data as a PDF file or clear all data that you entered. For more information, see Financial calculators.

Notes

  • Option 1 does not incur a tax liability in the year of rollover; Option 2 does.
  • In order to create a fair comparison, the money that would have gone to pay taxes is assumed to be invested in a taxable account for Option 1.
  • The distributions are annual and occur at the beginning of each year of retirement.

Example

If your client has an existing balance in her regular IRA of $11,000 ($1,000 of which is from nondeductible contributions), and she is currently in a zero tax bracket because she is in the first year of starting a new business, what would be the difference in retirement distributions between Option 1 and Option 2?

Field Input
Amount to roll over from Regular IRA to Roth IRA $11,000
Nondeductible contributions in rollover $1,000
Year of Rollover Accumulation Years Distribution Years
Federal tax rate 0% 28% 28%
Years of contributions/distributions 10 20
Annual rate of return 8% 5%

In this example, the total after tax distributions from the regular IRA (Option 1) is $21,369.12, and the after tax distributions from the Roth IRA (Option 2) is $29,290.44 (a difference of $7,921.32).

Notes

  • The Taxable Investment Account Cccumulation field calculates the amount of accumulated net interest on the amount of tax due at rollover.
  • This calculator does not consider any additional contributions to the IRA account; the calculator evaluates only the rollover of an existing balance. See the 401(k) vs. Roth IRA - Annual Contribution calculatorand the 401(k) vs. Roth IRA - Monthly Income calculator to compare both the existing balance and the contributions.
  • To evaluate the effect of a rollover from a regular to a Roth IRA without regard to any distributions, enter 1 year of distributions, a zero tax rate in the distribution years, and a zero annual rate of return for the distribution years.

Internal notes


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