For 2022, you can contribute up to $20,500 to a 401(k) with a $6,500 catch up if you're 50 or over. You can contribute up to $6,000 to a Roth IRA with a $1,000 catch up (if you're 50 or over). Together, that's a sizeable savings.
Rollovers from a traditional retirement plan such as a 401(k) or traditional IRA to a Roth IRA are known as conversions, and the amount rolled over is taxable. There is no limit on the amount you can roll over or convert into a Roth IRA.
Fortunately, the definitive answer is “yes.” You can roll your existing 401(k) into a Roth IRA instead of a traditional IRA. Choosing to do so just adds a few additional steps to the process. Whenever you leave your job, you have a decision to make with your 401k plan.
The bottom line: An in-service rollover allows an employee (often at a specified age such as 55) to be able to roll their 401k to an IRA while still employed with the company. The employee is also still able to contribute to the plan, even after the rollover is complete.
In 2021 and 2022, the annual contribution limit for IRAs is $6,000—or $7,000 if you are age 50 or older. And this is why, if you have a high income, you have another reason to roll over your 401(k) to a Roth IRA. Roth income limitations do not apply to this type of conversion.
Roth IRA conversion limits
The government only allows you to contribute $6,000 directly to a Roth IRA in 2021 and 2022 or $7,000 if you're 50 or older, but there is no limit on how much you can convert from tax-deferred savings to your Roth IRA in a single year.
The annual contribution limit for 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 is $6,000, or $7,000 if you're age 50 or older. The annual contribution limit for 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 is $5,500, or $6,500 if you're age 50 or older. Your Roth IRA contributions may also be limited based on your filing status and income.
Can you contribute to a 401(k) and a Roth individual retirement account (Roth IRA) in the same year? Yes. You can contribute to both plans in the same year up to the allowable limits. However, you cannot max out both your Roth and traditional individual retirement accounts (IRAs) in the same year.
A backdoor Roth IRA is not an official type of individual retirement account. Instead, it is an informal name for a complicated method used by high-income taxpayers to create a permanently tax-free Roth IRA, even if their incomes exceed the limits that the tax law prescribes for regular Roth ownership.
Converting a 401(k) into a Roth IRA gives you greater ownership and direction over your money. A 401(k) is a tax-advantaged retirement account that is managed by an employer, while a Roth IRA is a tax-advantaged retirement account that is managed by you.
If you roll over a Roth 401(k) to a Roth IRA, the five-year rule described above still applies. However, it's important to note that the period of time you had your Roth 401(k) open doesn't count toward the five-year rule.
You generally cannot make more than one rollover from the same IRA within a 1-year period. You also cannot make a rollover during this 1-year period from the IRA to which the distribution was rolled over.
There is no limit on the number of 401(k) rollovers you can do. You can rollover a 401(k) to another 401(k) or IRA multiple times per year without breaking the once-per-year IRS rollover rules. The once-per-year IRS rule only applies to the 60-day IRA rollovers.
You can have more than one Roth IRA, and you can open more than one Roth IRA at any time. There is no limit to the number of Roth IRA accounts you can have. However, no matter how many Roth IRAs you have, your total contributions cannot exceed the limits set by the government.
Roth 401(k) is best for you. Both accounts are easy to set up, but your employer does most of the setting up with a Roth 401(k), whereas you'll need to do the work yourself with a Roth IRA (some employers do offer paycheck deductions for IRAs). Want access to a large variety of investments. Roth IRA is best for you.
The Bottom Line
As long as you meet eligibility requirements, such as having earned income, you can contribute to both a Roth and a traditional IRA. How much you contribute to each is up to you, as long as you don't exceed the combined annual contribution limit of $6,000, or $7,000 if you're age 50 or older.
But even when you're close to retirement or already in retirement, opening this special retirement savings vehicle can still make sense under some circumstances. There is no age limit to open a Roth IRA, but there are income and contribution limits that investors should be aware of before funding one.
Reduce adjusted gross income
If you're planning a Roth conversion, you may consider reducing adjusted gross income by contributing more to your pretax 401(k) plan, Lawrence suggested. You may also leverage so-called tax-loss harvesting, offsetting profits with losses, in a taxable account.
A mega backdoor Roth 401(k) conversion is a tax-shelter strategy available to employees whose employer-sponsored 401(k) retirement plans allow them to make substantial after-tax contributions in addition to their pretax deferrals and to transfer their contributions to an employer-designated Roth 401(k).
Even though your Roth 401(k) meets the 5-year rule and then some, if you roll it into your three-year-old Roth IRA, you'd have to wait another two years before you could withdraw earnings tax-free (although, as with any Roth account, you could withdraw your contributions tax-free at any time).
Each conversion has its own five-year period. For instance, if you converted your traditional IRA to a Roth IRA in 2018, the five-year period for those converted assets began Jan. 1, 2018. If you later convert other traditional IRA assets to a Roth IRA in 2019, the five-year period for those assets begins Jan.
You may not need a Backdoor Roth Conversion if you are able to meet your savings goals with the maximum retirement limit through your workplace retirement account and are not expecting a need for additional savings for your retirement plan.
Who Can Benefit from a Backdoor Roth? High earners who don't qualify to contribute under current Roth IRA rules. Those who can afford the taxes for a Roth conversion and want to take advantage of future tax-free growth. Investors who hope to avoid required minimum distributions (RMDs) when they reach age 72.