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.
2. The back-door Roth IRA won't work if your client is 70 ½ years old or older. That's because there are age limits for making traditional IRA contributions. You cannot make a traditional IRA contribution (deductible or nondeductible) for the year you turn age 70½ or later years.
Step 1: Check your Roth Eligibility
The IRS's 2022 income guidelines allow single taxpayers and heads of household who earn less than $129,000 to contribute the full amount to a Roth, and those who earn more than $129,000 but less than $144,000 to contribute a reduced amount.
On the other hand, a Backdoor Roth conversion can be something to consider if: You've already maxed out other retirement savings options. You are a high-income earner. You're willing to leave the money in the Roth for at least five years (ideally longer).
As of March 2022, the Backdoor Roth IRA is still alive. Therefore, any taxpayer making more than $214,000 in income and is married and filing jointly can make an after-tax Traditional IRA contribution and then potentially do a tax-free Roth IRA conversion.
The backdoor Roth IRA strategy is still currently viable, but that may change at any time in 2022. Under the provisions of the Build Back Better bill, which passed the House of Representatives in 2021, high-income taxpayers would be prevented from making Roth conversions.
On April 5, you could convert your traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. However, the conversion can't be reported on your 2021 taxes. Because IRA conversions are only reported during the calendar year, you should report it in 2022.
The backdoor Roth IRA strategy is still currently viable, but that may change at any time in 2022. Under the provisions of the Build Back Better bill, which passed the House of Representatives in 2021, high-income taxpayers would be prevented from making Roth conversions.
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).
Spousal Roth IRA
If you're married, your spouse can also do the backdoor Roth, even if he or she has no earned income. You must have at least $12,000 of earned income between the two of you (or $13,000 or $14,000 if one or both of you is at least 50 years old), but all of the income can come from one person.
Do I need to have earned income? There's no age limit or income requirement to be able to convert a traditional IRA to a Roth. You must pay taxes on the amount converted, although part of the conversion will be tax-free if you have made nondeductible contributions to your traditional IRA.
Backdoor and mega backdoor Roth
In a backdoor Roth, investors make a non-deductible contribution to a traditional IRA and then quickly convert to a Roth IRA. Once the money is in a Roth IRA, it's tax-free when taken out (if you meet the holding period and age requirements).
The mega backdoor Roth allows you to save a maximum of $61,000 in your 401(k) in 2022. How does this add up? The regular 401(k) contribution for 2022 is $20,500 ($27,000 for those 50 and older) and you can put an additional $40,500 of after-tax dollars into your 401(k) account assuming you don't get an employer match.
Disadvantages of a Roth IRA Conversion
Of course, when you do a Roth IRA conversion, you risk paying that big tax bill now when you might be in a lower tax bracket later. While you can make some educated guesses, there's no way to know for sure what tax rates (and your income) will be in the future.
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.
Can You Have More than One Roth IRA? 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.
Backdoor Roth IRA Pitfall #2: The 5-Year Rule
There's just one limit on this feature: You have to wait five years after making your first contribution to avoid taxes when taking withdrawals from the account. The five-year clock starts ticking on January 1 of the year you made your first contribution.
While the legislation has not become law, the Build Back Better Act was set to eliminate the backdoor Roth IRA strategy as of Jan. 1, 2022.
If your federal income tax bracket is 32% or higher, doing a Backdoor Roth IRA is a terrible, terrible idea. It is highly unlikely you will be making more money, and thereby being in a higher tax bracket in retirement! It's nice to have tax-free money you can withdraw from in retirement.
Yes, you can contribute to a Roth IRA after you retire. You can only contribute earned income to the account, which means you cannot set aside distributions from other retirement accounts, dividends, or interest income to the account.
When you convert to a Roth IRA you pay the taxes now at your current tax rate so you don't have to pay a higher tax rate in retirement. You can also convert part of your retirement savings and maintain both pre- and post-tax retirement accounts.
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and SSDI benefits do not count as income for a Roth individual retirement account (Roth IRA). To contribute to a Roth account, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires savers to have earned income.
However once you are at full retirement age (between 65 and 67 years old, depending on your year of birth) your Social Security payments can no longer be withheld if, when combined with your other forms of income, they exceed the maximum threshold.
The money retired people put into the IRA cannot come from investment income or pension plans. Retired people who want to start an IRA would need to report income to the IRS that comes from wages, bonuses or some form of self-employment.