Guide to Roth IRA, 401k and 403b Retirement Accounts
Free online guide
Updated March 8, 2009
Welcome to our free online guide to Roth IRAs and Roth accounts in 401k and 403b plans.
Current feature
Isolating 401k Basis for a Conversion
If you have after-tax dollars in your 401k account, you might wonder if there's a way to isolate those dollars so they can be converted to a Roth IRA, tax-free. Simply moving the after-tax dollars to a Roth won't work, but there's a strategy that does.
details: Isolating 401k Basis for a Conversion
Previous feature
Recharacterization Blues
You can use a recharacterization to undo a conversion, but the results aren't always what you might expect.
details: Recharacterization Blues
Here's a list of pages available in this free online guide. They're organized roughly the same as Go Roth!, our bestseller on this subject, although they don't contain all the same information as the book.
What Hath Roth Wrought
To Roth or Not to Roth
Getting Money In
Contributions
- How to Start a Roth IRA
- Basic Rules for Regular Contributions to a Roth IRA
- Qualifying Income for IRA Contributions
- Spousal Roth IRA
- Roth IRA Phase-Out Rules
- Modified Adjusted Gross Income
- Retirement Savings Contributions Credit
- Regular Contribution to a Conversion Roth IRA
- Roth IRA for Minors
- Roth IRA for College Savings
- Dealing with an Excess Contribution
Conversions
- Conversion Preliminaries
- Conversion Eligibility
- Partial Conversion
- Conversion Consequences
- How Much Conversion Tax?
- Source of Funds for Tax on Conversion
- Periodic Payments and Conversions
- Post-Retirement Roth Conversion
- Regulation Spikes Annuity Abuse
Recharacterizations
- Recharacterization Overview
- Recharacterization Rules
- Roth IRA Reconversion to Save Taxes
- Extended Deadline for Recharacterizations
- Recharacterization Blues
Managing Your Account
Go Roth!, our book on this topic, contains extensive guidance on investing and other aspects of managing a retirement account, but these portions of the book are not reflected in this online guide at this time.
Taking Money Out
- Distribution Overview
- Tax-Free Distributions from Roth IRAs
- First-Time Homebuyer
- Taxable Distributions from Roth IRAs
- Distributions After a Roth IRA Conversion
- Inherited Roth IRA
Roth 401k and 403b
Understanding the Roth 401k/403b
- Roth 401k/403b Overview
- Roth 401k/403b Compared with Traditional Account
- Roth 401k/403b Compared with Roth IRA
- A Roth Account Means More Wealth
- Contributing to a Roth 401k/403b Account
