Traditional and Roth IRA

[Anonymous No.114361]

Hey folks

I have been contributing to a traditional IRA (TSP - Thrift Savings Plan) for about 5 years now. I recently stopped adding to it, and the balance is about $40k. I stopped adding to it because TSP came out with a Roth IRA option, and I switched to that. So now I'm contributing monthly to a Roth, but I have 40k in a traditional gaining interest, etc.

I feel like I could be making a huge mistake having two separate retirement accounts. Should I somehow switch the traditional into the Roth IRA? Since I haven't paid taxes on the traditional IRA money, what would happen if I moved the money into my Roth IRA?

[Anonymous No.114456]

bump

[Anonymous No.114657]

biz pls

[Anonymous No.114709]

bump for help

[Anonymous No.114822]

bump again

[Anonymous No.114823]

>>114361
No, you're not making any mistake, especially if the two accounts are linked.

I have several accounts
TSP(having trouble regaining access)
TD Ameritrade taxable
TD Ameritrade ROTH
Fidelity 401k

and my checking/savings accounts.

You should however know why you're investing in a ROTH account vs. traditional. Are you currently in a low tax bracket? Also a ROTH IRA account is great, but ROTH 401k doesn't have all the good features. TSP might have the same issue.

[Anonymous No.114861]

>>114823

I expect to make more money in the future, which is why I'm switching my contribution to the Roth IRA.

If I moved my balance of the traditional IRA to a roth, would I pay a fee or tax?

[Anonymous No.114893]

>>114861
You can't contribute to past year's ROTH limits. You cant' change investments from traditional options to ROTH without recognizing it as income(see ROTH conversion pipeline).

I'm not sure how this applies to TSP ROTH vs regular.

Also, you can contribute to the regular TSP and to a ROTH IRA. Nothing wrong with that.