Anyone here taking advantage of the depressed stock market to convert their regular IRA into Roth? What % of your IRA did you convert?

I converted all of my pre tax money to Roth this year. But didn't have much left since I do it every year.

I'm waiting until I'll be in a lower tax bracket.

I agree it is very dependent on what tax bracket you are in. If you are in the 12% bracket I would Roth convert as much as you can to fill up that bucket. Otherwise I would wait till you retire as your taxable income will likely be lower and you will have other opportunities to Roth convert and pay lower taxes.

This is common logic. Understandable why a person would think that but I think it's often not the case. If a person has social security Medicare after tax investments and a large pre tax balance the odds are they are paying minimum 25% to take money out of the IRA later. And then what is taxes go up or spouse dies etc.

I've modeled it carefully. There's a several year window after I retire before I start pulling SS that I can convert to Roth and stay below the higher marginal rates. Overall for that period would be 24% tax. If I converted today it would be 35% to 37%. Worth the wait.

Agree with that

When I looked at my situation, I'm also in a higher bracket, but I looked at total taxes paid. I assumed that every $1 in my IRA would be worth $3 when I start using the funds. Not a guarantee especially after 2022 returns! I also am considering what tax brackets will look like in the future...I'm thinking higher due to $31T hole, and the political winds that seem to favor wealth redistribution.

Using current brackets, if I pay 32% now on $1, in total taxes paid that's less money than 22 or 24% on $3 later. $.32 vs .66 or .72

I would love to stay in the 12% bracket upon retirement, but the current brackets will make it tough to have retirement income to live on, plus do the Roth Conversion on top of that...

Finally, even if the tax math is about equal. I like having a large pool of after tax money along with pre tax for flexibility of using funds. The 'what if something comes up' factor.

TLDR...Roth Conversions are great

swampdog01 said:

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When I looked at my situation, I'm also in a higher bracket, but I looked at total taxes paid. I assumed that every $1 in my IRA would be worth $3 when I start using the funds. Not a guarantee especially after 2022 returns! I also am considering what tax brackets will look like in the future...I'm thinking higher due to $31T hole, and the political winds that seem to favor wealth redistribution.

Using current brackets, if I pay 32% now on $1, in total taxes paid that's less money than 22 or 24% on $3 later. $.32 vs .66 or .72

I would love to stay in the 12% bracket upon retirement, but the current brackets will make it tough to have retirement income to live on, plus do the Roth Conversion on top of that...

Finally, even if the tax math is about equal. I like having a large pool of after tax money along with pre tax for flexibility of using funds. The 'what if something comes up' factor.

TLDR...Roth Conversions are great

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Agree that Roth conversions are great. And financial flexibility is even greater. I'm looking at my total portfolio and want to maintain optionality if laws change regarding taxes, SS, retirement accounts. I believe it's highly likely they will, due in large part to that $31T hole you mention.

I can foresee where Congress makes SS means-tested and even perhaps includes Roth distributions in the means test. I don't want to lose the SS benefit I've earned over 40+ years of paying into it, so I want the flexibility to manage my portfolio to stay under their means tests.

Converting all my pre-tax 401Ks to Roths would consume a meaningful portion of after-tax savings in a non-retirement account. If the laws change as I fear, I might need to reduce my Roth conversions/distributions to stay under the SS means test and consume some of those funds for living expenses instead.

Really hard to say, because I don't know exactly how the future will play out. But I'd bet that Congress will change things to target people like you and I under the political claim that we're not paying "our fair share." So I don't want to put all my eggs in one basket, and if I convert pre-tax to Roth, it will be gradual and incremental.

I should have added my conversions are small incremental of say $5-10k each year, because it just reduces whatever refund I get. And yes I agree these Roth accounts will be used as means testing for taxation of benefits like SSI and Medicare, if not outright reduction of some benefits.
In other news as mentioned above, the catch up rule where Roth is required is incredibly short sighted. Part of deciding on Roth is how much time horizon for growth the funds have, and 50+ works against that math. Just ridiculous that was the 'compromise' to 'pay for' the legislation.

Appreciate all the input. I am going to convert a small amount this year. I am unfortunately at the 37% bracket. Would rather pay that on a small amount now and reinvest in the same stocks as long term I still am betting these same stocks are going to be essential.