Which spouse should do the Roth?

[Anonymous]

DH and I have most of our assets in deferred accounts (401k and the like). The value of his accounts dwarf mine (I was a SAHM for many years). I also make around 30% of what he makes. I have the option of maxing out a Roth 401k and he similarly started making all his contributions in Roth form last year (late to the game, I know) and plans on doing a backdoor Roth conversion this year.
We were thinking of doing the Roth contributions and conversions over time so as not to bump us up to the next tax bracket, although he has enough in his accounts that this wouldn't make much of a dent in his 401k and the vast majority would stay in deferred accounts.
We're trying to think through the amounts and from whose account. I'm 12 years younger than he is and he is 7-8 years away from RMD.

Is it better to just take the hit and convert everything now and pay a large tax bill?
If we instead stick to the plan of converting over time, does it matter whether I contribute or stay in tax deferred accounts and take the remaining amount (staying below next tax bracket) from his conversions, given that I'm much further away from RMD?

I don't know if this question is answerable without knowing future tax rates but I'm having a hard time getting my head around how to even start modeling this in a spreadsheet.

[Anonymous]

No, don't convert everything now. Many recommend you don't do Roth contributions while working (b/c you pay higher tax but I think it depends on your HHI). I think your general approach makes sense - wait until HHI goes down and convert up to the tax bracket amount. You won't be able to convert everything but should help.

[Anonymous]

Do either of you currently have a traditional IRA? If so, you’d want to consider converting that to avoid tax proration.

[Anonymous]

You need to do the math we’re in the same position.

The up front taxes of conversations could be upwards of 150-300k over many years depending on your tax rate and how much you convert and for how long. Do you anticipate a break even within 10-15 years — or longer? Also how will you pay five figure tax bills every year you convert? Do you have cash on hand?

We are thinking of it as gifts to the kids. What we convert hopefully we will never use. They and their kids can inherit it all tax free.

[Anonymous]

I am a similar position. My husband has been the breadwinner for many years but I had a smaller account from when I worked previously. My husband will have both quote fed pension and military reserve pension, plus I have a good chance of inheriting a sizable amount. Due to the continued projected income in retirement, I converted all of my savings to Roth and contribute to all roth accounts. My husband has mainly pretax accounts and contributes mostly on pretax basis (plus backdoor roth). I also hope that we will never need my roth account and the children can inherit it tax free.

[Anonymous]

One thing to consider is to delaying SS so you would have more room to convert before going over your bracket

[Anonymous]

So many things to consider. So, all those years or most of them, both of you were eligible to max your Roth (or back door it if income too high), but you wasted the years. You didn't know any better or the tax deduction for 401k and match was so enticing?
Did you really leave it up to some company to invest for you? Has your 401k kept up with VOO at minimum?
Can you keep your income low when his RMD starts? I wouldn't dare to add earned income or SS to it if his RMD is high.
Do the Roths going forward. You don't know how big of a part will belong to government from tax deferred accounts.
Is your income so high that you or DH have to do backdoor Roth or you are trying to get some of the money from 401k to Roth? It will take forever at $8k a year.
Glad you caught all this now. Read books like The Power of Zero.
Personal finance is very personal. I don't have tax expense to speak of and I won't. It can be done.
All my money is in Roths and my returns are extremely high. They wouldn't be if I left someone else in charge of it all.
My children will skip 401k. I don't care about the match. It's a one time thing, but keeps people from not being in charge of their own money and learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So many things to consider. So, all those years or most of them, both of you were eligible to max your Roth (or back door it if income too high), but you wasted the years. You didn't know any better or the tax deduction for 401k and match was so enticing?
Did you really leave it up to some company to invest for you? Has your 401k kept up with VOO at minimum?
Can you keep your income low when his RMD starts? I wouldn't dare to add earned income or SS to it if his RMD is high.
Do the Roths going forward. You don't know how big of a part will belong to government from tax deferred accounts.
Is your income so high that you or DH have to do backdoor Roth or you are trying to get some of the money from 401k to Roth? It will take forever at $8k a year.
Glad you caught all this now. Read books like The Power of Zero.
Personal finance is very personal. I don't have tax expense to speak of and I won't. It can be done.
All my money is in Roths and my returns are extremely high. They wouldn't be if I left someone else in charge of it all.
My children will skip 401k. I don't care about the match. It's a one time thing, but keeps people from not being in charge of their own money and learning.

LOL totally useless blabbering

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So many things to consider. So, all those years or most of them, both of you were eligible to max your Roth (or back door it if income too high), but you wasted the years. You didn't know any better or the tax deduction for 401k and match was so enticing?
Did you really leave it up to some company to invest for you? Has your 401k kept up with VOO at minimum?
Can you keep your income low when his RMD starts? I wouldn't dare to add earned income or SS to it if his RMD is high.
Do the Roths going forward. You don't know how big of a part will belong to government from tax deferred accounts.
Is your income so high that you or DH have to do backdoor Roth or you are trying to get some of the money from 401k to Roth? It will take forever at $8k a year.
Glad you caught all this now. Read books like The Power of Zero.
Personal finance is very personal. I don't have tax expense to speak of and I won't. It can be done.
All my money is in Roths and my returns are extremely high. They wouldn't be if I left someone else in charge of it all.
My children will skip 401k. I don't care about the match. It's a one time thing, but keeps people from not being in charge of their own money and learning.

You’re an idiot. The government could flip tax treatment of Roths just as easily as they could with pre tax vehicles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So many things to consider. So, all those years or most of them, both of you were eligible to max your Roth (or back door it if income too high), but you wasted the years. You didn't know any better or the tax deduction for 401k and match was so enticing?
Did you really leave it up to some company to invest for you? Has your 401k kept up with VOO at minimum?
Can you keep your income low when his RMD starts? I wouldn't dare to add earned income or SS to it if his RMD is high.
Do the Roths going forward. You don't know how big of a part will belong to government from tax deferred accounts.
Is your income so high that you or DH have to do backdoor Roth or you are trying to get some of the money from 401k to Roth? It will take forever at $8k a year.
Glad you caught all this now. Read books like The Power of Zero.
Personal finance is very personal. I don't have tax expense to speak of and I won't. It can be done.
All my money is in Roths and my returns are extremely high. They wouldn't be if I left someone else in charge of it all.
My children will skip 401k. I don't care about the match. It's a one time thing, but keeps people from not being in charge of their own money and learning.

This is hard to follow. Roths are great but to turn down free money from company matching is crazy. Besides you can do a mega back door Roth if your 401K plan allows it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So many things to consider. So, all those years or most of them, both of you were eligible to max your Roth (or back door it if income too high), but you wasted the years. You didn't know any better or the tax deduction for 401k and match was so enticing?
Did you really leave it up to some company to invest for you? Has your 401k kept up with VOO at minimum?
Can you keep your income low when his RMD starts? I wouldn't dare to add earned income or SS to it if his RMD is high.
Do the Roths going forward. You don't know how big of a part will belong to government from tax deferred accounts.
Is your income so high that you or DH have to do backdoor Roth or you are trying to get some of the money from 401k to Roth? It will take forever at $8k a year.
Glad you caught all this now. Read books like The Power of Zero.
Personal finance is very personal. I don't have tax expense to speak of and I won't. It can be done.
All my money is in Roths and my returns are extremely high. They wouldn't be if I left someone else in charge of it all.
My children will skip 401k. I don't care about the match. It's a one time thing, but keeps people from not being in charge of their own money and learning.

LOL totally useless blabbering

Its a bot / AI response