Is a Roth IRA Conversion Worth It? The One Thing That Matters

Roth and Traditional IRAs can be an important part of retirement planning. In this article, we discuss which one may be best suited for you.

Traditional vs. Roth IRA made simple

A Traditional IRA gives you a tax break today. A Roth IRA gives you one in retirement. Converting means paying the tax bill now, so the money comes out completely tax-free later. Either way, that money gets taxed exactly once, at whatever rate applies in the year it happens. 

So your decision can boil down to one question:

Which year has the lower rate, this one or the one you’ll be in when you’d otherwise withdraw it?

Consideration	Traditional IRA	Roth IRA
Tax break	Now, and it lowers taxable income the year you contribute	Later, and withdrawals in retirement are tax-free
Withdrawals in retirement	Taxed as regular income	Tax-free, including all growth
Required withdrawals	Yes, starting at age 73	None, ever

Watch this video on the differences between a Traditional and Roth IRA.

What’s a Traditional IRA?

A Traditional IRA lets you deduct your contribution from that year’s taxable income.The amount you deposit in your IRA account is treated as a reduction to your total income on your tax return. 

If you have a 401(k) or similar retirement plan at work, your ability to deduct your IRA deposit may be limited depending on your income. You can’t withdraw before 59½ without penalty (with some exceptions), and RMDs (required minimum distributions) start at 73. Withdrawals are taxed as regular income at whatever rate applies that year. This works out well for people who retire into a lower bracket, though that’s not guaranteed.

Traditional IRA as a piece of the pie

Think of your yearly income as a pie the government takes a slice of as tax. Putting money into a Traditional IRA cuts a piece out of that pie before the government takes its slice — so there’s less pie left to tax. Since less of your income gets taxed, you owe less tax overall. That’s the “break”: you’re not getting free money, you’re just letting less of your income get taxed in the first place.

What’s a Roth IRA?

In a way, the Roth IRA is the opposite of the Traditional IRA. You don’t receive a tax deduction for deposits. However, the money can grow tax-free. 

You can withdraw your direct contributions from a Roth IRA at any time, tax- and penalty-free. Once you have held the account for 5 years and reach age 59 1⁄2, any growth within the account can also be withdrawn tax-free.There are no required distributions at any age. The Roth IRA has its own income limits, for 2026 the phase-out begins at $153,000 for single taxpayers and $242,000 for married filing jointly.

Roth IRA as a piece of the pie

With a Roth IRA, it works the other way: The government takes its full slice of your income now, before you set anything aside. But whatever you save after that grows into its own, bigger pie by retirement and the government doesn’t touch that pie. Every bit of the growth is yours.

Why convert to a Roth IRA?

A conversion moves money from a Traditional IRA (or directly from a 401(k)) into a Roth IRA. To do this, you would be required to pay the tax on the converted amount. But once that money is part of the Roth IRA it wouldn’t be subject to tax again. 

Any conversions from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA must be done within 60 days to be considered a conversion contribution. The current law also permits a conversion from your 401(k) directly to a Roth account.

Making the decision

Assess if you’ll probably be in a higher bracket later. You can’t exactly know your future rate, but you can estimate. Early in your career, your income and tax rate are usually at their lowest.If you’re near retirement, you can add up expected Social Security and pension income for a real number. 

It’s worth a closer look if you’re in the 10–12% bracket with rising income ahead, you can pay the conversion tax from savings (not the IRA itself), and you have years for the money to grow tax-free.

It’s worth holding off if converting pushes you into a much higher bracket this year, you’d need IRA funds to cover the tax (which can also trigger a penalty), or you expect a lower rate in retirement anyway.

The bottom line

Either IRA can be a great way to achieve your retirement planning goals. Your savings decisions are based on your particular financial reality. Check out this article for inspiration on how to take the stress out of saving with automated investing.

No matter what moves you made last year, TurboTax will make them count on your taxes. Whether you want to do your taxes yourself or have a TurboTax expert file for you, we’ll make sure you get every dollar you deserve and your biggest possible refund — guaranteed.