The recent New York Times article “Converting an IRA Into a Roth? How’s Your Crystal Ball?” offers a great explanation of the critical issues that should be considered when deciding to make this conversion.  So much of the current information available touts that an IRA conversion is great for everyone and has many people thinking ‘why not?’

Keiter Stephens identified one individual that would be a candidate for conversion.  After performing our conversion analysis with varying considerations, we found that in certain circumstances the conversion would be favorable and in others it would not.  This further indicates that this is not a quick decision that should be made. Those considering the conversion should have a complete analysis performed to include factors such as future spending needs, estate tax exposure, heirs’ tax and financial posture, and charitable interests before reaching a decision.