Episode 376: The Roth Conversion Myth Most Financial Advisors Get Wrong

David McKnight addresses a myth floating around the financial world: "For a Roth conversion to make sense, you need many years for the Roth to grow so you can recoup the taxes you paid to the conversion." David stresses why this way of thinking is fundamentally wrong – it's built on the wrong assumption that all the money in your IRA belongs to you… when it actually doesn't. Remember: your IRA isn't one pile of money but two piles sitting in the same account. One pile belongs to you, while the other to the IRS. What's unknown is how big the IRS' pile is going to be when you eventually take the money out of the account. David goes on to explain what happens as both piles grow and required minimum distributions kick in. You may end up with the IRS' pile being not just larger but taxed at a much higher rate too. With a Roth conversion, on the other hand, your conversion translates into you carving out the IRS' portion and handing it to them today – settling the bill while the balance is s...