> As a note, Ric Edelman, when he had a radio show, went over the IRA to Roth conversion. Several times. According to him, it's a wash. Pay tax before you inves

> As a note, Ric Edelman, when he had a radio show, went over the IRA to Roth conversion. Several times. According to him, it's a wash. Pay tax before you invest or when you withdraw, but either way the net effect is almost identical. It depends on where the tax rates are when you deposit and when you withdrawal. Some of that is politics, and some of that is where you fit in the tax brackets. There's some amount of unknown and unknowable there, but if you're early in your career and not making a lot of money, Roth contributions might make a lot of sense --- might as well pay taxes upfront while they're low. Once you start making more money, traditional contributions start making more sense, as you're likely to have lower income as a retiree than while employed. If you have some years later in life where you aren't earning much (by choice or not), roth conversions can make sense then, although that gets real complex if the reported income will interfere with benefit programs you would otherwise qualify for.