Really a tax attorney told you that. There are two types of Traditional IRA's They don't actually have to be kept in separate accounts because multiple accounts are treated as one for most tax purposes. If you took a deduction for all your IRA contributions your tax basis is zero and nothing will change that. If you made non-deducted contributions, those are your tax basis and again nothing happening within the account will change that basis except withdrawals. The basis is tracked on form 8606 and is required to ne included in your retunr for years you make withdrawals.
