@dmertz and @fanfare and all -
Firstly, thanks for taking the time to review my question and respond. However, I still have some confusion. Can you please further elaborate?
With regards to this busines of 'the year-end balance in my traditional IRA being zero' I'm still confused. For the record, I've asked my former employer of the 401(k) in question (the rolled-over one) and I can NOT return it to a 401(k) plan with them.
It seems to me that:
- the 401(k) money that was rolled-over into a Traditional-IRA would be treated like the 401(k) that it came from for the IRS and continue to be considered tax-deferred
Then, standing on its own would be
- the Backdoor Roth-IRA money where
- I'm OK w/ paying that $5,660 as ordinary income tax now to get the 'tax-free growth' (etc.) benefits of the Roth over time
But it seems like that's not the case, or I'm misunderstanding your comments. Your help is much appreciated.
