OK. So I have this from Investopedia.....https://www.investopedia.com/roth-ira-withdrawals-read-[product key removed]62
"The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) outlines the specific requirements for taking qualified distributions from a Roth IRA. If you reach the required age but have held the IRA for less than five years, you still avoid the 10% penalty, but you will need to pay income taxes on any earnings pulled out of your account (you already paid income taxes on the money you initially put into the Roth, so withdrawals of the contribution amount are always tax-free).
Say you opened a Roth account at age 58 with a $5,000 contribution and earned $1,000 in gains over a two-year period. If at age 60, you decide to withdraw all that money, you can do so penalty-free. But since you only owned the IRA for two years, you still face income taxes on the $1,000 in earnings. So in order to maximize your return, it behooves you to wait until you meet both the age and ownership conditions."
So are you all also saying......but if you opened a ROTH like 10 years ago, with a contribution or conversion, and then made a Traditional IRA to ROTH conversion at age 58, upon turning 60 you can take out the earnings from that conversion tax free and penalty free without having to wait "the 5 year-rule" because the account is like 12 years old at this point?
That is the only thing that you need to get you out of paying tax on the earnings before 5 years go by is that your ROTH needed to be started with like $1, 5-years prior?
I think that is what you are saying, but because it sounds kind of inconsistent, I think I am having a hard time absorbing the answer. I mean you just have to have started an account? that's all?
My 86 year old mother is opening a ROTH, her first ROTH, she will have to wait 5 (really 4) years now for tax free distributions just because she never started even a tiny one earlier.
Please just confirm if I have it right now.
