Thanks for that very fast response @macuser_22 !!
For clarification, I am already retired so my income is from Social Security, Interest and Dividends.
Both the IRA and Brokerage are self-directed. When I go to Transfer Cast option on their website and select my bank account in the From list and the IRA account in the To list it shows a box where I can specify the contribution to be for 2020 or 2021, and contributions to date, so I interpret this as being a valid funding method since in fact I am instructing the account administrator (Merrill) to do the needful, correct?
