@wchowe wrote:
The last way you mentioned seems the easiest, but it sounds sketchy? Is that called a back door ROTH conversion? I don't know if Fidelity will allow that? Thanks for your great responses.
Thanks again, Bill
No, a back door Roth is something different.
It's not sketchy at all. If you send a check to the Roth custodian and tell them "this is a rollover within the 60 day window" that's all they need to know. They don't need to know the source (nor do they care). On your tax return, you will report a 1099-R from the Traditional IRA, and Turbotax will ask "what did you do with the money." You will say you converted it all to a Roth IRA, and Turbotax will assess the appropriate income tax (without the 10% penalty of course). Basically, it's up to you to self-certify that you completed the rollover, and there is nothing wrong about completing the rollover with a separate check. The IRS will have documentation from both custodians if they want to match things up (although there are some hints they don't actually do this routinely).
