I conversion might or might not be expensive depending upon the individual situation and the amounts involved. Some people might have no other taxable income.
In anycase, the math of doing a roth conversion and paying the tax from a taxable account is amazing. Unless you think rates are doing to go down significant or you will have much less taxable income in the future (including when the RMDs kick in), conversions are amazing. This is especially trust when larger amounts or younger people are involved.
Say you convert a $100k traditional IRA. That $100k was only worth say $70k after taxes are paid. So after conversion you have $100k Roth worth $100k tax free (after the 5 year holding period and post 59 1/2 or with various exceptions). But you have paid $30k in tax say at conversion time. That makes you even right? No. You are way ahead if you have any decent time horizon and any growth. Why? Because you have $30k less in a taxable account. So you the tax you would have paid on it's return (dividends/capital gains) is now zero. That $30k has been transferred into the Roth. All of its growth is now tax free.
If you have income that regularly puts you in the 20-30% brackets its probably a very good idea. Above that it is still probably a good idea but a little harder to convince yourself.
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