Dear Liz: You recently answered a question about Roth conversions, saying that each conversion triggered its own five-year holding period. It was my understanding that after age 59½, the five-year rule doesn’t apply and earnings aren’t taxed.
Answer: The rules for Roth IRAs can be complicated, and they’re different for accounts that you fund directly versus those that are funded through conversions.
If you contribute directly to a Roth, you can withdraw your contributions any time without tax or penalty. You can withdraw earnings tax free if you’re 59½ or older and the account has been open for at least five years.
But as mentioned in the previous column, the five-year holding period applies to each conversion you make from another retirement account into a Roth. What goes away after age 59½ is the 10% penalty for early withdrawal, says Mark Luscombe, principal analyst for Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting. Earnings withdrawn before five years can be taxed as income. However, it’s assumed that any withdrawals are principal first, so you’d have to withdraw the entire conversion amount before earnings would be taxed.
Luscombe notes that some people set up separate accounts for each conversion to make tracking the five-year periods easier. That could be especially helpful if they plan to make substantial withdrawals that could include earnings before the last conversion amount hits its five-year mark. Once all the five-year periods have expired, the accounts can be combined into one.