Roth ira

[ineedmyelin]

hello, i'm 44 yrs old and need some help deciding if i should put all my stock into my roth ira. i already have a roth ira but haven't contributed to it in yrs. i own stock in one particular company and its starting to make me money. i'm retired due to health issues and currently live off of dissibility. should i move all my stock into my roth ira? like everyone i'm trying to keep as much of my money from the tax man while not breaking any laws. i've done my research and so far i like everything i read/ hear bout the roth ira but would like to hear from someone here thats had more experience and or understanding of the pros and cons. thank you in advance to anyone willing to share advice.

[AnnieM]

If the stock is in a 401k or other pretax fund I don't think you can just move it into a Roth without paying taxes on the money. Also I don't think you can contribute to a Roth if you have no earned income. Besides all that, there are monetary limits to what you can contribute yearly. Now if you are rolling over an IRA into a Roth that's a different story, but unless you paid taxes on your contributions, you have to pay taxes now, and I don't know about age requirements or things that might be waved due to your disability. Bottom line, there is no easy answer to this questions. It all depends on your circumstances. You need advice from a good financial advisor, but learn about theses funds first so you know if you are getting good advice. You do not want to make a hasty and costly mistake with your money. I hope this helps you weigh your options before you make a move. There are lots of other things to consider as well these are just a few that come quickly to mind,

[-scott-]

Depends how much stock you have. You currently can't put more than $5500 into a roth per year.

[ineedmyelin]

thank you very much, you point a couple of things i didnt know about so thank you.

[Sue Pendleton]

And in a regular IRA you can pull some or all of your money out before age 59-1/2 if you are 100% disabled and not pay the penalty. I don't think that applies to ROTHs. But then as Annie said you can't add to a regular IRA unless you or your spouse have some earned income that year. Again, I don't know about ROTHs. More and more financial planners or wealth managers are taking classes on disability finance law so you might want to interview a few by phone. If they don't know about the no penalty withdrawels from regular IRAs they haven't taken even a class at a weekend update course for finance and tax types.

[Monoski]

And in a regular IRA you can pull some or all of your money out before age 59-1/2 if you are 100% disabled and not pay the penalty. I don't think that applies to ROTHs. But then as Annie said you can't add to a regular IRA unless you or your spouse have some earned income that year. Again, I don't know about ROTHs. More and more financial planners or wealth managers are taking classes on disability finance law so you might want to interview a few by phone. If they don't know about the no penalty withdrawels from regular IRAs they haven't taken even a class at a weekend update course for finance and tax types.

and things can get really sketchy when you are already disabled. Most of the definition is around people who contribute then become disabled so be very careful that the advice you get has taken this into account.