What about a recharacterization of a roth to a traditional?

Convert Roth IRA to Traditional?

• When I first opened my IRA, I chose to do a Roth since I had a very low income at the time and figured it would benefit me the most due to my low income. However, recently I found a new job with a higher income. Out of curiosity, I was wondering if it was possible to convert a Roth IRA to a Traditional IRA some time down the road? Please keep in mind that I opened the Roth IRA first. I didn't convert it from a Traditional so I don't think the recharacterization process would work with it. Unless I misread something. Thank you.

• Answer:

  The decision to invest in a Roth vs. traditional IRA really has little to do with income. It has more to do with your investment horizon and how that affects your tax liability. In a traditional IRA, you invest pretax dollars and pay taxes on withdrawals. With a Roth IRA, you invest after-tax dollars and earnings are tax free. So you can see how for someone young investing for the long-term, the Roth IRA has big time advantages. If you've already done a Roth, stay with in.