Help with 403b Rollover

[shady]

I have a 403b from residency which I'm trying to rollover. The account has 17.5k in Roth contributions and 1.1k in pre-tax contributions. From my understanding I can roll the 17.5k directly into my Roth IRA correct? This leaves 1.1k which I will need to roll into a traditional IRA. Unfortunately, Vanguard has a 3k minimum balance on rollovers. My workaround is to contribute 5500 to a traditional IRA, rollover the 1.1k into that account, then convert the 6600 balance backdoor into my Roth IRA understanding that the 1.1k will be a taxable event. Small amount so I figured not an issue. Please let me know if this is correct or there is a better way to work through it. Thanks.

[jfoxcpacfp]

shady wrote:

I have a 403b from residency which I’m trying to rollover. The account has 17.5k in Roth contributions and 1.1k in pre-tax contributions. From my understanding I can roll the 17.5k directly into my Roth IRA correct? This leaves 1.1k which I will need to roll into a traditional IRA. Unfortunately, Vanguard has a 3k minimum balance on rollovers. My workaround is to contribute 5500 to a traditional IRA, rollover the 1.1k into that account, then convert the 6600 balance backdoor into my Roth IRA understanding that the 1.1k will be a taxable event. Small amount so I figured not an issue. Please let me know if this is correct or there is a better way to work through it. Thanks.

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Better way? You could use a custodian that is more flexible. Otherwise, your scheme should work if VG will allow you to roll the $1,100 in.