Backdoor Roth IRA timeline

[NoobMD]

Hi everyone,

I rolled over from traditional IRA to Roth IRA in 09/18. Do I have to wait until 09/19 or after 04/15/2019 to roll over to Roth IRA for 2019? Can I roll over for 2019 calendar year in 01/19? Thank you for your help.

[Peds]

Huh?

You can't start 2019 until 2019 starts.

[NoobMD]

Hi Peds,

I want to find out if I need to wait until 09/19, after filing tax for 2018 on 4/15/19, or on 1/19?

[NoobMD]

I am confused because some reddit forum states that I have to wait until after 04/15/19 to roll over for 2019 year.

[MaxPower]

You can only contribute $5,500 for 2018, and $6,000 for 2019 (in 2018 and 2019, respectively) to your IRA. And I assume when you said “rolled over” you meant converted from traditional IRA to Roth IRA. You can contribute to a traditional IRA for 2019 once the calendar reads 2019, and then convert as soon as it is in your traditional IRA. No need to wait for 4/15/19 or September 2019.

[NoobMD]

Yeah I mean rolling over to backdoor IRA. Is the amount limit for people <50 at 5500? This is my second year of backdoor ira so I want to make sure that I do it correctly. Thank you for your help.

[MaxPower]

Yes, this year (2018) the limit for someone under 50 is $5,500, and next year it is $6,000.

[Peds]

You can convert as soon as the money clears.

[NoobMD]

Just want to confirm that I can roll over to backdoor Roth IRA for 2019 on 01/01/2019. The contribution amount is $6000. Is that correct? Thank you Max.

[Peds]

1/2. Market is closed 1/1.

[NoobMD]

Thank you Peds. I am a noob so I want to make sure I don’t make any mistakes. ?

[jhwkr542]

To clarify, when you converted your traditional IRA to Roth IRA 9/2018, where did those traditional IRA contributions come from? Were they non-deductible contributions made in 2018? Or were they from a prior year or rolled over from a prior 401k?

[NoobMD]

I put $5500 post tax money into traditional Ira then roll over to Roth IRA the next day. I followed one of the posts on WCI.