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I apologize ahead of time for what is probably a very basic question, but one that I’m not 100% confident I’ve found the answer to. It may be a big headache if I get it wrong, so I wanted to be sure.
I’ll be finishing fellowship and starting an attending job this year. I suspect my total income for 2019 will put me right at the cusp of eligibility for contributing directly to a Roth IRA (vs doing the backdoor). My question is this: when calculating my Modified Adjusted Gross Income to determine eligibility for a direct Roth contribution, is this number reduced by the amount that I contribute to pre-tax retirement plans? For example, if I make $220,000 in 2019, but contribute $19,000 each to a 401k and a 457, does that put me at $182,000 and therefore eligible? (I am married).
I know I could avoid this headache by just going through the backdoor if I am unsure, but I have already made some direct Roth contributions and would rather not go through the trouble of recharacterizing them first if I don’t have to.
Thanks.
I’ll be finishing fellowship and starting an attending job this year. I suspect my total income for 2019 will put me right at the cusp of eligibility for contributing directly to a Roth IRA (vs doing the backdoor). My question is this: when calculating my Modified Adjusted Gross Income to determine eligibility for a direct Roth contribution, is this number reduced by the amount that I contribute to pre-tax retirement plans? For example, if I make $220,000 in 2019, but contribute $19,000 each to a 401k and a 457, does that put me at $182,000 and therefore eligible? (I am married).
I know I could avoid this headache by just going through the backdoor if I am unsure, but I have already made some direct Roth contributions and would rather not go through the trouble of recharacterizing them first if I don’t have to.
Thanks.
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