Great video. Just discovered your channel and you have a new subscriber.
One question on something that confused me. I have both a SEP and rollover IRA. If I open a new separate traditional IRA to do the backdoor Roth, I won't have to prorate anything with my other IRA's as they're separate accounts at the same brokerage. Just want to confirm.
This is a end of year strategy because the final day you can do a conversion for 2025 tax year is December 31st 2025. This is not true for regular contributions but any conversion dollars count for the tax year that the conversion actually occurred in. For example, a conversion done in January 2026 must count towards the 2026 contribution limit, not 2025.
Thanks, a very helpful video. I have a question – Does this 2-step (contribute to Traditional IRA and then transfer to Roth IRA) process need to be done every year that I want to contribute to the Roth IRA? What happens if I contribute directly to the Roth IRA without first contributing to and transferring from the Traditional IRA?
I have a SEP IRA for my business over the years I’ve been contributing to it, so does this mean I will need to get rid of this SEP IRA before I can do a backdoor Roth IRA? If so what are my options?
Spot on, Mat. We only started using the backdoor Roth a few years ago, but honestly it changed everything for us. High earners don’t get many chances at tax-free growth, so getting guidance and finding a way into a Roth without hitting income limits was huge. We’re in our mid-50s now, house almost paid off, and sitting around ~$4M invested. The biggest surprise is how much control the Roth gives us for future taxes and RMD planning — way more than we expected!
Ask Mat: https://matsorensen.com/ask-mat/
Great video. Just discovered your channel and you have a new subscriber.
One question on something that confused me. I have both a SEP and rollover IRA. If I open a new separate traditional IRA to do the backdoor Roth, I won't have to prorate anything with my other IRA's as they're separate accounts at the same brokerage. Just want to confirm.
Thanks.
This is a end of year strategy because the final day you can do a conversion for 2025 tax year is December 31st 2025. This is not true for regular contributions but any conversion dollars count for the tax year that the conversion actually occurred in. For example, a conversion done in January 2026 must count towards the 2026 contribution limit, not 2025.
Thanks, a very helpful video. I have a question – Does this 2-step (contribute to Traditional IRA and then transfer to Roth IRA) process need to be done every year that I want to contribute to the Roth IRA? What happens if I contribute directly to the Roth IRA without first contributing to and transferring from the Traditional IRA?
I have a SEP IRA for my business over the years I’ve been contributing to it, so does this mean I will need to get rid of this SEP IRA before I can do a backdoor Roth IRA? If so what are my options?
Spot on, Mat. We only started using the backdoor Roth a few years ago, but honestly it changed everything for us. High earners don’t get many chances at tax-free growth, so getting guidance and finding a way into a Roth without hitting income limits was huge. We’re in our mid-50s now, house almost paid off, and sitting around ~$4M invested. The biggest surprise is how much control the Roth gives us for future taxes and RMD planning — way more than we expected!
This is the best video on YouTube about Backdoor Roth! Thank YOU!!!
Plain and simple, slow down! No one can think and grasp a concept faster than you can talk