35M. Looking for opinions on 401k to Roth conversations.
~650k in tax deferred retirement accounts (about half of it is from an old employer), ~350k in Roth IRA. 24% marginal tax.

Does it make sense to convert my old 401k to Roth now and “fill the tax bracket” to avoid taxes later?
Is there a general ratio of tax deferred vs Roth that you keep? Or do I want until I retire (by 50-55 hopefully) and fill lower tax brackets.

I max my 401k every year so there is naturally more growth there

Thanks!

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Two main things to consider in my mind.

1. What do you expect your income to be in retirement? If it’s below the range for the 24% bracket you’d be better off waiting to do it.

2. Roth conversion ladders. You can always withdraw the principal without penalty. If you convert now, by the time your start withdrawing you’ll have less principal (and more earnings) than if you wait to convert until later (where it would be almost all principal). You can still access the earnings through various means like 72t, but worth noting.

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If you plan to retire in your 50s you have tons of time to do conversions then until RMD. $350k in Roth is NICE! Well done.

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I did this analysis recently (and have around the same trad 401k balance as you) and decided to max my Roth 401k contributions moving forward. Assuming I continue at my current HSA contribution rate and my employer match goes into my traditional, I project that my trad 401k already maxes my 12% bracket at 5% withdrawal rate at a conservative 7% annual return scenario and would get close to maxing my 22% bracket at my optimistic 10% annual return scenario. I think it’s more prudent to add to roth 401k as I don’t want to risk adding more to either 22% or 24%.

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Aren't you filling the low brackets now using your earned income?

Roth conversions are usually for when you have less earned income.

Thanks for pointing the NY tax bracket part. Been focused on the federal bracket and not state. Perhaps filling up to 320k is the way to go for now. I’ll give that more thought.

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Thanks all for the thoughts! Much appreciated

Did not decide on a date or a number yet.
We have family expansion plans but don’t expect to have to touch existing savings if we do go from 3 to 4. It would certainly change the savings rate though.

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