From a previous employer, I had a traditional 401K which upon leaving that job I rolled into a traditional IRA.
With a Roth IRA you can withdraw the "contributions" but not the gains.
My question is, if I convert my traditional IRA to a roth IRA (and thus pay tax on it as if it were income in the current tax year), can I then withdraw my "contributions"?
If the answer is yes, then how are the "contributions" calculated? I see 3 likely possibilities:
- Amount originally contributed from paycheck during time of employment
- Amount at time of rollover to traditional IRA
- Amount at time of conversion from traditional IRA to Roth IRA
From a tax-fairness perspective, case 1 seems most appropriate. But the amount of the original contributions would be difficult or impossible for the current investment management company to determine.