"The optimal time to convert is when valuations in your traditional accounts are lower," said Suzanne Shier, chief tax strategist at Northern Trust.
That's because when you convert to a Roth, you pay income taxes in the present based on the amount converted from the traditional IRA. The tax bill will be lower if the value of the portfolio is down."If the market is tanking and you think it's going to go back up, right now is the time to do it," said Ed Slott, CPA and founder of Ed Slott and Co. "You have low tax rates and lower values."Jin Lee | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesFirst, there are the declining share values.
"Let's say we were going to convert $50,000, now we can do it with a greater number of shares," said David Oransky, a CPA and member of the American Institute of CPAs' Personal Financial Planning Executive Committee.