Motley fool

Ira watch

Under a recent tax-law change, more people past age 70 1/2, the age at which people are generally required to begin taking annual distributions from traditional IRAs, have the option to convert their existing IRAs to Roth IRAs. That can be attractive because Roth holders aren’t required to pull money out in their lifetimes and any withdrawals by Roth holders or their heirs are generally tax-free. There’s a steep cost to convert, but it can pay off if you want to maximize IRA dollars to leave to your heirs.