I've been thinking of rolling my IRA over into my ROTH since it would have a fairly substantial benefit to me come withdrawal time (40 years from now). Went back and read the Fool postings on ROTHs (thanks for the links in the C-K port!) and found a question.

I just rolled money out of 401k and 403b plans into my IRA in the last month. Can I now roll it over into a ROTH? Looking over the IRS website (http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/prod/forms_pubs/pubs/p5900402.htm) there is a waiting period of one year and I'm not sure if it applies or not. I don't think it does since the rollover IRA was created from 401k/403b plans and not another IRA, correct?

FWIW, the monies in the IRA are all pre-tax. There was no employer match (bah!).

On a related note, should I try to get the IRA rolled into my current contributory account or into a new rollover one? I do not plan on withdrawing this money before retirement, so the 5-year rule doesn't concern me. The only thing that does is the idea that Congress might change the rules on ROTHs in the next 40 years in some way that affects contributory and rollover monies differently. Or am I just being paranoid?

Finally, how can I estimate the tax hit? If I do this before the end of the year I'll spread it across 4 years.

Zathrus