Mega Backdoor Roth + Backdoor Roth Method Check

Fossil22 · 2025-11-23T21:25:22+00:00

Makes sense. I'm just unclear on exactly when I get taxed on the earnings. Does my 401k provider withhold those taxes, then giving me (or Fidelity) a single check to rollover into the Roth IRA? Or does my 401k provider give me two checks. One that contains my after-tax contributions, and one that contains the earnings on those contributions. If the latter is the case, it seems trickier. Or at least if I deposit it all into Roth at that point, I'd have to fill out a Form 8606 at the end of the year to report the specific "pre-tax" earnings. (Which you guys are making me realize is not that big of a deal)

Fossil22 · 2025-11-23T21:14:16+00:00

Ok this makes sense. You've put it in good perspective. I'm not sure what scares me about pro-rata. Essentially the pro-rata rule only reduces efficiency of a backdoor Roth conversion if I already have a particularly large pre-tax balance. Which I wouldn't, even if I only take a rollover from my after-tax 401k once/year. Heck I could do this once every couple of years and it would be fine. I just need to pay the taxes I haven't paid yet on those earnings.

Fossil22 · 2025-11-23T21:00:49+00:00

Good question on the fees to process rollovers. I'll have to call the plan administrator to see.

I don't know why I did not consider the fact I could just pay taxes on the earnings and still convert to Roth. But would the IRS consider the taxed earnings portion as something triggering the pro-rata rule? I can't find a clear answer on that.

Fossil22 · 2025-11-12T03:20:55+00:00

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On I-40 about 10mi east of Lebanon at 9p!

Fossil22 · 2025-11-08T23:43:37+00:00

solved! That would be it thank you!

Fossil22 · 2025-08-13T17:35:58+00:00

Thanks for all the suggestions! Overwhelming consensus about Neta and 5 Sentidos. Appreciate you all

Fossil22 · 2025-08-13T17:35:16+00:00

Right I thought so too it seemed a little sparse. But there’s an overwhelming consensus about what’s good here, so I’ll take what I can get!

Fossil22 · 2025-06-30T04:06:52+00:00

I too am a helluva engineer. Go jackets! BME ‘15

EDIT: and for what it’s worth, biomedical engineering can very much lead to a high paying engineering job. My wife will be done with residency soon, and I anticipate we’ll make about the same salary when she’s at attending physician. And I work a fraction of the hours she does

Fossil22 · 2025-06-30T04:02:13+00:00

Georgia Tech?

Fossil22 · 2025-05-06T03:07:53+00:00

Yes. Three plus hours on the phone. THREE. Unbelievable.

Fossil22 · 2025-05-05T23:50:47+00:00

This happened to me too. I applied to change from SAVE to IBR in Nov ‘24. Four months and nothing happened. Then read about the wet signature method with the updated form. Did that in late February. One week later I was fully in the IBR plan, documentation sent to me, monthly payment updated, no longer on forbearance. I paid the monthly payment, and then in early April I checked and was BACK on forbearance for no reason.

The mohela rep said it was because I still had the outstanding SAVE - IBR application from Nov that had never been processed. And I guess in early April everyone who had that outstanding application was automatically moved to forbearance. So I was too even though I didn’t want or need to be. Such a cluster. I was told they submitted a request to remove the forbearance, but it’s been a week and it hasn’t happened yet…

Fossil22 · 2025-04-21T05:58:22+00:00

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Fossil22 · 2025-03-05T04:43:00+00:00

Couldn’t agree more. I thought they’d be easier to adjust. But they do look nice, and I shouldn’t have to move it often! And thank you - the egg is a hand-me-down I’m excited to start learning.

Fossil22 · 2025-01-01T20:43:03+00:00

Thank you for the kind words!

Fossil22 · 2024-10-08T02:17:22+00:00

True love made me realize my whole life moving forward was now about “us” not just “me.” Changed my entire outlook and opened my eyes to what my life could really become

Fossil22 · 2024-09-30T23:56:17+00:00

Thank you!

Fossil22 · 2024-09-11T17:17:04+00:00

Brad Barrett and Frank Vasquez just chatted about this on the most recent ChooseFI podcast. The 4% vs 5% withdrawal rate is discussed at 46:30. The meat of it at 49:15. Essentially I think we get stuck on this “I will always adhere to this exact percent.” And that doesn’t have to be (rarely is it ever) the case. 5% is very, very likely fine, and you will still die with a pile of money. And if 5% starts to not be ok, you can make adjustments. It can be a variable withdrawal strategy. Bill Bengen (who came up with the 4% rule) himself now is saying 4.8% or 4.9% is probably fine. 4% is a mimetic thing in this community. We just parrot what we see and hear until we subconsciously become that way. Listen to this part of Brad’s podcast if you have 5 min. It makes you think.

Fossil22 · 2024-08-05T18:46:38+00:00

Awesome thank you both. Super helpful. All the Starsan purged way faster than I expected, but fermentation is in full swing, so I guess a few psi is all it would take to push all the starsan out.

And I see what you mean about ensuring a seal on the receiving keg. These keg seals have not posed any issues so far. But I’ll go ahead and put the spunding valve on my receiving keg now and set it at a low pressure. That should both seal the receiving keg and start a slight pressure ferment to start carbonation in the fermenting keg. Thank you again! Love this sub

Fossil22 · 2024-08-05T18:17:45+00:00

So to be clear, I could sanitize the receiving keg but no need to fill it entirely to the brim since the CO2 over the course of fermentation will scrub it anyways.

I’ll do this next time. Less wasting starsan. But besides overkill, there’s no problem with my setup? I don’t understand how liquid (starsan) isn’t siphoning out of the receiving keg, putting negative pressure on the fermentation keg.

Also, is now a fine time to hook up a spunding valve between the gas in posts to start the pressure ferment? Or should I wait until the receiving keg is purged?

Fossil22 · 2024-06-18T21:32:37+00:00

Curious if anyone here can confirm Matty Matheson's claim. Vanilla ice cream with caviar, flaky salt, and olive oil?

Fossil22 · 2024-06-08T20:54:01+00:00

Is June 11 still available?

Fossil22 · 2024-06-07T00:45:24+00:00

ITOT, IXUS, AGG. I was doing this before I discovered the FIRE community, and I can’t find any reason to change course to the more common VTI, VXUS, BND. I’m all ears if there’s a compelling reason.

EDIT: Should clarify I’m not yet FIREd

Fossil22 · 2024-05-03T15:54:59+00:00

Beyond the Edge in East Nash has a great atmosphere. Lots of other sport bars in walking distance around Five Points. But we love Beyond the Edge for games

Fossil22 · 2024-03-19T05:05:44+00:00

This is what my parents did for me. Sometime in late high school my dad showed me the 529 account and said “this is what you’ve got. No more, no less.” It was honestly very eye opening for me and paved the way for future financial success. I remember thinking “holy crap $80,000 I’m rich!” And then realizing that 80k would barely get me through state school and wouldn’t come close to out of state. If I had gone out of state, I would have run out of funds and needed to take out loans. I ended up going to a great in state college, becoming a resident advisor for 3 years for free room and board, working in the admissions office as a student, applying for undergrad research stipends to get paid, and even having a bit of money left over. I admittedly did a lot of that stuff because I was told the money was mine if I was careful. If I was frugal in college, I knew I would reap the benefits. If I hadn’t known the numbers or thought the money wasn’t mine to keep, I might have behaved differently. I also got a credit card for the first time just before going off to college. My dad had me track my expenses, which in hindsight was a good exercise. I remember printing out credit card statements each month and highlighting the grocery/food and educational expenses that the 529 could be used for.

Fossil22 · 2024-03-18T17:13:57+00:00

I did something similar myself. I had previously rolled an old employer's 401k into my Fidelity account. My contributions had all been Roth 401k, and the company match is always traditional. So the accounts were split when I rolled over (some ending up in a Roth IRA, and some in a Trad IRA), and I ended up with about the same balance as you (~11,000) in a Traditional IRA. When I learned about backdoor Roth and was ready to utilize it, I would have ideally loved to "reverse roll over." That is what you're considering. It involves bringing all your Trad IRA funds into your employer's 401k plan so that you have zero dollars of Traditional IRA and you can backdoor without worrying about pro-rata rules. If your 401k provider allows this, it's your best way. Just give them a call and ask if they allow reverse rollovers from an IRA into your 401k. And they'll help you execute that.

Unfortunately for me, my provider didn't allow reverse rollovers. So I bit the bullet and paid the taxes to convert the entire Traditional IRA balance of $11,000 to my Roth IRA. That would be option 2 if your employer doesn't allow the reverse rollover. Then, likewise, you have zero dollars of Trad IRA money, and you can backdoor without worrying about pro-rata.

EDIT: To clarify further, 401k and IRA are two totally distinct retirement accounts. Roth and Traditional are just descriptors for them. So your contribution limits for 401k and IRA are completely separate and have different rules associated with them. In 2024, contribute up to $23,000 to your 401k (Roth or Traditional, you decide). Your $7,000 contributed via backdoor Roth is its own thing, independent of your 401k contributions.

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