I've read up a bit on the mechanics of the 401k to Roth pipeline conversion and think I understand it pretty well, but have some unresolved questions I was hoping the forum could help with:
1) Do you first need to roll your 401k into a Traditional IRA account before beginning your Roth pipeline conversions? I think I read somewhere that you do, but if that was wrong and you can just make conversion withdrawals directly from the 401k to Roth you can probably ignore the next couple questions.
2) Do FIRE'd folks typically roll just the amount they plan to add to the pipeline annually, or their entire 401k account to tIRA in one fell swoop, or is it dependent on the investment options and expense ratios offered by your 401k plan?
3) Finally, if you do need to use a tIRA as an intermediary, can you set up such an account solely for that purpose?
Thanks in advance!