Roth -> Traditional IRA .... for this years contribution

[raleigh_mustache]

I have very recently come into the MMM community and began pilfering all the knowledge I can. Instead of waiting till next year to begin all my MMM dreams ... I'd like to even look at everything I can do for this year. I have already been maxing out my 401k and Roth IRA, and then placing any extra into Vanguard Index's, so I think that is mostly all good. What I am wondering is, for this year, I have already funded my Roth IRA for $5500. I would like to move this to Traditional because of everything I have been learning about with IRA Rollovers. I am currently 27 and plan to retire hopefully around 37, so the rollover should be in full effect for many years before "normal" retirement age.

Given this, is it allowed to remove my $5500 ROTH IRA contribution for this year, and place it into a Traditional IRA without any penalties? I already had a $5500 contribution last year, so I can't claim this years contribution for last year unfortunately.

Thanks for any help in advance!

[sherr]

You can, see here for more information. http://www.investopedia.com/articles/retirement/03/092403.asp

The easiest thing is to call Vanguard (or whoever) and tell them what you want to do, they should be able to take care of the rest.

[SoCal Spartan]

Definitely possible. I am actually in the process of moving contributions from my Roth to a Traditional for tax purposes in 2013. I went about it the wrong way however, and assumed I could just withdraw from my Roth and contribute that amount into the Traditional. Turns out it doesn't work that way.

Like sherr said, call Vanguard and they will take care of you.

[raleigh_mustache]

Thanks for all the feedback. Without this forum I would have done exactly as you SoCal and just moved the money myself ... :/