Backdoor Roth IRA 2022: A Step by Step Guide with Vanguard

In 2022, I made my 10th pair of “backdoor Roth” IRA contributions with Vanguard. It’s a great way for high-income professionals to contribute to a Roth IRA when earning “too much” to contribute directly to a Roth IRA.

As of January 5, 2022, the process is complete on both my wife’s mutual fund IRA account and my brokerage IRA account.

It’s important to note that if legislation proposed in September, 2021 becomes law, the backdoor Roth could soon cease to be an option for high-income households.

Backdoor Roth IRA 2022: A Step by Step Guide with Vanguard

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While income limits are a non-issue for the backdoor, there exists one important prerequisite to be able to properly execute the backdoor Roth.

Before Attempting a Backdoor Roth

If you do hold tax-deferred IRA dollars on 12/31 of the calendar year in which you made the Roth conversion, you’ll be subject to taxes when making your conversion per the pro-rata rule.

You cannot have tax-deferred money in a traditional IRA, SEP IRA, or SIMPLE IRA in your name.

If you haven’t done so already, you’ll need to open a Traditional IRA. I won’t walk through all the steps, but it should be straightforward. You’ll start by selecting “Open an account” from the top of the page.

Completing the backdoor Roth with Vanguard:

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