conversation: User (thestereofield): "Hey ya’ll, I searched and searched and couldn’t find a post with my exact situation, so I wanted to get some advice.\n\nMy situation: \nI earned more than expected this year, putting me in the phaseout range for Roth IRA contributions. I already maxed out the full amount (5500) for 2017, which means I need to remove $4300 plus the earnings. \nI’m also covered with lame 401k through Wells Fargo w/ no match. \nAnd I have about 5k in a traditional IRA, with all of the contributions deducted from a few years ago. \n\nBased on my research, I’m thinking of doing this: \n1. reverse rollover the traditional IRA to my 401k to avoid the taxation on the deducted funds\n2. Recharacterize my 2017 Roth contributions as traditional non-deductible contributions.\n3. Do a backdoor conversion of those contributions back into my Roth.\n\nIs this the right approach financially? And Would I avoid paying any taxes with this strategy? Is there something I’m missing?\n\nThanks for your help!"
  Self: " #2 and #3 (recharacterize as traditional contributions and then conversion to Roth) are sound.\n\nYou can do a partial conversion of the traditional, so step #1 is not necessary."
  User (thestereofield): "I was thinking I could skip 1 initially, but I’ve read that I would need to pay pro-rata income tax on the rollover amount. \nThis article explains it: https://www.irahelp.com/slottreport/4-things-know-about-roth-ira-conversions-and-pro-rata-rule "
  