The Real Roth Conversion

23 Oct 2026 · 1 min

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1:05

In this video, Craig Wear, CFP®, clarifies a common misconception about Roth IRA conversion deadlines. While the legal deadline is December 31, most custodians (e.g., Schwab, Fidelity, Morgan) impose an internal cutoff a few weeks earlier due to high December volume. Conversions submitted after this internal date may not post until the new year, causing the conversion to count for the following tax year. Unlike IRA contributions, there is no extended deadline, and late submissions can effectively miss the intended tax year. Wear likens early action to a Disneyland FastPass and urges viewers to call their custodian immediately after watching, asking four specific questions: the custodian’s cutoff date, required paperwork, processing time, and how confirmation will be provided. He emphasizes that once a conversion is processed, it cannot be undone, making early, informed action essential.

Chapters

One thing we see so many people get wrong about Roth conversions is their personal deadline to convert. So it's important to know when that actually is. Because while December 31st is the legal deadline, your real deadline is probably a couple of weeks earlier than that. Why? Well, your custodian usually has an internal cutoff. So you may use a Schwab or Fidelity or Morgan or one of those. December is their busiest month and they work conversion requests in order that they come in. So if you get your conversion request in too late and it doesn't post until January 2nd, all of a sudden it's a conversion that counts next year, not this year. And this isn't like an IRA contribution where you get until mid-April to get it done. If you wait until mid or late December, you're basically standing in line. But if you check this item off your list now, that's a lot like having a FastPass at Disneyland. So whatever month you're watching this in, I want you to call your custodian right after the video and ask them 4 simple questions. What's your cutoff date? What paperwork do you need? How long does processing take? And how will you confirm the conversion went through? Get those answers early because once the conversion goes through, there's no undo button. You're stuck with whatever You did.