Roth IRA Mistakes, Part 2: EDU #2602

The Retirement and IRA Show

Jim Saulnier, CFP® & Chris Stein, CFP®

Business, Investing

4.3 • 729 Ratings

🗓️ 14 January 2026

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Chris’s Summary
Jim and I continue last week’s EDU discussion on Roth IRA mistakes from an Investopedia article. We cover direct versus 60-day rollovers, the one-per-365-day IRA-to-IRA limit, and the 401(k) 20% withholding rule with the RMD and NUA exceptions. We revisit backdoor Roth mechanics and the pro rata rule, then shift to beneficiary designation forms and why naming an estate creates probate and creditor issues. We close with inherited Roth withdrawal timing under SECURE Act rules and the 10-year window.

Jim’s “Pithy” Summary
Chris and I pick up where last week’s EDU episode left off, using the Investopedia Roth mistakes article as a launching point to correct what they compress or misstate. The rollover section is where people get hurt, because they describe the old IRA rule like it was “once per calendar year,” and it wasn’t. It’s a 365-day framework, and the one-per-365-day limit still matters when you do the “show me the money” version of a rollover. I also keep pushing back on indirect rollovers from a 401(k), because the 20% withholding isn’t optional. There are narrow exceptions—but those aren’t general flexibility, they’re specific rules people routinely misunderstand.

The other item that’s far more important than its position on the list is beneficiary designation forms. These accounts pass by beneficiary form first, not your will, which can create probate delays, attorney fees, and creditor complications for the people left to sort it out. Chris adds the practical version of the same mistake: circumstances change, paperwork doesn’t. Old beneficiaries stay on file, and the form controls the outcome even when it creates an awkward situation.

We also get into inherited Roth timing under the SECURE framework—who qualifies as an eligible designated beneficiary, what the 10-year window actually requires, and why Roths don’t fit the required beginning date logic the way traditional accounts do. That difference matters when you’re thinking about flexibility for heirs and how long the account can sit untouched. If the real goal is the zero in the 2-1-0 Tax Ordering Number, the logic behind leaving a Roth can look very different than what you’d conclude from a short listicle about Roth IRA mistakes.

Show Notes: Article – 11 Mistakes to Avoid With Your Roth IRA

The post Roth IRA Mistakes, Part 2: EDU #2602 appeared first on The Retirement and IRA Show.

Transcript

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0:52.8	Join us as certified financial planner Jim Sondier, as well as Colorado State University Finance Instructor and Certified Financial
0:55.2	Planner Chris Stein teach you about IRAs, borrow-en-case, annuities, Social Security, pension
1:01.4	plans, and estate planning in a fun and enjoyable show. Whether you are listening live in Colorado
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1:18.5	That's Jim H-E-L-P-S dot com and click the Meet the Team button on the homepage.
1:24.8	Now here's Jim and Chris with today's show.
1:35.8	Thank you. button on the homepage. Now, here's Jim and Chris with today's show. Well, hello and welcome to the Retirement and IRA show EDU edition for the week.
1:41.2	Sorry, the intro music went a little on the long side, had a little technical
1:44.5	difficulty, but we're good to go now. Today's show, we're going to continue on kind of
1:51.7	examining and commenting upon an article that Jim brought to all of our attention last week on
1:59.3	the EDU show. It's an article that was posted about nine months ago or so on
2:05.5	Investopedia. And the name of the article was 11 mistakes to avoid with your Roth IRA. So we've been
2:13.9	kind of going through these. We made it through the first five last week, and we'll try to knock out the rest today.
2:22.8	And kind of add our own input or color or whatever you want to call it to these talking about things we agree with, maybe don't agree with, and maybe the rest of the
2:35.1	story. A lot of these online top 10, or in this case top 11 lists, are interesting topics,
2:43.4	but they are usually edited to be so concise, maybe overly concise, and they don't maybe tell the whole story about the particular
	...

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