Interesting tidbit from the Fidelity Advisor
 

According to my Fidelity advisor,

The 5 year Roth IRA contribution - withdrawal clock starts when the account is opened,
even if there is no money in the account. . .

So for anyone who hasn't opened a ROTH ira for for conversions, and that is in your plans, open the ROTH IRA today and get the tax free penalty free clock starting now!

If others have differing opinions from their advisors or tax advisors, would love to hear them to be sure i am not relaying bad information. .

not a CFP guy

I'm missing something, all Roth withdrawal are tax free, regardless when they are taken. By definition a Roth is funded with after tax funds.

He’s talking about money transferred from an IRA into a Roth to make it tax free. You pay taxes on the money coming out of the IRA. There is a five year waiting period before you can touch those Roth funds. He wants to determine when that five year window starts. Is when you open the Roth or when you start to fund it.

Perhaps he meant to say ROTH “conversion” from an IRA account. Each conversion starts a new 5-year clock.
For Roth contributions (still working), you have immediate access.

My bad. The OP said conversion. Each has a 5-year wait.

hmmm, that's not the opinion of Schwab nor Fidelity:

link Roth IRA Withdrawal Rules | Withdrawal From Roth IRA | Charles Schwab

Over age 59½
Withdrawals from a Roth IRA you've had less than five years.
If you haven't met the five-year holding requirement, your earnings will be subject to taxes but not penalties.

Withdrawals from a Roth IRA you've had more than five years.
If you've met the five-year holding requirement, you can withdraw money from a Roth IRA with no taxes or penalties.

From the text from schwab, appears that ONLY the roth IRA, even if unfunded, can be withdrawn from after the age of 5 years, regardless of when the conversions were deposited. .

ie, the sooner you open a ROTH IRA, regardless of funding, the earlier you can tax withdrawals without taxes

Wealth advisors vs random internet posters, wealth advisors win

Even Michael Whitaker?:1rotfl:

I don't remember seeing a TOTV poster named michael whitaker??

Now what am i missing?

5 years comes fast !

The ROTH has to be open for 5 years before the gains can come out tax free

The 5-year rule on Roth conversions requires you to wait five years before withdrawing any converted balances — contributions or earnings — regardless of your age. If you take money out before the five years is up, you'll have to pay a 10% penalty when you file your tax return.

One bright spot: The clock starts ticking on the first day of the year you do the conversion, no matter what date the conversion actually happened. For example, you could execute the conversion on Dec. 15, 2020, and the five years would be up on Jan. 1, 2025.

Roth IRA 5-year Rule and Important Guidelines for Withdrawals

Two different things...................different rules.

My understand you must be working to contribute to a Roth IRA and you are limited on the amount you contribute. Wish it was different

That also includes any Roth 401k money you would rollover to a Roth IRA, not just IRA conversions to the Roth account. It also does not have to do with individual conversions. Say year 1 you convert some money, then year 2, etc. the money converted in year 4 would have a waiting period until Jan 1 of the 5th year, not 5 years unless you open an new Roth account for each conversion which seems like a headache to manage but maybe there are reasons like beneficiaries upon death.???

um, needs some clarity please . . oh man of few words