In 2018 I put 5k in a trad ira account, bought dropbox stock at $40, account value is $2k now. I’m assuming I can’t somehow recharacterize that account as a roth ira now (assuming there is some sort of deadline and taxes for 2018 have already been filed)?
I’m guessing converting it to a roth IRA is my only option correct? This shouldn’t affect my $6k contribution limits to roth ira in 2020, correct?
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Why would you want to recharacterize?(unless you had higher marginal tax rates last year) Then you’d pay income tax on $5k of income.
If you do a conversion this year, you pay taxes on the current value ($2k). So this is preferable compared to the hypothetical recharacterization.
Or you can leave it as traditional (it’s no different than other traditional funds you have, the original basis is not applicable to future decisions – there is no basis in traditional. ), depending on your long term roth/ traditional mix you are going for.
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I might convert it or wait for a future year when earnings are low. I see what you mean that hypo rechar makes no sense because I got a 5k deduction in 2018 for the full 5k.