With the value of most traditional IRAs lowered because of stock market problems, this could be a great time to convert to a Roth IRA.
Each dollar you convert is taxed as ordinary income, so fewer dollars mean less tax. If you are under age 50, you can contribute $5,000 a year to a Roth. If you are 50 or over, it’s $6,000.
Contributions to a Roth can be withdrawn without penalty at any time.
Distributions, interest and dividends are tax-free if you are at least 59 1/2 and the account has been established for longer than five years.
You can contribute after age 70 1/2 as long as you have earned income. There are no required minimum distributions during your lifetime.
Another benefit of the Roth: Tax-free distributions can be passed to your beneficiaries. Call us for more info. anytime.

Drawn by the real estate opportunity of a lifetime, thousands of small investors are stepping back into the market, say the experts quoted Fortune.
They’re not the only ones drawn by bargain prices on everything from single-family homes, to duplexes and apartment houses. In December, there was a 6 percent increase in the sale of existing homes. (In January, new home construction figures were rising as well.)
Here’s how to get the best deals:
* Work with your real estate agent. The agent will be familiar with available properties and circumstances of the sellers. It’s important to know how long properties been on the market, which properties are entering foreclosure proceedings, and which homes are in good condition.
* Your real estate agent will be up-to-date on current government offers for home buyers and mortgage interest rates.
What you can do to help:
* Be prequalified by your lender in order to close a loan quickly.
* For properties in foreclosure, be prepared with a cash down payment.
* Consider a “short sale.” Your real estate agent can negotiate on your behalf with a bank and a homeowner about to go into foreclosure. It allows you more time to arrange financing. Since the lender has fewer costs, you could get a better price.

Low mortgage interest rates are prompting a surge in refinancing. More than 85 percent of all mortgage activity in one recent week involved refinancing, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Because many lenders have reduced their staffs in the last couple of years, they are now lacking the manpower to quickly process refinancing requests.

Mortgage Master, a lender in the Northeast, will hire up to 200 people in the next year. They say that, at this time, 90 percent of their mortgages are refinancings.

While the biggest banks are suffering from a subprime mortgage fallout, community banks and credit unions haven’t had big losses. They never made risky loans.

Credit unions are different from other financial institutions because they are not-for-profit cooperatives. They are owned by the members and often operated by volunteer boards.

One financial analyst interviewed on Fox Business says the shareholders and board members in credit unions know their own money is at risk when they make a loan, so they are more conservative.

The capital in credit unions is at an all-time high, according to the Credit Unions National Association, Inc., in Madison, Wisc. It’s a safety cushion that protects them against loss and that allows them to continue in spite of recessions or turbulent financial markets.

They are known for share accounts, which may pay a little more interest than bank savings accounts, and for their auto loans, which may cost a little less. Most also offer mortgages.

The lifeline of credit union funds is particularly important now because big banks have tightened their lending standards and may only make loans to people with the highest credit scores.

Some credit unions can refinance subprime mortgages, and offer banking products no longer available from other lenders, including a five-year adjustable-rate mortgage. One reason: They don’t pay dividends to shareholders. The money is reinvested in loans to meet the needs of their members.

The American Bankers Association encourages consumers trying to consolidate debt or refinance mortgages to contact community banks. While they are typically conservative, according to The Wall Street Journal, they have plenty of money to lend.