ot inet ...
I appreciate your willingness to talk constructively. And isn't it interesting that my post to you got zapped? I can't imagine why -- all I did was say you were showing your abysmal ignorance. Was that bad form, after you'd attacked me? Seems pretty mild compared with some of the insults regularly hurled at posters here, by you and others.
But oh well.
That aside ... I do understand what you're saying, but perhaps you're overlooking something. Of course I have no idea what your tax situation is, but it seems to me that you could roll over your IRA into a ROth and come out ahead. Yes, upfront taxes are due for the rollover/conversion year -- even though it seems seamless, it's a two-step process, technically and for tax purposes, the first being a distribution from the IRA and the second opening a Roth. Taxes would be due on all earnings and on tax-deferred contributions in the IRA, if any. That could be a major hit, depending on your tax bracket, etc.
But you might not know you can roll over only a portion of your IRA and mitigate those taxes, if that's a consideration. If you set up a 2nd Roth later, the same clock ticks for the 2nd Roth, from the date of your first rollover. (Not sure how many other rollovers you can do after the first one.) That way, you would continue to withdraw whatever the minimum requirement is from your IRA for your own needs and let the Roth grow unfettered. Assuming you don't deplete your traditional IRA within those 5 years, you've got both accounts working for you -- one growing tax free and the other paying out.
Now ... if something should happen to you before the 5-year Roth wait is up (and it starts as of Jan 1 in the year of the rollover, not as of the actual date -- so a Dec 31, 2005 rollover is treated as if it had been done on Jan 1, 2005; Dec 31, 2006 as of Jan 1, 2006; etc), there well might not be any taxes due at all. Disability is one of those qualifying events, as it is for a traditional IRA. If you should die, same thing for your "qualified" dependents, and at this point in time dependents who qualify include even grandchildren.
Say you set up a Roth on 2006 and named a qualifying family member as beneficiary and then died before reaching 87 or before Jan 1, 2011 or whatever (I find it hard to think that will happen -- you seem pretty tough to me, and I sincerely applaud you for that). As I understand it, no taxes due on his/her "inheritance."
I think another qualifying event for a tax-free Roth distribution before death or disability is the first-time purchase of a home, even for a child or grandchild -- not sure about that, though.
I used to know and communicate a great deal about tax-free and tax-deferred retirement income plans/accounts, inet. But here's my usual caveat, then and now: tax laws are complicated and change frequently so see your happy IRS- and IRA/Roth-savvy tax advisor and do not take anything I write as advice, much less gospel.
That said, it seems to me you could "work the system" more effectively. Especially if your IRA is mostly made up of CDEX stock and you believe it "may" be worth $20/share at some point (which as you well know I think is beyond laughable, but to each his own). As you also undoubtedly know, you can invest within a tax-deferred or tax-free account, without taking a distribution, and keep the tax man at bay; maybe you can find an even "more promising" stock to put your money in, one without the "tainted" history of loch/cdex. I hope you appreciate my tactful understatement. I could have said "rank and foul".
Buena suerte.
