Claud is an Associate Vice President for Executive Regional Sales Consulting and Data Analytics, earning taxable income of $$295,000.$ He participates in his company$$s $401($k$)$ plan. He also has $$415,000$ in his traditional IRA account, and a Roth IRA account with a balance of $$67,000.$ Claud is $55$ and hopes to retire in about $5$ years. His home mortgage is paid off, and he expects to have very low fixed expenses during retirement, so his withdrawals each year during retirement should be relatively low compared to his current salary. Assume that Congress will not raise or lower taxes and Claud files single.

a$.$ Should Claud make contributions to his Roth IRA this year? Why or why not?

b$.$ Should Claud do a Roth conversion this year? Why or why not? If yes, how much do you recommend he convert?