Pablo and his wife Bernita are both age 58. Their combined AGI is $99,000. Neither is a participant in an employer-sponsored retirement plan. They have been contributing to a traditional IRA for many years and have built up an IRA balance of $120,000. They are considering rolling the traditional IRA into a Roth IRA.

Required:

1. Is the couple eligible to make the conversion?
2. Assume that the couple does not make the conversion but, instead, establishes a separate Roth IRA in the current year and properly contributes $2,450 per year for four years, at which point the balance in the Roth is $21,000 (contributions plus investment earnings). At the end of four years, they withdraw $16,500 to pay for an addition to their house. What is the amount of withdrawal that is taxable, if any?
3. Assume same facts as in requirement b, except that they instead withdrew only $6,000. What is the amount of withdrawal that is taxable?
4. What if the $16,500 withdrawal is used to pay qualified education expenses for their daughter who is attending college?