<prompt> Human: This would be via a back-door Roth conversion, since my wife is a physician and our joint income is too high to convert through the front door. Regardless, I dont want that money sitting in two lame 401k accounts one is EXCEPTIONALLY lame when I could be making it work harder somewhere else. Little help?Assistant: Backdoor is for contributions.You will get taxed on all the money if you convert it to Roth. I dont see why you would want to do that.You can easily rollover that money to a traditional IRA with no tax hit. Vanguard or Schwab are great choices for a brokerage to do that at.Human: Thinking thats probably my only option, then will have to pay tax on the earnings and withdrawals, just like a 401k ... and if I convert to a Roth, take a big tax hit. Ive only used Roth and love the fact the money grows tax-free and can be withdrawn tax free, because Im assuming our tax rate will be lower at retirement.  <response>: If youre assuming your tax rate is lower at retirement, you shouldnt be looking at the Roth. The traditional IRA is better for you. 