By Dr. James M. Dahle, WCI Founder

It is not much different to do a Backdoor Roth IRA at Fidelity than it is at Vanguard, Charles Schwab, or anywhere else. The first step, of course, is making sure you have both a traditional IRA and a Roth IRA at Fidelity. It should only take a few minutes to open those up. Start with the traditional IRA.

 

Step 1: Contribute to Fidelity Traditional IRA

First, log into Fidelity. Then click on “Open an Account” at the top.

Open an account at Fidelity

 

 

Select “Open a Traditional IRA.” On the next page, confirm your personal information and hit confirm.

Fidelity Open Traditional IRA

 

Agree to the electronic delivery and open the account. Easy peasy.

 

Accept Electronic Records

 

You should now see it on the left side of the screen with your other Fidelity accounts.

 

Fidelity Accounts

 

Next, you'll need to fund that traditional IRA. It's easiest to just transfer it from your checking account.

 

Fidelity Fund IRA

 

Now you have $6,000 [2021 individual contribution limit] in your traditional IRA. You'll probably need to leave it in the traditional IRA one business day until you can see the $6,000 actually in the account. Now you just need to convert it to a Roth IRA.

 

Fidelity Traditional IRA

 

 

Step 2: Convert Fidelity Traditional IRA to Roth IRA

If you don't yet have a Roth IRA at Fidelity, you can open one up from the exact same place you opened up the traditional IRA from.

Fidelity Open Roth IRA

 

Log back in the next business day and hit “Transfer” at the top.

 

Transfer Money at Fidelity

 

 

Just transfer $6,000 from your traditional IRA to your Roth IRA.

Fidelity Roth Conversion

 

Do not have taxes withheld because there will not be any due.

 

Withhold Taxes Fidelity

 

Convert the entire balance. Be sure to leave the account open for next year.

 

Convert Entire Balance

 

 

Step 3: Choose Your Fidelity Roth IRA Investments

You can now invest it into your preferred investment within the Roth IRA in the usual manner.

If you have a question about the Backdoor Roth IRA and not Fidelity specifically, you should FIRST read this very in-depth Backdoor Roth IRA Tutorial before asking your question in the comments below. I promise you there is a 99% chance your question is answered there.

What do you think? Do you do your Backdoor Roth IRA at Fidelity? Why or why not? Comment below!