Date: Sat, 3 Jan 2004 20:18:56 CST
From: "cal-lester" 
Newsgroups: misc.invest.financial-plan
Subject: Re: ROTH as an emergency fund - revisited
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Mark0Young wrote:
> In article , "cal-lester"
>  writes:
> 
>> NONE, provided that the funds have been in the ROTH for a minimum of
>> FIVE years.
>> Since the contribution to the ROTH was NOT Income Tax Deductible,
>> then any funds (up to your basis) that you remove from the ROTH are
>> NON Income taxable.
> 
> Not according to the IRS! There is NO 5-year period for removing
> regular contributions from a Roth IRA.


                    I stand corrected. My fat fingers wrote the answer
                    before my brain was fully booted-up.
Cal



> 
> You can remove the regular contributions from a Roth IRA at
> any time, for any purpose, no tax, no penalty. (The actual
> investments may impose contingent deferred sales charges or surrender
> charges or the like, but those are imposed by those specific
> investments, not by the tax laws.) 
> 
> Now when it comes to earnings or conversions, there are
> 5-year periods involved and the rules are more complicated (e.g., for
> tax-free, penalty-free withdrawal of earnings, one way would be to
> have a Roth IRA for at least 5 years and be at least 59.5 years old).
> 
> See IRS Publication 590 for more information.
> 
> Mark A. Young