Ask an Advisor: Who Can Help Me Execute a Roth Conversion While My Income Is Low?

Brandon Renfro, CFP®

Tue, May 19, 2026 at 5:00 AM EDT 5 min read

SmartAsset and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue through links in the content below.

Which professional do I need for the tax calculation of a Roth conversion? A CFP, financial advisor or tax preparer? I’ve reached out to tax preparers before but they seemed to have no idea what I was talking about. My income right now is very low so I would like to take advantage of this opportunity. However, I found out last year that I need to do the transaction during the current calendar year, not at tax prep time, which makes things a little more complicated. Any info about how to approach the calculation will be a great help as well – Amir

Great question, and I wish there was a straightforward answer. Before we get started I'll confirm that you are thinking about this correctly. Low-income years are great opportunities to consider Roth conversions, and yes, you do need to actually perform the conversion before yearend, which necessitates estimating what your income will be before the year is over. Fun stuff.

The short and simple answer is that you want a tax professional who provides such a service to help you with that. Practically speaking, that isn't always so easy to identify. From the people on your list, any one of those could be the right person, but none of them necessarily are. I'll explain why that is. (And if you need more help with important financial decisions in retirement, consider working with a financial advisor.)

Tax professional

A tax professional is someone who is trained on and knowledgeable about the tax code, as other professionals are regarding their own crafts. There are certain credentials that signify levels of training and knowledge, although specific credentialing isn't required to be a tax professional. A generic financial advisor is likely not a tax professional.

Tax planning vs. Tax preparation

Just knowing whether or not someone is a tax professional doesn't tell you if they can help you estimate your income for Roth conversion purposes. It simply may not be a service they offer. As you've identified through your experiences, it may not even be one that they completely understand.

Here, I think it's important to point out that there is often a big difference between tax preparation and tax planning. (A financial advisor can help you determine the relevant tax rates so you can make a wise decision on whether to do a Roth conversion.)

Tax preparation

For most people, their tax professional is their tax preparer. That means that in the first few months of each year this person completes and files a tax return on your behalf based on information about the previous year. It's “rearward” looking. In most cases tax advice given in conjunction with tax preparation relates to how you may be able to lower your current tax liability, but not in future years.