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“Roth IRAs are a great wealth transfer vehicle for people who are already retired,” Reese says. “In fact, they enable you to transfer wealth tax-free.” Let’s say you have a granddaughter in

her late 30s with a good-paying job that puts her in a high tax bracket. You want to leave your Roth IRA to her. Provided you opened the account at least five years before your death, she

can benefit from tax-free withdrawals from the inherited balance, Reese says. Inherited Roth IRAs may have RMDs, depending on whether the beneficiary is a spouse or not. Consult a tax expert

if you inherit a Roth IRA.   “The beauty of the Roth IRA is if Grandpa has money in a Roth and continues to save and invest, when the money is handed over to the grandchild, the inheritor

can take the money as their own, and any withdrawals are totally tax-free,” Reese says. “The wealth transfer happens without the IRS getting their hands on the money.” CASH-FLOW OPTIONS

Having tax-free income from a Roth IRA also provides cash-flow options. Though retirees can start taking Social Security as early as age 62 (albeit with reduced benefits), your monthly

payout will be significantly higher if you delay taking benefits until after your full retirement age (FRA). In fact, the Social Security Administration will boost your monthly payout by up

to 8 percent every year you hold off taking retirement benefits, up until age 70. Where does the Roth IRA come in? If you can take tax-free withdrawals from your Roth IRA, you can push out

the date you start taking Social Security and take advantage of the annual boost to your benefit payment. There’s no other investment that “guarantees an 8 percent return like delaying

Social Security does,” Reese says. What’s more, by taking income from your Roth IRA to meet your cash needs, you won’t inadvertently put yourself in a higher tax bracket, as you might if

you pulled cash from a traditional IRA or 401(k), which are taxed at normal income rates.  “The Roth IRA is a great way to bridge the income gap from the day you retire until the day you

take Social Security,” he says. If you hold a traditional IRA, converting to a Roth IRA might make financial sense, particularly during a bear market. Money you withdraw from a traditional

IRA to open a Roth can be taxed, but the tax hit is smaller when the returns on your IRA investments are down. Generally speaking, the best time to do a Roth IRA conversion is when you have

“a dip” in your taxable income or your taxable income is negative for some reason, says Kelly Wright, director of financial planning at Verdence Capital Advisors in Hunt Valley, Maryland. 

These so-called low tax years can occur when you are well into retirement and your income is lower, for example, or when a onetime event takes a bite out of your taxable income, such as a

massive medical deduction or a large business loss. In such circumstances, you may be “better off doing a Roth conversion now and paying little or no taxes” on it, and getting tax-free

withdrawals going forward, Wright says.