Is now the time to turn your IRA into a Roth?  It's the question
du jour in financial planning: Should you take advantage of some
special perks in 2010 and convert your traditional Individual
Retirement Account to a Roth IRA?  The answer, as with nearly
anything in personal finance: It depends.  Yes, it's an idea to
consider. Moving money from a traditional IRA to a Roth opens up
a lot of possibilities, not the least of which is tax-free
growth and withdrawals in retirement. SEP-IRAs, SAR-SEP IRAs and
SIMPLE IRAs can be converted as well, as can 401(k) balances
from past employers. There are good estate-planning
opportunities, too.  Congress removed the $100,000 income limit
on conversions this year. It also gave us the option of paying
taxes on the conversion in 2011 and 2012, easing some of the up-
front cost.  Nice perks. But it's still not for everyone.  "To
convert just to convert doesn't make sense to me," said Brad
Fields, a certified financial planner at Delta Financial Group
in Portland. "You have to