Roth withdrawal question

[douglasxwilliams]

Hello all -

I will need to withdraw some funds from one of the retirement accounts that I have in the US. One is a traditional IRA/401K, the other is Roth IRA.
From what I have read online (in the Reddit Japan Finance forum) , and some other miscellaneous articles...there doesn't seem to be an absolute final answer. But, the consensus seems to be - if i withdraw from a Roth IRA, that withdrawal is considered as a taxable event in Japan because taking that distribution would essentially be considered income. Have I got that right? I am just trying to debate whether to use the Roth if i don't have to pay any taxes (like in the US), or just use my traditional IRA/401k and pay the taxes now...and just save the tax-free stuff (US wise) for later. I am over the age for retirement, so there wouldn't be any penalties.

thanks....

[RetireJapan]

Hello all -

I will need to withdraw some funds from one of the retirement accounts that I have in the US. One is a traditional IRA/401K, the other is Roth IRA.
From what I have read online (in the Reddit Japan Finance forum) , and some other miscellaneous articles...there doesn't seem to be an absolute final answer. But, the consensus seems to be - if i withdraw from a Roth IRA, that withdrawal is considered as a taxable event in Japan because taking that distribution would essentially be considered income. Have I got that right? I am just trying to debate whether to use the Roth if i don't have to pay any taxes (like in the US), or just use my traditional IRA/401k and pay the taxes now...and just save the tax-free stuff (US wise) for later. I am over the age for retirement, so there wouldn't be any penalties.

thanks....

My understanding is that it wouldn't be considered income but rather a potential capital gain. Anyone have experience with withdrawing from these accounts from Japan?

[captainspoke]

...
From what I have read online (in the Reddit Japan Finance forum) , and some other miscellaneous articles...there doesn't seem to be an absolute final answer. But, the consensus seems to be - if i withdraw from a Roth IRA, that withdrawal is considered as a taxable event in Japan because taking that distribution would essentially be considered income. Have I got that right? I am just trying to debate whether to use the Roth if i don't have to pay any taxes (like in the US), or just use my traditional IRA/401k and pay the taxes now...and just save the tax-free stuff (US wise) for later. I am over the age for retirement, so there wouldn't be any penalties.

thanks....

I've read the same thing over there, and I guess it's gray/ambiguous. But as with things like that, the cards probably won't fall in your favor.

Good luck!

[douglasxwilliams]

Thanks to both of you for the review and responses.

Yeah, I guess I'll plan on the worst case....and be ready for the taxes next year.

Thanks!

[TunaSki]

Hello all -

I will need to withdraw some funds from one of the retirement accounts that I have in the US. One is a traditional IRA/401K, the other is Roth IRA.
From what I have read online (in the Reddit Japan Finance forum) , and some other miscellaneous articles...there doesn't seem to be an absolute final answer. But, the consensus seems to be - if i withdraw from a Roth IRA, that withdrawal is considered as a taxable event in Japan because taking that distribution would essentially be considered income. Have I got that right? I am just trying to debate whether to use the Roth if i don't have to pay any taxes (like in the US), or just use my traditional IRA/401k and pay the taxes now...and just save the tax-free stuff (US wise) for later. I am over the age for retirement, so there wouldn't be any penalties.

thanks....

My understanding is that it wouldn't be considered income but rather a potential capital gain. Anyone have experience with withdrawing from these accounts from Japan?

My guess would have been retirement income. Similar to how the lump sum withdraw component of a iDeCo would be taxed (and then pension income for any annuities)

[douglasxwilliams]

My understanding is that it wouldn't be considered income but rather a potential capital gain. Anyone have experience with withdrawing from these accounts from Japan?

My guess would have been retirement income. Similar to how the lump sum withdraw component of a iDeCo would be taxed (and then pension income for any annuities)

Thank you for the reply. I am also hoping it would be considered like a pension withdrawal since that is the type of account it is like in the US.