Q: Would it be a good idea to change my IRA to a Roth for this tax year since so many mutual funds have gone down in price? Would it mean that the tax consequences would be less this year?

A: This will depend on each person’s individual circumstances, says Jeremy E. Portnoff, a financial planner in Westfield, N.J. First to consider is the ability to do a Roth conversion. Your Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) must be under $100,000. And you’ll have to make a reasonable estimate of whether you’re likely to be in a higher or lower tax bracket in retirement.

A Roth conversion makes sense if you assume higher tax brackets and rates in the future. With the conversion you have placed your money into an account that’s free of income taxes and is also forever free of required minimum distributions. This latter feature allows you to grow those retirement savings for as long as you wish.

If you’re not eligible to convert now, Portnoff says you can wait until 2010 when the income restriction is lifted. This doesn’t help much if your strategy is to convert this year because of losses in the IRA. But it still leaves plenty of planning time for other strategies. For example, someone who is ineligible to convert may also be ineligible to contribute to a Roth, in which case, they should consider making nondeductible IRA contributions through 2010 and then convert when eligible.

Q: I am 62 and live on a modest retirement income. My only investment is a $50,000 CD that will mature in July. I have a 6.25 percent mortgage of $98,000. It is a 30-year term, of which I have 27 years left. I have been paying so that it should be paid off within 15 years. When I die, I wish to leave my son this property, debt-free. When the CD matures, should I put the money toward my mortgage or reinvest it?

A: If you use that CD to pay down your mortgage, then you’ll have no cash cushion for emergencies, warns Jeffrey B. Broadhurst, a certified financial planner in Lansdale, Pa. Do not be mortgage-averse, he says. A home loan can be a good thing because of its tax-deduction feature.

Your 6.25 percent rate is fairly low and with the tax deduction, it’s probably only costing you 5.3 percent, after tax. That’s cheap money, says Broadhurst, so he advises against paying down your mortgage.

He doesn’t recommend making accelerated mortgage payments, either. Doing that will tie up all your money in an asset that it is not income-producing. Put the excess amount you pay toward your mortgage into a risk-appropriate, globally diversified, tax-efficient portfolio of low-cost index funds. The portfolio should have a large percentage allocated to high-quality, short-dated bond index funds. These will produce some income for you, he says.

Leaving the debt-free home to your son is an admirable goal. But Broadhurst believes your first priority should be your safe and comfortable retirement.

By forgoing the accelerated mortgage pay down, he will also likely benefit more because with your new strategy of investing in a globally diversified portfolio of index funds, he has not had to support you. You have been able to do that yourself.

Q: My husband and I have joint checking and saving accounts. My local bank does not allow contingency beneficiaries. What if my husband and I die at exactly the same time? I want this money to go directly to my children and not through probate.

A: Your joint accounts are legally viewed as being titled to one person. This means if either of you should die, the funds will automatically pass to the surviving spouse, says Joseph S. Arnold, of Cleveland-based Dawson Wealth Management. Naming your children as equal primary beneficiaries will allow the assets to pass to each without going through probate, should both of you die at the same time. Contingency beneficiaries are therefore unnecessary, he says. It is important to note, though, that depending upon the size of your estate and the state in which you live, the funds may be subject to estate tax.

You might also want to consider a trust, says Arnold. Many special needs can be addressed by setting up a trust, including protecting real estate, ensuring privacy, and setting conditions on your money while you are alive. They also can lessen the tax burden on your estate.

Got a question? Submit it to Steve Dinnen at work@csps.com. Dinnen’s Financial Q&A column now appears the first week of each month.