Your Money

By Daniel Eisenberg

ROTH ALERT Taxpayers who converted from a traditional to a Roth IRA last year may need to switch back--and fast. Some people who shifted to the new, tax-free retirement accounts then had the good fortune to earn more than $100,000 in 1998--which means they don't qualify for a Roth. Now, if they don't reverse course and file an amended 1998 return by April 15, their account will be taxed, and they'll also possibly face a 10% penalty for early withdrawal.

FUND FEES ADD UP No matter how much cash Americans plow into mutual funds--$5.5 trillion at last count--most still can't get a handle on what they're paying managers to run them. So last week the SEC introduced an interactive calculator www.sec.gov to show how those confounding fees--front-end loads (sales-charges), expense ratios--add up over time. Two $15 billion large-growth funds--one load, one no-load--can generate very different costs. Use the calculator to help find out if your fund managers are worth the price.

NET INTEREST If you don't really care about ever walking into an actual bank building, consider online banks, which are now offering better rates and lower fees than many bricks-and-mortar versions, plus access to ATMs. Both NetBank, which last week said it had signed up 8,000 new customers in the first quarter (bringing its total to near 25,000), and Telebank offer about 3% on checking. That compares with an average of .95% at most U.S. banks and thrifts. Meanwhile, money-market accounts, many of which offer checking privileges, pay a healthy 5%.

--By Daniel Eisenberg