Backdoor Roth IRA: goofed and contributed directly to existing Roth IRA - how to revert?
Hello, I earn above the limits and can only contribute $7k a year to my Roth IRA at Fidelity via the backdoor method. Every year, early Jan, I follow this https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/how-to-do-a-backdoor-roth-ira-at-fidelity/ and call it a day. Been doing the same in my past 3 years in the US.
This year, I was distracted. I sent $7k directly to the existing Roth IRA account (the one I previously fed using the successive Backdoor contributions I described above) and invested it. Realizing this mistake a few days later, I am now in the process of reverting this, which in my understanding goes:
- Create a "Return of Excess" process, which has you a) sell what you bought using the 7k, and b) take out the cash (luckily mine amounted to 6,999) to another Fidelity checking account
- After a few days, try this https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/how-to-do-a-backdoor-roth-ira-at-fidelity/
I am blocked at step 2: Fidelity says "you can't contribute, you have already contributed for the year". Their visual "gauge" thingy shows me "full" for 2025.
Fidelity folks are nice but surely instructed not to give tax advice.
Did I goof for the year? How should I approach this?