Understandably, there is some confusion on the timing of a Roth in-plan conversion. You can convert any dollar amount, there is no minimum, and the option does not expire December 31.

If you request a conversion in December 2010, you will have until April 15 of 2011 to decide whether you want to claim the converted amount as income for 2010, or claim 1/2 the amount as income for 2011 and 1/2 the amount as income for 2012. The option of claiming the converted amount as income for 2011 and 2012 will not be available after December 2010. Any money converted after December 2010 will be considered as income for the applicable tax year. The in-plan conversion option does not have an end date. For example: you could convert a specific amount (maybe $5,000) every year going forward.

The IRS has determined that the Pre-87 and Post-86 after-tax sources will be eligible for conversion. Contributions would convert tax-free, the converted earnings would be taxable income.

Fidelity has a dedicated phone line for the conversion: 1-866-612-4594. 

There are three key questions to consider before converting to a Roth account.  The decision to convert needs to be made carefully and should include a consultation with your tax advisor.

Do you expect to pay higher taxes in the future?  If you think that you will be in a higher tax bracket after you retire, or if you plan to leave a substantial amount of your retirement assets to your heirs, you may want to consider a Roth conversion. That is because you may pay lower taxes now than if you waited until retirement to begin taking taxable withdrawals.

Do you have a long investment time frame?  The relative benefits of conversion will increase the longer your money remains in the Roth account.  Generally, conversin may not make sense if your time horizon is less than five years, as amounts withdrawn may be subject to a 10% penalty.