Howdy crash,
Roth. It's affordable to switch at this point; any income she has going forward (and she's only 46), you will probably be able to afford to stick into the Roth; it gives you an aspect of wealth diversity and financial control that no other instrument does.
Wifey and I both have Rollover IRA's, she has a Roth, and a taxable account [read: deferred, deferred, exempt, taxable]. I have a DB pension, both on SS and now we're 71 and 70 both subject to RMDs. Both working part time. The Roth gives me additional flexibility with management.
good luck and so it goes,
peace,
rono

@Gary1952 What browser are you using?

“ undesired withholding done by the custodian, without them communicating with us?”
Depends on the definition of “communicate.” With T. Rowe when withdrawing tax-sheltered funds online a pop-up appears stating that Michigan requires “mandatory withholding” and that a specified percentage will be withheld. Unlike Federal withholding, you do not have the option to “decline” at that time.
That’s the “default” option. However, Michigan also allows taxpayers to “opt-out” of mandatory withholding in advance by submitting form W-4P to the custodian ahead of time. I send in a new one every January 1 to custodians where I expect to take IRA withdrawals during the year. Doing that, I’ve had no trouble taking distributions free of withholding. As a safeguard, I first deposit the proceeds into a non-retirement account with the same custodian. This, I believe, would make any later corrections, if needed, easier to transact. Don’t put too much faith in what the custodian says over the phone beforehand. The knowledge level varies greatly. It’s best to dot the “i”s and cross the “t”s in advance.
Re Roth Conversions. My best recollection is that all 4 firms where I did in-house conversions (Traditional to Roth) had a check-off box in the paperwork allowing one to decline Federal withholding on the amount being converted. There were no problems.
I’ll be forever grateful to the front office folks at D&C and Oakmark. I phoned both on Friday March 6, 2009 to inquire about a Roth conversion. The stock market was plummeting - as it had been for over a year. Both advised me to download the paperwork, which I completed over the weekend, and provided instruction. I called the PO and was informed the documents could be delivered on March 10 if I got them to the post office by 1:00 Monday the 9th. On the 9th a terrible snowstorm hit our area in the early morning hours. I remember driving 10 miles over barely passable roads to get the documents to the nearest post office by 1:00. But it worked. Both firms received the documents on Tuesday, March 9 and effected the Roth conversion at that day’s close. As it turned out, the market bottomed Monday, the 9th. Tuesday the Dow bounced around 300 points. So my conversion missed the absolute market bottom by 1 day. :)
(Note: I tend to think of those 2 conversions a being just 1, as they occurred together on the same date. And I’ve long since co-mingled / transferred those accounts.)

https://www.kiplinger.com/article/investing/T041-C009-S002-vanguard-high-yield-tax-exempt-don-t-call-it-junk.html
Vanguard high yield tax exempt don-t call it junk
'Names can be deceiving. French fries aren’t really French, and Vanguard High-Yield Tax-Exempt fund (symbol VWAHX) isn’t a high-yield bond mutual fund. In the bond investing world, the words high yield are interchangeable with junk—meaning bond issues rated below investment grade that pay high yields and come with an elevated risk of default. Vanguard High-Yield’s peer group, however, is muni bond funds with long maturities. Though the fund’s 15% stake in junk-rated or unrated muni debt is higher than the category average of roughly 4.5%, the typical fund in the actual high-yield muni category has 10 times that much—45%—in junk and unrated bonds.'

@Crash, Could the current custodian of that 403(b) perform the initial rollover to an IRA? Whatever it’s now invested in would remain the same for that purpose. Once you’ve moved that money into a traditional IRA you should be able to perform IRA transfers to whatever custodian(s) you want. The IRAs can later easily be converted to Roths all together or in chunks.
That’s what I did with my 403(b) - which was already with TRP. Price was most helpful in facilitating that rollover. The funds I was invested in stayed the same. No money moved. Just a bit of paperwork. Later, I diversified away from Price into some other houses by doing simple IRA Transfers. Paperwork for an IRA transfer takes less than 15 minutes. Pretty basic. Just mail it in.
Changing from a 403(b) designation to IRA status would seem the important first step. Later, deciding which portions of the IRA to convert to Roths and how to time those conversions requires more foresight and planning on your part. The whole chunk doesn’t have to be converted at once. I found it simplest and most convenient to convert 100% of my holdings at different houses in 3 different years. It also allows you to pick the most opportune investments to convert at different times.
PS - In a 403 plan the employer controls it. In an IRA you have control. Big difference.
Just some ideas FWIW

Also affected: Gabelli ESG Fund, Inc.
The above verbiage applies to the Gabelli ESG Fund, Inc.
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1391839/000119312519325039/d854762d497.htm

Thanks, everyone. Wife will not have worked at all for pay between Oct 11th and December 31st, 2019. I'm not working at all, taking SS and pension. I'm 65, she's 46. My reference to "not making enough money from which to deduct contributions into Trad. IRA" is a throwback to my own situation a couple/few years ago. We file jointly. There have been 3 years, lately, when my Trad-IRA contributions were non-deductible. (So, I've stopped putting any money into it.) Not because we maxed-out to the IRS-declared legal deductible limit and went beyond it, but because there was not enough income to be TAXED. And late in 2019, we moved from Massachusetts to Hawaii.)
(My tax guy explained the procedure and percentages and steps and nonsense and crapola and bullshit re: exactly what kind of mathematical formula the IRS uses to let me get at that $7,000 total in non-deductible (and zero tax owed) contributions. Clearly, some Martian with 8 brain cells and both male and female genitalia and no experience at all on planet Earth came up with that idiotic gobbledigook.... Now that I'm of age, I COULD take out the non-taxable amount without penalty. But it can't be done simply by taking the $7,000.00, since that's the non-taxable total amount in the account. The IRS requires that it be done over time, in order to preserve the tax-free status of that full amount. M-I-C... K-E-Y....... M-O-U-S-E.)
So, I'm hearing great things from you all about the Roth.
Is it not possible to convert the 403b DIRECTLY and TOTALLY into a Roth? Maybe that IS possible, but for some arcane reason, should not be done? Because the conversion (of whatever amount) triggers a taxable event?
Note: together, we will be WAY below the 12% tax bracket's income limit. PLENTY of room, there. BUT: maybe converting the 403b entirely in a single year might be the difference between owing no tax at all, and owing SOME tax.
I'm re-reading my entry, here. I'm going to just finish here. I'm only going to add this, which is the same thing I've volunteered to say to some customer rage and aggravation agents (aka "customer service") on the phone, just today, in fact: NOTHING should be THIS complicated. :)

Somewhat in that wheelhouse, I bought some KYN (a MLP/Midstream CEF) at the start of the month. Its up about 13% through today's close, so it seems as though at least a short term bottom has been established....hopefully more!

@John - why would you stop the Roth and start a SEP-IRA?

...small business owner, tax reasons...save much more in tax long term since we contribute upward of 60s K [both of us] ...
You can have 401k /sepIRA /pensions at same time as long as we don't contribute more than certain amount per yr
About 15s year til retirement probably best route to go w sep IRA in our situations

Still not clear. Having self-employed income explains why one would start a small business retirement plan such as as SEP. But it doesn't explain why one wouldn't continue funding a Roth IRA.
The only requirements for contributing to a Roth are that you have compensation and that your MAGI does not exceed certain values. A SEP reduces your MAGI (see #5 in this Kiplinger piece). So if you met the MAGI requirement before starting the SEP, you should be able to meet the MAGI requirement now; the SEP just makes it easier.
The other requirement is that you have compensation. The SEP limits your contributions to 25% of your business' profits (that's 20% after counting the SEP contribution as a profit-reducing expense). So you've still got 80% of the business profits as income. That income could be used to contribute to the Roth.
Hence the confusion. Why stop contributing to a Roth IRA?

I am taking a close look at increasing my SEMMX position in my taxable account. I only have a small foothold position of SEMMX in my taxable account, primarily because it is not a tax efficient bond oef. I have held a relatively large position of SEMMX in my IRA account, where tax efficiency is not important. SEMMX is such a smooth performing fund, with no significant dips in its performance history, produces a TR of 4 to 5% pretty consistently. I am thinking that if I keep the position relatively small, the taxable consequences will not be significant. Some posters will consider SEMMX/SEMPX risky because of the low credit rating of its portfolio, but it seems the portfolio managers have done an excellent job, of managing this risk, with its arsenal of investing strategies allowed in a nontraditional bond oef. It has a Standard Deviation below 1, so it resembles smooth performance of funds like DBLSX, but with better total return.

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/909504/000119312519324974/d857920d497.htm
The Gabelli International Small Cap Fund
The Gabelli Global Rising Income and Dividend Fund
Gabelli Global Mini MitesTM Fund
(each a “Fund,” and collectively, the “Funds”)
Supplement dated December 27, 2019 to each Fund’s Statutory Prospectus dated April 30, 2019 and Statement of Additional Information dated April 30, 2019
This supplement amends certain information in the Prospectus (the “Prospectus”) and Statement of Additional Information (the “SAI”), each dated April 30, 2019, of the Funds. Unless otherwise indicated, all other information included in the Prospectus and SAI, or any previous supplements thereto, that is not inconsistent with the information set forth in this supplement, remains unchanged. Capitalized terms not otherwise defined in this supplement have the same meaning as in the Prospectus or SAI, as applicable.
Closing of Class AAA, Class A and Class C Shares; Reduction in Class I Minimum Investment Amount
The Board of Directors (the “Board”) of GAMCO Global Series Funds, Inc. (the “Corporation”), on behalf of each Fund, has approved the closing of each Fund’s Class AAA, Class A and Class C shares to new investors.
Effective January 27, 2020, (the “Effective Date”) each Fund’s respective Class AAA, Class A and Class C shares will be “closed to purchases from new investors.” “Closed to purchases from new investors” means: (i) with respect to Class AAA and Class A shares, no new investors may purchase shares of such classes, but existing shareholders may continue to purchase additional shares of such classes after the Effective Date, and (ii) with respect to Class C shares, neither new investors nor existing shareholders may purchase any additional shares of such class after the Effective Date. These changes will have no effect on existing shareholders’ ability to redeem shares of the Funds as described in each Fund’s Prospectus.
Additionally, on the Effective Date Class I shares of each Fund are available to investors with a minimum initial investment amount of $1,000 and purchasing shares directly through the Distributor, or investors purchasing Class I shares through brokers or financial intermediaries that have entered into selling agreements with the Distributor specifically with respect to Class I shares.
Since the minimum initial investment amount for each Fund’s Class I shares purchased directly through the Distributor is the same as that for all other classes of each Fund’s shares, shareholders still eligible to purchase Class AAA and Class A shares of each Fund on or after the Effective Date should instead consider purchasing Class I shares since Class I shares carry no sales load and no ongoing distribution fees. Investors and shareholders who wish to purchase shares of a Fund through a broker or financial intermediary should consult their broker or financial intermediary with respect to the purchase of shares of a Fund.
The Funds’ existing policies regarding conversions of Class AAA, Class A and Class C shares, as described in the Prospectus, will remain in place. Shareholders owning Class AAA or Class A shares of a Fund should consider converting their holdings to Class I shares of the Fund given the change in eligibility requirements for investing in Class I shares. Shareholders owning Class C shares of a Fund should also consider converting their holdings to Class I shares if they otherwise meet the eligibility requirements described in the Prospectus to convert their Class C shares of a Fund to a different share class. Conversions of Class C shares of a Fund to Class A shares of a Fund will no longer be permitted; rather, Class C shares of a Fund that would otherwise be converted to Class A shares of a Fund pursuant to the policies described in the Prospectus will instead be converted to Class I shares. Shareholders who hold shares of a Fund through a broker or financial intermediary should contact their broker or financial intermediary regarding any conversion of shares.
Following the Effective Date, the exchange privilege described in the Prospectus under “Exchange of Shares” will remain in place and subject to the policies described therein. The principal effects of this will be:
● Shareholders owning Class I shares of a Fund will only be able to exchange their shares for Class I shares of another fund managed by the Adviser or its affiliates if they meet the minimum investment requirements for Class I shares of that other fund;
●Exchanges for Class AAA or Class A shares of a Fund will only be permitted for existing holders of Class AAA or Class A shares, as applicable, of the Fund into which such shareholder seeks to exchange; and
●Class C shares of the Funds will no longer be available as an exchange option for holders of Class C shares of other funds managed by the Adviser or its affiliates.
Reinvestment of dividend and capital gain distributions will continue to be permitted for holders of the Funds’ Class AAA, Class A and Class C Shares.
SHAREHOLDERS SHOULD RETAIN THIS SUPPLEMENT FOR FUTURE REFERENCE
2

@_mark hi sir...small business owner, tax reasons...save much more in tax long term since we contribute upward of 60s K [both of us] annually...we were looking at defined benefits bit it was not worth or unless you and woife contribute >200 300k per year
..we talked w our advisor and several persons who known each uchnabout tax before starting
You can have 401k /sepIRA /pensions at same time as long as we don't contribute more than certain amount per yr
About 15s year til retirement probably best route to go w sep IRA in our situations

We held Roth-IRA since 2014 after talking w our Edwards jones adviser..save so much capital gains income after taxations once retired..we've stopped the Roth few yrs ago and started sep-IRA

@_Gary1952
Hi sir..don't put all your eggs in one basket
Spread them out real estate bonds reits, corp Bond s, mini bonds ( (hospitals schools infrastructure airport etc) make sure have good ratings before buying
Easier said than done
.Or just spread your monies between /buying Fbnd HYG MUB MUNI if too lazy to watch your monies or have no time

I'm not clear on the income/tax situation: "If she doesn't make enough money from which to deduct IRA contributions."
So let's start with the mechanics. First, as @Gary1952 said, don't take a taxable distribution. If you're going to pay taxes, you're better off rolling it into a Roth. All its future earnings will be tax free, as opposed to taxable in a taxable account.
The law allows rollover conversions directly from a 403(b) into a Roth IRA. This eliminates one step in the conversion process. But my limited experience in helping someone do this within TIAA suggests that the 403(b) administrators may not know what they're doing. (In that case, TIAA withheld state income taxes which they were not supposed to do.)
Instead, a direct rollover to a T-IRA will preserve your options to convert or not. If you should convert the IRA (or a portion) to a Roth, don't have taxes withheld, else the amount withheld will be treated as a taxable withdrawal. In addition, the conversion moneycannot be withdrawn penalty free for five years. Because your wife is (and will continue to be) under 59½ the conversion money will be subject to the usual 10% early withdrawal tax until it becomes a qualified distribution. That happens five years after the conversion.
Here's a short column discussing these two "traps":
https://www.irahelp.com/slottreport/roth-ira-conversion-10-penalty-trap
In some states (I don't remember which state you're in), some retirement distributions (including IRA withdrawals/conversions, pension plans, etc.) can be taken state-tax-free. This feature may be age-restricted. For example, Colorado exempts $20K of retirement income (including IRA withdrawals) for people aged 55-64, and $24K for seniors. So if you're thinking about converting the money, it might make more sense for you to convert part of your T-IRA (if any) rather than part of your wife's. Not to mention that you're closer to RMDs.
Page with table of how each state treats retirement income:
https://taxna.wolterskluwer.com/whole-ball-of-tax-2018/state-retirement-taxes
That gets us to whether it even makes sense to convert (which is effectively what you're doing if you do a direct rollover to a Roth). Not enough information to reasonably comment here, especially since I don't understand what you mean by "doesn't make enough money". Generally 100% of compensation can be contributed to T-IRAs (up to contribution limits, of course).
The 12% bracket that @bee mentioned calls to mind another consideration: 0% capital gains. If you keep your total taxable income under $78,750 (sic), then you cap gains are taxed at 0% by the IRS. Note that this limit is slightly different from the $78, 950 limit for the 12% ordinary income tax bracket (MFJ).
Too many considerations and too little information to comment intelligently about your conversion decision (which would be informational in any case and not constitute advice, as with all of this post).

Not too surprised by the performance on this one if you look at its collective PE and the top holdings. One heck of a run for growth stocks these past 10 years.

IMHO the Roth is the greatest thing since sliced bread (or cheese). For me, financially speaking, it’s “the gift that keeps on giving.” Great tips from @bee regarding tax-wise planning (an area I’m deficient in). Don’t overlook the benefit that, unlike traditional IRAs, the Roth is (normally) exempt from RMD requirements. As an “oldster” I appreciate that added flexibility.
Ideally, as with any kind of investment option, you like to “buy” low. While most any time is a pretty good time to convert (Traditional to Roth), if you can do it with under-appreciated (or underwater) assets, you stand to reap a larger measure of the Roth’s rewards. That in turn makes that initial tax hit look a lot less. Of course, this is to a degree based on good luck.
I did a conversion of global equity funds in March ‘09 and have never looked back. All smiles. Did another in January 2016 when most of the hype over PRPFX had faded and the fund had slid into disrepute. The hot money had left. Recent performance stunk. Caught a nice bounce with that one. No regrets. No sweat.
The third one (actually the second in sequence) in January, 2015 did not go as planned. I threw all of that conversion into a commodities fund at Oppenheimer I thought was ready for a bounce. Instead it tumbled further. Adding insult to injury, they shut the fund down while all my Roth money was still in it. At one point my “hypothetical” 10K Roth “investment“ was worth in the vicinity of 7K. Never despair. With a bit of help from Invesco/Oppenheimer’s precious metals and real estate funds, that “hypothetical” 10K Roth is now worth over $13,000 - less than 5 years after the conversion.
So, 2 out of 3 ain’t bad. And, even the one “miss” eventually turned around in time to salvage the converted amount.

+1 @David_Snowball. This is generally a nice place. Let’s all strive to keep it so.
Thanks especially for the latitude offered by the “Off-Topic” section (in which Old Joe and I specialize). :) And a reminder to everyone that if you like it here, pitch in and help support the site with a donation.

I own the EM Core fund via 401k.
You can get exposure via the following ETFs from John Hancock.
TICKER FUND NAME MANAGED BY MORNINGSTAR CATEGORY USE FOR
JHMC Multifactor Consumer Discretionary ETF Dimensional Fund Advisors Consumer Cyclical Targeted equity exposure
JHMS Multifactor Consumer Staples ETF Dimensional Fund Advisors Consumer Defensive Targeted equity exposure
JHMD Multifactor Developed International ETF Dimensional Fund Advisors Foreign Large Blend Core international holding
JHEM Multifactor Emerging Markets ETF Dimensional Fund Advisors Diversified Emerging Markets Core international holding
JHME Multifactor Energy ETF Dimensional Fund Advisors Equity Energy Targeted equity exposure
JHMF Multifactor Financials ETF Dimensional Fund Advisors Financial Targeted equity exposure
JHMH Multifactor Healthcare ETF Dimensional Fund Advisors Health Targeted equity exposure
JHMI Multifactor Industrials ETF Dimensional Fund Advisors Industrials Targeted equity exposure
JHML Multifactor Large Cap ETF Dimensional Fund Advisors Large Blend Core equity holding
JHMA Multifactor Materials ETF Dimensional Fund Advisors Natural Resources Targeted equity exposure
JHCS Multifactor Media and Communications ETF Dimensional Fund Advisors Communications Targeted equity exposure
JHMM Multifactor Mid Cap ETF Dimensional Fund Advisors Mid-Cap Blend Core equity holding
JHSC Multifactor Small Cap ETF Dimensional Fund Advisors Small Blend Core equity holding
JHMT Multifactor Technology ETF Dimensional Fund Advisors Technology Targeted equity exposure
JHMU Multifactor Utilities ETF Dimensional Fund Advisors Utilities Targeted equity exposure

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/audio/2019-12-26/muni-bond-party-should-continue-in-2020-bi-s-kazatsky-radio
Muni Bond party should continue in 2020