Roth Gold IRA vs. Traditional - What are you all doing?

• •I've got a decent chunk of my retirement in a Traditional Gold IRA – we're talking about maybe $800k or so in physical gold and silver, mostly gold.
• •The deferred taxes made sense with my income level at the time.
• •Now, though, I'm thinking about the future and what my tax situation might look like down the road.

Okay, so I've been mulling over something for a while now, largely since the market feels like it's been doing backflips without a safety net recently. I've got a decent chunk of my retirement in a Traditional Gold IRA – we're talking about maybe $800k or so in physical gold and silver, mostly gold. This was a no-brainer for me back when I set it up, especially retiring from ExxonMobil and wanting something tangible and secure after seeing the dot-com bust and then 2008. The deferred taxes made sense with my income level at the time.

Now, though, I'm thinking about the future and what my tax situation might look like down the road. My son, who's a financial advisor (bless his heart, always trying to get me to diversify more than just gold and Texas real estate), keeps nudging me about a Roth Gold IRA. The idea of tax-free withdrawals in retirement, especially if I anticipate higher tax brackets later, is certainly appealing. I mean, who doesn't want to pay less to Uncle Sam? But converting that Traditional to Roth means biting the bullet on taxes now, and with the gold appreciation I've seen over the last decade, that's a hefty bill to consider for my Houston-based portfolio. It's not a small decision when you're talking about almost a million dollars in assets.

I know a lot of you on this sub are probably in a similar boat, especially those who appreciate the stability of precious metals. Have any of you made the jump from a Traditional Gold IRA to a Roth Gold IRA? What was your reasoning? Did you do a full conversion, or did you stagger it? I'm curious about the specific challenges or benefits you encountered. Or are most of you sticking with Traditional for the upfront tax deductions? I’m mostly debating this for any new contributions I might make, but the idea of converting a portion of my existing holdings is definitely on the table too.

I've always valued the insights here, especially from those who know the ins and outs of PMs for retirement. What's your take on this? Am I overthinking it, or is this a genuinely important decision for maximizing my retirement savings?