I think I understand now. It

[plm]

I think I understand now. It is possible to do the backdoor Roth IRA but its most likely a bad idea because you have to pay taxes on a portion of any pretax IRA so it is no longer free of taxes doing the backdoor roth.

This is what I found from https://www.kitces.com/blog/how-to-do-a-backdoor-roth-ira-contribution-while-avoiding-the-ira-aggregation-rule-and-the-step-transaction-doctrine/

The IRA Aggregation Rule Under IRC Section 408(d)(2)
The first caveat to the backdoor Roth contribution strategy is what’s called the “IRA aggregation rule” under IRC Section 408(d)(2).

The IRA aggregate rule stipulates that when an individual has multiple IRAs, they will all be treated as one account when determining the tax consequences of any distributions (including a distribution out of the account for a Roth conversion).