Quick Read – Converting $2.8M over 14 years at 17% blended rate cuts RMDs from $225K+ to under standard deduction by age 73. – Front-load conversions at ages 59-62 before IRMAA triggers at 63, then minimize conversion years 63-73 to avoid Medicare surcharges. – A 58-year-old…
sband with $1.9 million in his traditional 401(k) and his 59-year-old wife with $1.3 million in hers retired this spring. Add $850,000 in a taxable brokerage and $250,000 in cash, and the household has $4.3 million sitting across three tax buckets
They plan to claim Social Security at 70. The question is what to do with the 11 years between retirement and the first required minimum distribution. The bracket-fill conversion ladder The escape route is a 14-year Roth conversion ladder sized to the tax brackets.
Left untouched, the $3.2 million traditional balance compounding for 14 years roughly doubles, and RMDs at 73 on a $6 million balance start above $225,000 a year, pushing the couple into the 24% to 32% federal brackets, making 85% of Social Security taxable, and triggering IRMAA surcharges of $70 to $400+ per person per month. The 2026 standard deduction for a married couple filing jointly is $30,000. The 12% bracket runs to roughly $96,950 of taxable income, and the 22% bracket runs to roughly $206,700.