Roth conversions

Last updated September 20, 2026

Converting traditional money to Roth means paying tax now to avoid it later. This ranks several conversion strategies against your plan.

The opportunity is usually the gap years — retired, but not yet taking Social Security or required distributions — when taxable income is at its lowest it will ever be. Filling the lower brackets deliberately in those years can cost less than having required distributions force the money out later at a higher rate.

Required distributions are the deadline. Once they start, the traditional balance comes out whether you want it or not, and a large balance can push you into a higher bracket and raise Medicare premiums with it.

Trust this ranking less than the others. It depends on what tax brackets look like decades from now, and we run the whole plan on today's brackets, so a conversion that ranks first under current law may not under a different one. That's why we label this one medium confidence rather than high where it appears on your dashboard.