Your financial advisor probably showed you a pie chart of your portfolio.
Chances are, nobody showed you the tax bill attached to it.
That's not an accident. It's a gap in how most retirement planning is done — focused on accumulation, not on what the IRS is going to take when you start spending it.
A Roth conversion is one of the most powerful tools for closing that gap. Here's what it is, who it's right for, and the strategy behind doing it correctly.
A Roth conversion is the process of moving money from a traditional IRA, 401(k), or other pre-tax retirement account into a Roth IRA.
The money that moves is counted as ordinary income in the year you convert. You pay the tax now — at your current rate.
In exchange, that money grows tax-free inside the Roth. And when you withdraw it in retirement, there's no tax. Ever. And unlike your traditional IRA, a Roth IRA is never subject to Required Minimum Distributions during your lifetime.
Because paying a lower rate now is better than paying a higher rate later.
If your tax rate today is 22% and your tax rate in retirement — driven by Social Security, pension income, and RMDs — is going to be 28% or higher, you're better off paying 22% now on money that will otherwise be taxed at 28% later.
This is the fundamental math behind Roth conversion planning.
It's not complicated. But it requires knowing your numbers — which most people don't have.
Not everyone benefits equally from a Roth conversion. The strategy makes the most sense when:
You're in a lower tax bracket now than you expect to be later The years between retirement and RMD age (73, or 75 if born in 1960 or later) are often the lowest-income years of a person's financial life. If you've stopped working but haven't started Social Security or RMDs yet, you may be in a uniquely low bracket. That window is a conversion opportunity.
You have significant assets in traditional retirement accounts The larger your traditional IRA or 401(k), the larger your future RMD obligation — and the larger your potential conversion benefit.
You can pay the conversion tax from non-retirement funds The most efficient conversions are funded from taxable savings, not from the converted funds themselves. Paying the tax from outside the account maximizes the amount that grows tax-free.
You have time before RMDs begin The more years between your conversion and your RMD start date, the more time the converted amount has to grow tax-free — and the larger the window for strategic, phased conversions.
You want to leave a tax-efficient inheritance Roth IRAs inherited by non-spouse beneficiaries must be distributed within 10 years, but those distributions are tax-free. A traditional IRA left to heirs creates a taxable event for them. A Roth doesn't.
The analysis is specific to your situation. There is no universal answer.
The most common mistake: converting everything at once.
A large single-year conversion can push you into a much higher bracket, trigger IRMAA Medicare surcharges, cause more of your Social Security to become taxable, and create a tax bill that wipes out the benefit.
The right approach is a phased, multi-year conversion — converting specific amounts each year to fill your current tax bracket without crossing into the next one.
Example: A retired couple at 67 has $600,000 in traditional IRAs. Their taxable income from a small pension is $40,000. The top of the 22% bracket for married filing jointly in 2026 is approximately $94,050.
That means they can convert up to $54,050 per year — filling the rest of the 22% bracket — without paying a dollar at the 24% rate.
Done over 5 years, that's $270,000 converted at 22% — money that would otherwise be subject to RMDs, potentially at a higher rate, starting at age 73 (or 75 if born in 1960 or later).
That's a written plan. That's the difference between guessing and knowing.
We build a multi-year Roth conversion roadmap specific to your situation:
The result is a written plan — not a recommendation to "consider a Roth" — but a specific, year-by-year strategy showing what to convert, when, and the projected tax impact.
For a deeper dive into Roth conversion planning, visit our specialist retirement tax platform at taxesrx.com.
For a starting point, request your free RMD Analysis Report — it's the first step in understanding your retirement tax picture.
Q: Is a Roth conversion the same as a Roth contribution? No. A Roth contribution is money you add to a Roth IRA from your current income (subject to income limits). A Roth conversion moves existing pre-tax retirement savings into a Roth, regardless of your income level. There are no income limits on Roth conversions.
Q: Do I pay a penalty on a Roth conversion? No. Roth conversions are not subject to the 10% early withdrawal penalty, even if you're under 59½. However, the converted amount is counted as ordinary income and taxed accordingly. Earnings converted before 59½ may still trigger the penalty — consult a tax professional.
Q: Can I undo a Roth conversion? No. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 eliminated the ability to "recharacterize" (reverse) a Roth conversion. Once converted, the tax is owed.
This article is for educational purposes only. Summit Tax Services provides tax planning and analysis services. For full Roth conversion planning, visit taxesrx.com.