Roth conversion calculator
What converting to the top of a tax bracket each year does to lifetime taxes, required minimum distributions and what is left at 95.
Your numbers
Retired, or about to be.
A spouse the same age, with the household’s Social Security below.
Brokerage and cash. Pays the conversion tax first.
Today’s dollars. Healthcare is added on top.
A flat share of federal taxable income.
An heir’s rate on inherited pre-tax money.
Result
Converting $585,841 from 2026 to 2038 changes lifetime taxes by −$111,186 and what’s left after tax by +$13,648.
| Measure | Without | With | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lifetime income taxes | $416,488 | $305,302 | −$111,186 |
| Required minimum distributions | $945,716 | $18 | −$945,698 |
| Left at 95, pre-tax | $316,532 | $0 | −$316,532 |
| Left at 95, Roth | $331,833 | $586,045 | +$254,212 |
| Left at 95, taxable | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Left at 95, after 24% tax | $572,397 | $586,045 | +$13,648 |
| Age | Without | With conversions |
|---|---|---|
| 60 | $1,270,800 | $1,145,407 |
| 63 | $1,342,963 | $874,417 |
| 66 | $1,187,742 | $571,265 |
| 69 | $1,139,246 | $332,358 |
| 72 | $1,083,753 | $68,878 |
| 75 | $1,020,417 | $12 |
| 78 | $948,302 | $0 |
| 81 | $866,368 | $0 |
| 84 | $773,458 | $0 |
| 87 | $668,286 | $0 |
| 90 | $549,427 | $0 |
| 93 | $415,296 | $0 |
| 95 | $316,532 | $0 |
| Age | Without | With conversions |
|---|---|---|
| 60 | $0 | $23,144 |
| 63 | $6,448 | $22,302 |
| 66 | $13,643 | $22,194 |
| 69 | $11,903 | $22,194 |
| 72 | $12,070 | $22,194 |
| 75 | $12,248 | $0 |
| 78 | $12,436 | $0 |
| 81 | $12,636 | $0 |
| 84 | $12,848 | $0 |
| 87 | $13,072 | $0 |
| 90 | $13,311 | $0 |
| 93 | $13,564 | $0 |
| 95 | $13,741 | $0 |
RetirementPace is an educational tool, not financial, tax or legal advice. RetirementPace is not a registered investment adviser.
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How it works
The calculator runs your retirement twice through the planner’s engine, to age 95 at expected returns: once as it is, and once converting from the traditional account to a Roth IRA each year until the age you choose. Each conversion is the amount that brings ordinary taxable income to the top of the bracket you pick, found by the engine year by year after Social Security, RMDs, withdrawals and the standard deduction.
The tax on a conversion is paid like any other spending: from taxable savings first, then the traditional account, then Roth. Spending includes healthcare ($9,000 a year per person before 65, $6,500 from 65). Brackets after the latest year the IRS has published are indexed for inflation. Amounts are in today’s dollars.
Worked example
A 60-year-old retiree with $1,200,000 in a traditional IRA, $100,000 in a Roth IRA and $250,000 in a brokerage account, spending $70,000 a year and claiming $36,000 of Social Security at 67, converts to the top of the 22% bracket each year until 72. That converts $585,841 in all. Lifetime taxes change by −$111,186, RMDs by −$945,698, and, with 24% tax taken off pre-tax money left at 95, what remains by +$13,648.
Questions
What is a Roth conversion?
Moving money from a traditional IRA or 401(k) into a Roth IRA. The amount you convert counts as ordinary income in the year you convert it, so you pay income tax on it then. After that, qualified withdrawals are tax-free and a Roth IRA has no required minimum distributions during your lifetime.
When can conversions pay off?
When the tax rate on the conversion now is lower than the rate the money would face later: often in the years between retiring and starting Social Security and RMDs, when income is low. Paying the tax from savings outside the IRA helps, and so does leaving money to heirs who would pay a higher rate. When the rate later would be lower, converting can cost more than it saves.
What does filling a bracket mean?
Converting just enough each year that your taxable income reaches the top of a chosen federal bracket and no further. Every converted dollar is then taxed at that bracket’s rate or less. The calculator works out the amount each year, after your other income and the standard deduction.
Why compare after-tax amounts at the end?
A dollar in a traditional IRA is not worth a dollar: someone pays income tax on it when it comes out. A dollar in a Roth IRA is. Taking the tax rate you enter off the pre-tax money left at the end makes the two sides comparable.
What does this calculator leave out?
Medicare’s income-related premium surcharges (IRMAA), health insurance subsidies before 65, the five-year rules on Roth withdrawals, state taxes beyond a flat rate, and changes to tax law. Any of these can change the answer.