It’s Not Too Late

The situation

Margaret is 74, recently widowed, and already taking required minimum distributions. She has $900,000 remaining in a traditional IRA. Between her RMD (about $35,000 this year), her survivor Social Security, and a small pension, her income runs near $60,000. She files as a single taxpayer now, and she is charitably inclined.

She assumed she had missed her chance — that conversions were something for people in their early sixties. That’s the most common misconception we hear from people her age, and it’s usually wrong.

Two facts change her picture. First, she now files single, so her brackets and her IRMAA threshold are far narrower than when she filed jointly — which makes every dollar of forced income more expensive. Second, her two adult children are both in their peak earning years, in the 32% bracket, and under the 10-year rule they will have to empty whatever she leaves them inside a decade — at their rates, not hers.

Three paths, one household

What the Four-Cost approach did differently

The mechanics matter at Margaret’s age. She must take her RMD first, because an RMD itself cannot be converted. But she can direct a large part of her charitable giving through a Qualified Charitable Distribution — up to $111,000 in 2026 — which satisfies part of her RMD and keeps that money out of her income entirely. Conventional advice rarely coordinates the two.

Above the QCD, the Four-Cost approach converts a measured amount each year — enough to steadily shrink the balance her heirs would otherwise inherit, but sized to keep her single-filer income just beneath the $109,000 IRMAA threshold. It is a smaller, more precise move than the “fill the 22% bracket” instruction, and it produces a materially lower tax bill for the people she’s leaving the money to.

It isn’t too late. It’s simply more precise.

The takeaway

Being past the “ideal” window did not mean Margaret had no moves left. Coordinating QCDs with disciplined conversions cut the tax her children would inherit by hundreds of thousands of dollars — money that would otherwise have been taxed at their rate, inside a ten-year squeeze.

See your own numbers

These figures are a hypothetical. Your result depends on your balances, your income timeline, your state, your IRMAA thresholds, and your heirs’ brackets.

We invite you to a complimentary, confidential Roth conversion analysis — a year-by-year look at your own true marginal rate and the path that fits your household. No cost, no obligation, nothing to purchase. And if the honest answer is that you shouldn’t convert, we’ll tell you that.

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Disclaimer

This case study is a hypothetical illustration provided for educational purposes only. It does not represent any actual client, account, or engagement, and no portion of it should be interpreted as a testimonial or as a description of any client’s experience. The individuals described are composites. Figures are rounded estimates based on stated assumptions and are not a guarantee or prediction of any particular result; individual results will vary significantly based on income, state of residence, market returns, and tax law. All figures reflect 2026 federal parameters and are subject to change. This is not personalized tax, legal, or investment advice — consult your own CPA or tax advisor before acting. Investment advice offered through Private Advisor Group, a registered investment advisor. Ford Wealth Management and Private Advisor Group are separate entities.