The Roth Conversion Window

The situation

Robert and Anne are both 62 and recently retired. Between them they hold $1.2 million in traditional IRAs, plus a $300,000 taxable brokerage account they can live on. They plan to delay Social Security to 70. This year, their only taxable income is about $20,000 from a small pension.

They are years from Medicare and years from required minimum distributions. They are, in other words, standing in the window—the low-income stretch after work ends and before RMDs begin—and they don't have long to use it. Financial planners often call this period the Roth conversion window because it provides an opportunity to convert retirement assets before Medicare and Required Minimum Distributions begin. Because IRMAA looks back two years, their cleanest conversion years run through about age 63.

They came in believing they had two choices: convert, or leave it alone. There is a third, and it’s the one that changes the outcome.

Three paths, one household

What the Four-Cost approach did differently

Bracket-filling would have Robert and Anne convert to the top of the 24% bracket — roughly $416,000 a year. It’s a real improvement over doing nothing. But at that size, their income lands near $436,000, which does two expensive things: given the two-year lookback, it places them in one of the highest Medicare tiers when they enroll, and it invites the 3.8% surtax. Their bracket said 24%. Their true marginal rate on those top dollars was meaningfully higher.

The Four-Cost approach sized each year’s conversion to stay beneath the IRMAA threshold they were approaching, and extended the plan across a few additional years instead of racing to fill the bracket. The result: the traditional balance is fully relocated to Roth before RMDs begin, the required-withdrawal problem goes to zero, IRMAA stays controlled, and the account their children inherit is tax-free.

The bracket set the strategy. The true marginal rate set the amount.

The takeaway

For a couple in the window, the difference between “convert” and “convert the right amount, in the right years” was not small. It was the difference between a controlled, tax-free result and one that quietly paid Medicare surcharges and left a six-figure bill to the next generation.

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.