It's definitely worth shopping on the Medicare.gov website making sure to input your specific prescriptions. My mother's projected "all-in" cost for 2027 w her current plan was going to be around $1500 (premium plus co-pays). Her "all-in" under what we anticipate will be her new plan for 2027 is just under $64! I'd say that was worth the effort on the website which was prob less than 10 minutes for a savings of over $1400 and 90%+. :)
Thanks, Jerry. The downstream benefit to our children is certainly a factor that moves the needle in favor of conversions even if the financial benefit to us is negligible or difficult to quantify due to the many unknowns.
You take distributions only to the extent of your required spending then assess the remaining available conversion and total tax liability and do the end of year conversion and tax withholding together,
And the diversity of opinion on this is amazing. You've got the reluctant Mullaney and then there's Ed Slott who considers converting everything up through 24% "the tax deal of the century". Who knows.
Dunn, thanks! I built a simple Excel spreadsheet that is basically just an interactive tax return. It allows me to model different current year conversions and the resultant effective tax rate but doesn't project out into the future. There's so many unknown future factors that I'm not sure I could model something effectively. Most of my future projections are "back of the napkin" for now.
Thanks Howard. You nailed it. The Roth advantages, esp large conversions, are contingent upon so many unknowns - mortality, tax rates, investment returns, etc. Sometimes I think the "bird in the hand" approach, ie., convert up to top of 12% or before losing OBBB senior deduction may be wiser.
Comments
It's definitely worth shopping on the Medicare.gov website making sure to input your specific prescriptions. My mother's projected "all-in" cost for 2027 w her current plan was going to be around $1500 (premium plus co-pays). Her "all-in" under what we anticipate will be her new plan for 2027 is just under $64! I'd say that was worth the effort on the website which was prob less than 10 minutes for a savings of over $1400 and 90%+. :)
Post: Medicare Part D premium shock 2027
Link to comment from October 5, 2026
Bill, did you instead mean to say “by not doing large conversions now” since you’ll be around those rates later?
Post: Sourcing Taxes for Roth Conversions
Link to comment from October 1, 2026
Thanks, Jerry. The downstream benefit to our children is certainly a factor that moves the needle in favor of conversions even if the financial benefit to us is negligible or difficult to quantify due to the many unknowns.
Post: Sourcing Taxes for Roth Conversions
Link to comment from September 30, 2026
You take distributions only to the extent of your required spending then assess the remaining available conversion and total tax liability and do the end of year conversion and tax withholding together,
Post: Sourcing Taxes for Roth Conversions
Link to comment from September 30, 2026
Well that’s reassuring! 😁
Post: Sourcing Taxes for Roth Conversions
Link to comment from September 30, 2026
And the diversity of opinion on this is amazing. You've got the reluctant Mullaney and then there's Ed Slott who considers converting everything up through 24% "the tax deal of the century". Who knows.
Post: Sourcing Taxes for Roth Conversions
Link to comment from September 30, 2026
Dunn, thanks! I built a simple Excel spreadsheet that is basically just an interactive tax return. It allows me to model different current year conversions and the resultant effective tax rate but doesn't project out into the future. There's so many unknown future factors that I'm not sure I could model something effectively. Most of my future projections are "back of the napkin" for now.
Post: Sourcing Taxes for Roth Conversions
Link to comment from September 30, 2026
Wow!. May have to give that a shot. Thanks you for the input.
Post: Sourcing Taxes for Roth Conversions
Link to comment from September 30, 2026
Thanks Howard. You nailed it. The Roth advantages, esp large conversions, are contingent upon so many unknowns - mortality, tax rates, investment returns, etc. Sometimes I think the "bird in the hand" approach, ie., convert up to top of 12% or before losing OBBB senior deduction may be wiser.
Post: Sourcing Taxes for Roth Conversions
Link to comment from September 30, 2026
Thanks Bill. Just watched it. Certainly some food for thought there.
Post: Sourcing Taxes for Roth Conversions
Link to comment from September 30, 2026