What is a Roth conversion ladder?

A Roth conversion ladder is a strategy where you convert Traditional IRA funds to Roth IRA over multiple years, spreading the tax impact while building a pool of tax-free retirement funds.

How do I avoid IRMAA when doing Roth conversions?

Our calculator shows exactly how much you can convert each year without triggering IRMAA Medicare premium surcharges by staying below the income thresholds.

When is the best time to do Roth conversions?

The best time is typically in lower-income years between retirement and age 72 when RMDs begin. Our calculator optimizes the timing based on your specific tax situation.

Free Roth Conversion Calculator

Presents you with the optimal Roth conversion strategy, along with year by year details, tax and cliff impact, and probability of success across 10,000 market scenarios.

Enter Your Details

Complete the wizard below to get your Roth conversion analysis.

Step 1 of 8: About You

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Let's start with some basic information

This helps us calculate your timeline and retirement projections.

Current Age *

Your current age determines the starting point for all projections.

Planned Retirement Age *

When you plan to stop working and begin drawing from retirement accounts.

Planning Horizon (Lifespan)

We recommend planning to age 95 to avoid outliving your money.

Expected Real Return

3.5%

After-inflation return. 3-4% is typical for a balanced portfolio.

Estimated Heir Tax Bracket

20%

Heirs' tax rate when withdrawing from inherited traditional accounts, used to calculate Ending Wealth (To Heirs) when comparing Roth conversion outcomes. Set to 0% if you have no heirs.

What You'll Get

Optimal Strategy Finder

Get the optimal conversion plan that maximizes your ending wealth without manual comparisons.

Tax Cliff Protection

IRMAA, ACA, NIIT, and QBI phaseout awareness prevents conversions from triggering costly threshold penalties.

Federal and State Tax

All 50 states with real brackets. Capital gains treated separately from ordinary income. Planning a move? Model the switch at any future year.

Monte Carlo Simulations

Test each strategy against 10,000 market scenarios. Know your probability of success, not just a single forecast.

Year by Year Tax Impact

See conversion amounts, tax costs, and account balances evolve each year. Understand the timing of benefits.

Couples Conversion Planning

Separate conversion amounts for self and spouse. Priority by age ensures the right accounts are converted first.

Why Use Our Roth Conversion Calculator

See exactly how much more wealth each conversion strategy produces over your full retirement horizon

Conversions that account for IRMAA prevent Medicare premium surcharges that can cost thousands per year

Understand the optimal conversion timing with tax cost and benefit visibility for each year

Couples coordination with separate conversion amounts and account priority by age

10,000 Monte Carlo simulations give you probability of success, not just a single optimistic forecast

ACA subsidy protection ensures conversions do not inadvertently eliminate valuable healthcare subsidies

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