Which account you draw from first can change your lifetime tax bill more than your investment returns do.
Two retirees with identical portfolios can end up with very different after-tax income depending on the sequence they draw from taxable, tax-deferred and tax-free accounts.
We model income at 65, 75 and 85 and then work backward — contribution levels today, Roth conversion windows before required distributions begin, and Social Security claiming timing.
The low-bracket window
The years between retirement and required minimum distributions are often the lowest-bracket years of a lifetime. Filling those brackets deliberately with conversions can reduce the tax drag on every later year.
Coordinate, don't optimize in isolation
Withdrawal order interacts with Medicare premium surcharges, capital gains rates and survivor filing status. Optimizing one in isolation usually creates a problem somewhere else, which is why we review the whole plan annually rather than one account at a time.
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