Solutions

RMD Planning

Large pre-tax balances create surprise tax bills — we plan withdrawals so more of it stays yours.

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Tax-deferred accounts come with a bill that arrives on a schedule you don't control: required minimum distributions. Once they start, a large IRA can push you into brackets you haven't seen since your working years, raise your Medicare premiums, and force income you didn't need in years you didn't want it.

Tax-deferred accounts come with a bill that arrives on a schedule you don't control.

The planning happens before the requirement does. The years between retirement and your first RMD are often the best window you'll ever have to reposition — filling low brackets deliberately, converting to Roth where the math supports it, and setting up charitable distributions that satisfy the requirement without inflating your income. After RMDs begin, the work shifts to managing them well.

The window before the requirement

The years when repositioning is cheap — and when it stops being optional.

59½Penalty-free access begins — the window opens
63Income starts counting toward Medicare premiums two years out
65Medicare begins — IRMAA cliffs are now live
73Required distributions start, wanted or not

Between retirement and 73 you choose how much income to recognize. After 73 the IRS chooses a minimum for you. The planning is almost all about using the years on the left before they're gone.

Ages reflect current law for common cases; your dates may differ.

The window is open if…

You have a large IRA or 401(k) balance and RMDs are inside the ten-year horizon
You're retired but haven't started RMDs — the window where planning is worth the most
Your first RMD pushed you into a higher bracket or raised your Medicare premiums
You give to charity and are taking RMDs as ordinary income anyway

What the strategy covers

Before the requirement, and after.

Multi-year projections

What the requirement looks like at 73, 80, and beyond.

Conversion analysis

The pre-RMD window, sized bracket by bracket.

QCD strategy

Satisfying the requirement charitably, without inflating income.

IRMAA management

Keeping distributions clear of Medicare premium cliffs.

Sequencing

Coordinated with your income plan and Social Security.

Heir implications

Pre-tax balances under the ten-year rule.

The fork at 66

Hypothetical

A single retiree with a large rollover IRA and modest spending — comfortable, low-tax years from 65 to 72, then a first required distribution big enough to jump two brackets and trip a Medicare surcharge. None of it was a surprise by then; all of it had been avoidable at 66. The projections we run exist to catch exactly that fork while both paths are still open.

Hypothetical scenario for illustration. Not an actual client. Individual circumstances and results differ.

How big will your first RMD be? Most people are surprised.

Project my RMDs or send us a note below

The rules, straight

When do RMDs start?

Under current law, at age 73 for most people, rising to 75 for younger cohorts. The rules have changed twice in recent years, which is itself a reason to plan against your actual dates rather than a remembered rule.

Should I convert everything to Roth before then?

Almost never everything — conversions are taxed as income in the year you make them, so the art is converting enough to fill the brackets that are cheap for you and stopping there. Some years support a large conversion, some none at all. It's an annual decision, not a one-time event.