A worked example
The years before Medicare
Sam and Robin, 55 and 54, retire this year with $1.5M pre-tax and $400k in a brokerage account. They spend $60k and buy a marketplace health plan for $20k a year until Medicare at 65.
“How much can I convert to Roth in these low-income years without wrecking my health-insurance subsidy?”
What the projection shows
That the conversion has two prices, not one. Alongside the bracket it fills, each size moves household income against the federal poverty level — and from 2026 there is a hard cliff at 400% where the entire premium tax credit disappears at once, not a slice of it. The year table shows the credit, the net premium, and the FPL multiple, flagged once a year crosses the line.
What else the projection found
Nothing here was left blank. These follow from the figures above, under the assumptions this example states.
- The $40,000 converted this year lifts income past the top of the 0% band, so $4,026 of gains and dividends that cost nothing are taxed $268 — no bracket changed, so no bracket table shows it.
- Converting $40,000 puts income at 5.87x the poverty level — past the cliff, so the credit is gone entirely and the $23,774 premium is paid in full.
- Converting $100,000 puts income at 5.02x the poverty level — past the cliff, so the credit is gone entirely and the $20,000 premium is paid in full.
- The $100,000 converted this year lifts income past the top of the 0% band, so $3,745 of gains and dividends that cost nothing are taxed $300 — no bracket changed, so no bracket table shows it.
- The $100,000 converted this year lifts income past the top of the 0% band, so $3,697 of gains and dividends that cost nothing are taxed $296 — no bracket changed, so no bracket table shows it.
The planner arrives with this household already filled in. Change anything — the balances, the ages, the assumptions — and run it as yourself.
A projection under stated assumptions, not financial or tax advice.