A worked example
Seeing the RMD years before they arrive
Raj and Priya, both 66, married, with $1.6M pre-tax between them, $40k/yr of Social Security, and $90k of annual spending.
“What do our tax brackets look like once required minimum distributions start stacking on Social Security — and how does converting $80k a year before then change the picture?”
What the projection shows
The per-year bracket chart with and without the conversions: where RMDs push taxable income once they begin, how each path's IRMAA exposure differs, and the lifetime-tax comparison — all under assumptions they can edit.
What the projection also found
Nothing here was left blank. These follow from the figures above, under the assumptions this example states.
- The $80,000 converted this year lifts income past the top of the 0% band, so $9,807 of gains and dividends that cost nothing are taxed $249 — 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.