Waiting to convert traditional retirement accounts to Roth costs you money. Convert sooner at a lower tax bracket you choose, not later when RMDs force you into a higher one. Pay taxes now, keep the growth tax-free forever.
What are the rules on when it makes sense to do that? I don't know that there's rules. I can give you the general guideline is the best answer is yesterday. You have to do it sooner than you think in a whole lot greater amount and higher tax bracket than is logical to you in order to win the game. If you play the game the IRS wants you to play and you just take the RMD tables thinking I'm just going to defer it as long as I can, which makes total logical sense. That's what everybody's conditioned their whole life. Get the deferral, get the deferral. But what we discovered is there's a point in time when that strategy needs to change or the IRS wins the game. You have to turn the rules to your favor instead of just using the rules the way they give them to you. And the way to do that is you get to pay the taxes on your timeline at the bracket you choose at the time you choose to get it over to a totally tax-free state, which is what happens, as you guys know, when you get the money to a Roth, you're done paying taxes on it and your heirs are done paying taxes on it.
