Craig Wear, CFP®Craig Wear, CFP® | Expert in Roth Conversions & Tax-Efficient Retirement Strategies for IRA Millionaires

2025 adds a $6k senior deduction, but Roth conversions count as income and can erase it.

8 Oct 2025 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:00

A brief YouTube explainer by Craig Wear, CFP® about a 2025 tax change introducing a senior deduction ($6,000 for individuals 65+; $12,000 for couples). Wear warns that Roth conversions count as ordinary income and can reduce or eliminate the deduction: the deduction begins phasing out once taxable income exceeds $75,000 (individual) or $150,000 (couple), and may be fully lost between $175,000 and $250,000. He advises taxpayers—especially high-balance IRA owners—to plan conversions strategically with professional help so they don't inadvertently pay more tax or miss long-term benefits.

Questions this video answers

$6,000 (for anyone 65 years old and older).

$12,000 (for couples where at least one spouse is 65+).

$75,000 (individual taxable income).

$150,000 (couple taxable income).

Between $175,000 and $250,000 (depending on individual vs. couple thresholds as stated in the video).

Chapters

The 2025 tax change that could make or break your retirement plan. Some seniors are thrilled about the new $6,000 deduction for anyone 65 years old and older or $12,000 for couples. It reduces your taxable income and saves you some money. On the surface, it seems like the perfect time to do a Roth conversion. But here's the catch. A Roth conversion counts as regular income, and if your conversion pushes you over 75,000 as an individual or or 150,000 as a couple, your deduction starts disappearing and it's gone. Once you hit $175,000 to $250,000, that means you could lose the deduction entirely and end up paying more tax than you expected. So what's the fix? Well, look, if you're an IRA millionaire, don't get sidelined from doing aggressive conversions and lose forever the opportunity to save hundreds of thousands of dollars. Deductions have little to do with an optimal conversion strategy. Get somebody who knows what they're doing that can help you develop that optimal strategy and put the deductions in context of what their real benefits are to you.