Lifetime Family Tax
Your tax + Heir tax, across every strategy. If you skip Roth conversions, your Traditional IRA keeps growing — and your heirs inherit the tax bill.
Personal Details
For ACA subsidy calculation (FPL)
Account Balances
Total: $1.4MPre-tax — heirs pay tax on this
Tax-free to you AND your heirs
Step-up in basis at death
Annual Contributions
Assumptions
Heir Assumptions
Your heir's marginal bracket when they drain the inherited IRA over 10 years
Selected strategy
Tax-Bracket Optimized
Save vs. Max Roth (24%)
$544K
Family Tax
Your Tax
Heir Tax
Heirs Keep
$11.0M
Lifetime Family Tax — Ranked
Each bar = your tax + heir tax. Sorted lowest first.
Spread: $1.9M between best and worst
Click a bar to select that strategy.
What Your Heirs Actually Keep
Of the total estate at death, after the IRS takes their cut from the inherited Traditional IRA.
Compare Strategies
The RMD Trap: Why “Do Nothing” Is Often The Worst
If you skip Roth conversions, your Traditional IRA keeps compounding tax-deferred until age 73 — when the IRS forces Required Minimum Distributions. By death, the balance can be enormous, and the SECURE Act requires non-spouse heirs to drain it within 10 years at their marginal rate (often 24–32% during peak earning years). At a 28% heir bracket, the “Do Nothing” strategy here would cost your family $1.6M in heir tax alone.
Your Tax
Income tax on withdrawals, Roth conversions, RMDs, SS taxation, plus IRMAA surcharges after 65.
Heir Tax
Heir's marginal rate × Traditional IRA balance at your death. Roth and taxable brokerage pass tax-free (step-up basis).
ACA Bonus (separate)
Pre-Medicare, low MAGI qualifies for premium subsidies. Shown separately so it doesn't hide the heir cost.
Family Tax = Your Tax + Heir Tax
Roth conversions trade your tax for theirs: You pay more now (filling your 12/22/24% bracket), but your heirs receive tax-free Roth dollars instead of fully taxable Traditional IRA. The math wins when your bracket is at or below your heir's expected bracket.
Step-up in basis: Taxable brokerage gets a reset cost basis at death — all unrealized gains evaporate. That's why it counts as “heir-friendly” here.
ACA subsidies are tracked separately as a bonus, not subtracted from the family tax total — otherwise a strategy with big subsidies can mask a big heir bill.
Looking at just your tax?
The Retirement Tax Optimizer focuses on minimizing your personal lifetime taxes.
What to explore next
Not financial advice. Projections are hypothetical and based on historical data. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Terms · Methodology