Financial Wellness

Roth Conversions in Your 60s: When They Help and When They Do Not

11 min read · Updated August 13, 2026 · By Carla Garcia, Founder · Fact Checked

Roth conversions in your 60s — a Black woman with dark hair at her kitchen table moving an account statement from a folder marked Traditional IRA into one marked Roth, a simple tax-bracket chart on her laptop, calmly and confidently making the conversion.

Quick Answer

A Roth conversion in your 60s can help when your income has dropped after leaving work but before Social Security and required minimum distributions begin, because you can move money out of a traditional account and pay tax on it at a lower rate than you expect to pay later. It tends to backfire when the conversion pushes you into a higher bracket, adds tax to your Social Security, or lifts your income past a Medicare surcharge threshold.

The right amount to convert, if any, depends on your specific brackets, so the real work is running your own numbers before you act.

Key Takeaways

1 A Roth conversion moves money from a traditional IRA or 401(k) into a Roth. You pay ordinary income tax on the amount you convert now, and qualified withdrawals later come out tax free.
2 Your 60s often hold a quiet window: you may have retired, so your income has dropped, but Social Security and required withdrawals have not started yet. That gap can be the lowest-tax stretch of your whole life.
3 Roth IRAs have no required minimum distributions during the original owner's lifetime (inherited Roth IRAs are different), so converting can shrink the forced, taxable withdrawals that begin at age 73.
4 Conversions raise your income the year you do them, which can push up the tax on your Social Security and, two years later, raise your Medicare premiums. The timing matters as much as the idea.
5 There is no income limit on converting, and no annual dollar cap. But money you convert generally needs to sit for five years before you can touch that converted amount penalty free if you are under 59 and a half.
6 This is education, not tax advice. Before you convert, walk the numbers through with a fee-only fiduciary advisor or a retirement-focused CPA who can see your full picture.

Why This Matters

Most people spend forty years being told to save into their 401(k) and traditional IRA. That money was never taxed on the way in, which felt like a gift at the time. The catch arrives later: every dollar comes out as ordinary income, and starting at age 73 the government requires you to pull a set amount out each year whether you need it or not. Americans hold about $18.2 trillion in IRAs and another $13.8 trillion in workplace defined contribution plans, and a large share of that has never been taxed 8. For many households the traditional account is the single biggest source of future taxable income.
Your 60s are where you can do something about it. If you have stopped working but have not yet claimed Social Security or hit the age when required withdrawals begin, your taxable income may be lower than it has been in decades, and lower than it will be again once those income streams switch on. A Roth conversion lets you deliberately fill up the lower tax brackets in those quiet years, pay a known rate now, and move money into an account that grows and comes out tax free for the rest of your life and, in most cases, for the people who inherit it.
The reason this is not automatic is that a conversion is a taxable event with ripple effects. The amount you convert stacks on top of your other income for the year. That can raise how much of your Social Security is taxed, and because Medicare looks back two years at your income, a big conversion at 63 can quietly raise your Part B premium two years later, once you are enrolled in Medicare. Done in the wrong year or in too large a chunk, a conversion can cost more than it saves. Done thoughtfully, in the right years and the right amounts, it is one of the few genuine levers you still control over your lifetime tax bill.
That is why this belongs in a retirement wellbeing plan rather than a spreadsheet you fill out once. The question is not simply whether Roth conversions are good. It is how much to convert, in which years, given your brackets, your Medicare timing, your Social Security start date, and what you want to leave behind. Those pieces move together, and getting them to line up is the whole game.

Key Facts

Roth IRAs are not subject to required minimum distributions while the original owner is alive, unlike traditional IRAs and 401(k)s, where withdrawals generally must begin at age 73 (a workplace plan may let you wait longer if you are still working and are not a 5 percent owner) 3.
Your first required minimum distribution can be delayed until April 1 of the year after you turn 73, but every year after that the deadline is December 31 3.
There is no income limit to convert to a Roth IRA. That is different from contributing to one, which in 2026 phases out between $153,000 and $168,000 of income for single filers and $242,000 to $252,000 for married couples filing jointly 7.
Money you convert generally must stay in the Roth for five years before the converted amount can be withdrawn without a 10 percent additional tax, if you are under age 59 and a half. Each conversion starts its own five-year clock, counted from January 1 of the year you convert, and limited exceptions can apply 6.
In 2026, a married couple filing jointly stays in the 12 percent federal bracket up to $100,800 of taxable income and in the 22 percent bracket up to $211,400. For single filers those bands end at $50,400 and $105,700 1.
The 2026 standard deduction is $16,100 for single filers and $32,200 for married couples filing jointly, plus the regular additional standard deduction for being 65 or older ($2,050 for a single filer, or $1,650 for each qualifying spouse on a joint return). Separately, a temporary Senior Deduction of $6,000 per person is available for 2025 through 2028 on top of that, and it begins to phase out above $75,000 of income for singles and $150,000 for joint filers 1 2.
Once combined income passes $25,000 for a single filer or $32,000 for a married couple, part of your Social Security benefit becomes taxable, and up to 85 percent of it can be taxed at higher income levels. A conversion adds to that combined income 5.
Medicare uses your income from two years earlier to set premiums. In 2026, higher-income surcharges begin above $109,000 of income for individuals and $218,000 for couples, and they raise the standard $202.90 monthly Part B premium in steps 4.
The 2026 COLA raised Social Security benefits by 2.8 percent, bringing the average retired worker benefit to about $2,071 per month, income that stacks on top of any conversion in the years you receive it 9.

2026 federal income tax brackets for the lower and middle bands, which set the room available to convert [1].

Rate	Married filing jointly	Single filer
10%	Up to $24,800	Up to $12,400
12%	$24,800 to $100,800	$12,400 to $50,400
22%	$100,800 to $211,400	$50,400 to $105,700
24%	$211,400 to $403,550	$105,700 to $201,775

2026 Medicare Part B monthly premium by income, based on income from two years earlier. A large conversion can move you up a step [4].

Individual income	Married filing jointly income	Total monthly Part B premium
$109,000 or less	$218,000 or less	$202.90
Above $109,000 to $137,000	Above $218,000 to $274,000	$284.10
Above $137,000 to $171,000	Above $274,000 to $342,000	$405.80
Above $171,000 to $205,000	Above $342,000 to $410,000	$527.50
Above $205,000 to $500,000	Above $410,000 to $750,000	$649.20
$500,000 or more	$750,000 or more	$689.90

Step by Step: What to Do

Step 1: Find your window and your brackets

Map the years between when your paycheck stops and when Social Security plus required withdrawals begin. That gap is where conversions usually do the most good.
Estimate your taxable income for this year without a conversion, then see how much room is left before the top of your current bracket. In 2026 a married couple can have up to $100,800 of taxable income and still be in the 12 percent bracket 1.
Ask the core question: is your rate today likely lower than the rate you will face once required withdrawals and Social Security are both running? If yes, converting now to lock in the lower rate is worth studying.

Step 2: Decide how much to convert, not just whether

Think in terms of filling a bracket rather than converting everything. Many people convert just enough to reach the top of the 12 percent or 22 percent band and stop there.
Remember the ripple effects. The converted amount can make more of your Social Security taxable and can lift your Medicare premium two years later 4 5.
Spreading conversions across several years in your 60s usually beats one large conversion, because each year you refill only the lower brackets instead of spiking into a high one.

Step 3: Plan how you will pay the tax

The cleanest approach is paying the conversion tax from money outside the retirement account, such as a taxable savings or brokerage account, so the full converted balance keeps growing in the Roth.
If you must withhold tax from the converted amount itself and you are under 59 and a half, the withheld portion can count as an early withdrawal. This is a detail worth confirming before you act.
Set aside the estimated tax so it is not a surprise the following April. A conversion has no automatic paycheck withholding behind it.

Step 4: Mind the five-year rule and your timeline

Each conversion has its own five-year holding period. Withdraw the converted amount before five years and before age 59 and a half, and a 10 percent additional tax can apply 6.
If you are already past 59 and a half, the penalty concern eases, but the five-year clock still governs tax-free treatment of earnings in a newly opened Roth.
Because Roth accounts have no lifetime required withdrawals, money you convert can keep compounding untouched for as long as you like 3.

Step 5: Bring in a professional before you pull the trigger

A fee-only fiduciary advisor or a retirement-focused CPA can model the conversion against your actual brackets, Medicare timing, and Social Security plan.
Ask them to show the multi-year picture, not just this year, since the point of conversions is the lifetime tax bill, not a single return.
Use a conversation with Grace first to organize your accounts, income timeline, and questions so that professional hour is spent on decisions, not fact-gathering.

Real-World Example

Robert and Diane, 62

Both recently retired, living on cash savings for now, planning to claim Social Security at 67. Most of their money sits in a traditional IRA. They keep hearing about Roth conversions and want to know if the idea fits them.

We're 62, both retired, and not taking Social Security until 67. Everyone keeps telling us to do Roth conversions. Is that actually smart for us?

Grace

You may be sitting in exactly the window where conversions do the most good. You've stopped working, but Social Security and required withdrawals haven't started, so your taxable income is probably lower now than it will be at 73. In 2026 a married couple can have up to $100,800 of taxable income and still be in the 12 percent bracket [1]. The idea would be to convert just enough each year to use up that low-rate room, and pay a known rate now instead of an unknown one later.

What's the catch? It sounds too clean.

Grace

Two ripples to watch. First, whatever you convert gets added to this year's income, and once your combined income passes $32,000 as a couple, part of any Social Security you receive becomes taxable [5]. Second, Medicare looks back two years at your income, so a large conversion at 63 could raise your Part B premium once you are enrolled in Medicare, where the standard premium is $202.90 a month before any surcharge [4]. Neither is a reason to skip conversions. They're reasons to size each year's conversion carefully and to run your real numbers with a fee-only fiduciary advisor or a retirement-focused CPA before you move anything.

Retirement Clarity Snapshot

Robert and Diane don't need to convert everything. They need a year-by-year plan that fills the low brackets and stops before it triggers avoidable taxes.

1

Map the low-tax window
This month
2

Size a first-year conversion inside the 12 percent bracket
Before year-end
3

Confirm the plan with a fee-only fiduciary advisor or CPA
Next 30 to 60 days
4

Repeat and adjust each year until Social Security begins
Ages 62 to 67

Outcome: We thought Roth conversions were a yes or no question. It turned out to be a how much and which year question, and once we saw it that way it stopped feeling scary.

Grace built this plan in one conversation. Start yours.

From Grace

Before you convert a single dollar, get these four things in front of you. Most conversion mistakes come from missing one of them.

This year's taxable income before any conversion, so you know how much low-bracket room you actually have.
When you plan to start Social Security, since that income will stack on top of conversions once it begins [9].
Your age relative to Medicare, because income two years before you turn 65 can affect your premium [4].
Where the tax payment will come from, ideally a taxable account rather than the converted money itself.

Grace is an AI educational tool, not a licensed financial advisor. This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, or legal advice. Always consult a qualified professional for decisions specific to your situation.

Grace can help you lay out your accounts, your income timeline, and the questions worth asking before you talk to a professional about converting.

Frequently Asked Questions

What exactly is a Roth conversion? +

It is moving money from a pre-tax account, such as a traditional IRA or an old 401(k), into a Roth account. You pay ordinary income tax on the amount you convert in the year you do it. After that, qualified withdrawals from the Roth come out tax free, and the Roth is not subject to required minimum distributions during your lifetime [3].

Is there a limit on how much I can convert? +

No. Unlike contributing to a Roth, converting has no income limit and no annual dollar cap [7]. The practical limit is your tax bill: converting a large amount in one year can push you into a higher bracket and raise related costs, which is why many people convert smaller amounts across several years.

Will a conversion raise my Medicare premiums? +

It can. Medicare sets your premium using your income from two years earlier. In 2026, higher-income surcharges begin above $109,000 for an individual and $218,000 for a couple, on top of the standard $202.90 monthly Part B premium [4]. A conversion that lifts your income past one of those steps can raise the premium you pay two years later.

I am over 59 and a half. Does the five-year rule still matter? +

The 10 percent early-withdrawal concern eases once you are past 59 and a half. But a five-year holding period still governs tax-free treatment of earnings in a newly opened Roth, so timing still matters, especially if the Roth is brand new [6].

Should I just convert everything now to get it over with? +

Rarely. A single large conversion often spikes you into a high bracket, adds tax to your Social Security, and can raise your Medicare premium. Filling the lower brackets across several years usually costs less overall. A fee-only fiduciary advisor or retirement-focused CPA can show you the multi-year picture for your situation.

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Sources

[1] Internal Revenue Service, IRS releases tax inflation adjustments for tax year 2026 (brackets and standard deduction) (accessed August 13, 2026)
[2] Internal Revenue Service, Check your eligibility for the new enhanced deduction for seniors (accessed August 13, 2026)
[3] Internal Revenue Service, Retirement plan and IRA required minimum distributions FAQs (accessed August 13, 2026)
[4] Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2026 Medicare Parts A & B Premiums and Deductibles (Part B premium, deductible, and IRMAA table) (accessed August 13, 2026)
[5] Social Security Administration, Income Taxes and Your Social Security Benefit (accessed August 13, 2026)
[6] Internal Revenue Service, Publication 590-B, Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements (five-year conversion rule) (accessed August 13, 2026)
[7] Internal Revenue Service, 401(k) limit increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA limit increases to $7,500 (Roth contribution phase-outs) (accessed August 13, 2026)
[8] Investment Company Institute, Release: Quarterly Retirement Market Data, First Quarter 2026 (accessed August 13, 2026)
[9] Social Security Administration, 2026 Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Fact Sheet (accessed August 13, 2026)

Educational content only. This is not financial, tax, or legal advice. Consult a qualified professional for guidance specific to your situation.