Tool 02
Retirement Income Sequencer
Year-by-year tax-optimal withdrawal across Traditional, Roth, taxable, and HSA accounts. Includes a Roth conversion ladder through RMD age and federal plus state tax modeling.
Client profile
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Don't know your account balances?
Use US median balances for someone in the 55-64 age range (Fidelity Retirement Insights, 2024).
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Lifetime tax savings, optimized vs naive
$0
Sequencing delta is marginal given these inputs. Revisit tax assumptions.
Naive tax
$329.1K
Optimized tax
$386.4K
Naive final
$0
Optimized final
$0
Withdrawal trajectory
Optimized withdrawals by account type
Stacked annual withdrawals across retirement years. Traditional and Roth conversions fill low brackets pre-RMD, Roth tops off thereafter.
Roth ladder
Recommended conversion schedule
Annual Roth conversions pre-RMD, sized to fill the 22 percent bracket headroom.
Cumulative conversions: $134,750
Final balances
Legacy at age 95
Portfolio value remaining under each strategy at end of horizon.
Naive
Taxable then Traditional then Roth
Final
$0
Lifetime tax $329.1K
OptimizedOptimal
Fill brackets, Roth conversions pre-RMD
Final
$0
Lifetime tax $386.4K
Tax delta
$0
Legacy delta
$0
Detail
Year-by-year optimized plan
| AgeYour age in each year of retirement. | NeedPre-tax dollars needed to cover spending this year, adjusted for inflation. | TradTraditional IRA / 401(k) withdrawal. Taxed as ordinary income at federal + state rates. | RothRoth IRA / 401(k) withdrawal. Tax-free in retirement. | TaxableBrokerage account withdrawal. Long-term capital gains rate applies to the gain portion. | Roth convRoth conversion: moving Traditional dollars to Roth at lower tax brackets to save taxes long-term and avoid future RMDs. | TaxTotal federal + state taxes owed this year across all withdrawal types and conversions. | Total bal.Combined portfolio balance across Traditional, Roth, taxable, and HSA accounts at year end. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 65 | $90.0K | $90.0K | $0 | $0 | $25.1K | $22.9K | $1.49M |
| 66 | $92.2K | $92.2K | $0 | $0 | $22.9K | $22.9K | $1.49M |
| 67 | $94.6K | $94.6K | $0 | $0 | $20.6K | $22.9K | $1.48M |
| 68 | $96.9K | $96.9K | $0 | $0 | $18.2K | $22.9K | $1.47M |
| 69 | $99.3K | $99.3K | $0 | $0 | $15.8K | $22.9K | $1.46M |
| 70 | $101.8K | $101.8K | $0 | $0 | $13.3K | $22.9K | $1.45M |
| 71 | $104.4K | $104.4K | $0 | $0 | $10.8K | $22.9K | $1.43M |
| 72 | $107.0K | $107.0K | $0 | $0 | $8.1K | $22.9K | $1.41M |
| 73 | $109.7K | $67.3K | $42.4K | $0 | , | $10.0K | $1.39M |
| 74 | $112.4K | $0 | $112.4K | $0 | , | $0 | $1.36M |
| 75 | $115.2K | $0 | $115.2K | $0 | , | $0 | $1.32M |
| 76 | $118.1K | $0 | $118.1K | $0 | , | $0 | $1.28M |
| 77 | $121.0K | $0 | $121.0K | $0 | , | $0 | $1.24M |
| 78 | $124.1K | $0 | $124.1K | $0 | , | $0 | $1.19M |
| 79 | $127.2K | $0 | $127.2K | $0 | , | $0 | $1.13M |
| 80 | $130.3K | $0 | $51.5K | $78.8K | , | $11.7K | $1.07M |
| 81 | $133.6K | $0 | $0 | $133.6K | , | $20.1K | $1.00M |
| 82 | $136.9K | $0 | $0 | $136.9K | , | $21.0K | $925.4K |
| 83 | $140.4K | $0 | $0 | $140.4K | , | $21.9K | $840.6K |
| 85 | $147.5K | $0 | $0 | $147.5K | , | $23.7K | $644.5K |
| 87 | $154.9K | $0 | $0 | $154.9K | , | $25.6K | $408.9K |
| 89 | $162.8K | $0 | $0 | $0 | , | $0 | $128.4K |
| 91 | $171.0K | $0 | $0 | $0 | , | $0 | $0 |
| 93 | $179.7K | $0 | $0 | $0 | , | $0 | $0 |
| 95 | $188.8K | $0 | $0 | $0 | , | $0 | $0 |