Does a Roth Conversion Help Reduce Future RMDs? (w/Examples) + FAQs

Quick Answer: Yes. For tax year 2026, a Roth conversion lowers your future required minimum distributions (RMDs) because it shrinks the traditional IRA or 401(k) balance the IRS uses to calculate RMDs. Roth IRAs have no lifetime RMDs for the original owner, so converted dollars stop counting.

A Roth conversion moves money from a pre-tax account, like a traditional IRA or 401(k), into a Roth account. You pay income tax on the converted amount in the year you convert. In return, that money never has to come out as a forced RMD during your lifetime, which is the exact pressure RMDs create after you turn 73. The problem most retirees face is a “tax bomb”: a large pre-tax balance that triggers big taxable withdrawals later, often pushing them into higher brackets right when they least expect it.

The stakes are real and the clock matters. RMD penalties run as high as 25% of the amount you should have withdrawn, per the IRS RMD FAQ page. Americans held more than $16 trillion in IRAs as of 2025, according to the Investment Company Institute, and much of it sits in pre-tax accounts that will face RMDs. The years between retirement and your first RMD are your best window to act, and that window is closing a little each year.

Here is what you will learn:

• 🎯 How a Roth conversion mechanically lowers the balance that drives your RMD math.
• 🧮 Three fully worked dollar examples showing real RMD savings, step by step.
• 📅 The exact RMD start ages, deadlines, and the 5-year Roth clock you must respect.
• ⚠️ The traps that can backfire, including IRMAA surcharges and Social Security taxation.
• ✅ A clear next-step plan, the forms to file, and when to call a pro.

This article reflects federal U.S. tax rules as of June 2026 and covers tax year 2026. It separates federal rules from state rules where they differ. Tax law changes often, so confirm current figures before you act. This is educational information, not personal tax advice for your situation.

How RMDs Actually Work

A required minimum distribution is the smallest amount the IRS forces you to withdraw from a pre-tax retirement account each year once you reach a set age. The government gave you a tax break when you contributed, so it wants its tax revenue eventually. RMDs are how it collects.

The math is simple. You take your account balance as of December 31 of the prior year, then divide it by a “life expectancy factor” from the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table. At age 73, that factor is 26.5. At age 75, it drops to 24.6, per the figures in IRS Publication 590-B. As the factor shrinks each year, the slice of your account you must withdraw grows.

Here is the key link to conversions: the only number in that formula you can change ahead of time is the balance. A Roth conversion is the cleanest way to lower it. Move $200,000 out of a traditional IRA into a Roth, and the RMD formula now runs on the smaller leftover balance. The consequence of ignoring this is a forced, fully taxable withdrawal every year for the rest of your life, on the IRS’s schedule, not yours.

When RMDs Start (Age 73 or 75)

Under the SECURE 2.0 Act, your RMD start age depends on your birth year. If you were born from 1951 through 1959, your RMDs begin at age 73. If you were born in 1960 or later, they begin at age 75. The age is scheduled to stay at 73 until 2033, when it rises to 75.

This matters because the gap between when you retire and when RMDs begin is your conversion window. A person born in 1962 who retires at 62 gets up to 13 years of low-income years to convert before age 75 forces withdrawals. The consequence of waiting until RMDs start is that you lose flexibility, because once RMDs begin you generally cannot convert the RMD itself. Your next step: find your birth-year start age now and count your remaining window.

The First-Year Deadline Trap

Your very first RMD has a special deadline. You can delay it until April 1 of the year after you turn your RMD age, per the IRS RMD topic page. Every RMD after that is due by December 31 each year.

The trap is the double-up. If you turn 73 in 2026 and delay your first RMD to April 1, 2027, you must also take your 2027 RMD by December 31, 2027, as Schwab’s 2026 RMD guide explains. That stacks two taxable withdrawals into one year and can spike your bracket. Miss any RMD deadline and the penalty is 25% of the shortfall, dropping to 10% if you fix it within two years, per Bankrate’s RMD table. What to do: mark both dates on your calendar the year you turn your RMD age.

How a Roth Conversion Reduces Future RMDs

A Roth conversion reduces future RMDs in one direct way and one indirect way. Directly, it lowers the pre-tax balance that the RMD formula divides. A smaller balance on December 31 means a smaller forced withdrawal the next year, every year.

Indirectly, Roth IRAs carry no lifetime RMDs for the original account owner, confirmed by Fidelity’s RMD rules page. Once dollars land in a Roth IRA, they grow tax-free and you never have to touch them. You can let them sit for decades or pass them to heirs. That removes those dollars from the RMD system entirely for your lifetime.

The consequence of doing nothing is compounding pressure. A pre-tax account that keeps growing pushes your RMDs higher and higher, often right into your peak Social Security and Medicare years. A common misconception is that conversions “avoid” tax. They do not. They move the tax forward to a year you choose, ideally a low-bracket year, instead of a high-bracket year the IRS picks for you. Your next step is to estimate your projected RMDs with no action, then test how much converting now changes them.

The Designated Roth 401(k) Change

There is a newer rule worth knowing. Starting in 2024, designated Roth accounts inside a 401(k) or 403(b) no longer require lifetime RMDs for the original owner, matching the treatment of Roth IRAs. Before this change, Roth 401(k) money was subject to RMDs even though it was already taxed.

This means you may not even need to roll a Roth 401(k) into a Roth IRA just to escape RMDs, though a rollover still gives you more investment choices and easier 5-year-rule tracking. The consequence of misunderstanding this is taking an unnecessary withdrawal. What to do: confirm with your plan whether your Roth 401(k) balance is now RMD-exempt for tax year 2026 before you act.

Which Situation Applies to You?

The right move depends on where you are. Use this to find the part that fits you.

• You are 60 to 72 and retired or semi-retired: This is the prime conversion window. Focus on multi-year “bracket filling” conversions before RMDs start.
• You are still working with high income: Conversions add to an already high bracket, so they often wait until you retire and your income drops.
• You already take RMDs (73+): You must take the RMD first; only the amount above the RMD can be converted. Conversions still help shrink future RMDs.
• You have a Roth 401(k): Check whether it is already RMD-exempt for 2026 before rolling it over.
• You expect a lower bracket later: Converting may cost more than it saves; run the math first.

Worked Example 1: Margaret Cuts Her RMDs by $275,000

Margaret is 68, retired, and single, with $1,200,000 in a traditional IRA. She wants to lower the tax bomb waiting at age 73. Her goal is to convert before RMDs force her hand.

She converts $100,000 per year for five years, from age 68 to 72, paying tax each year in the 22% federal bracket for 2026. That is roughly $22,000 in tax per conversion year, or about $110,000 total, paid from a taxable savings account so the full amount keeps growing in the Roth.

By age 73, her traditional IRA sits near $700,000 instead of $1,200,000. Here is the difference in the first RMD year, using the 26.5 factor: a $1,200,000 balance forces a $45,283 RMD, while a $700,000 balance forces only a $26,415 RMD. Assuming 6% growth, her total RMDs from age 73 to 83 fall from about $660,000 to about $385,000, a reduction of roughly $275,000 in forced, taxable withdrawals.

Margaret’s Choice	Lifetime RMD Result (Ages 73–83)
Do nothing, $1.2M traditional IRA	About $660,000 in forced taxable RMDs
Convert $100K/year for 5 years	About $385,000 in forced taxable RMDs

Worked Example 2: David Avoids the IRMAA Cliff

David is 71, single, and takes his first RMD planning seriously. He has $900,000 in a traditional IRA and a modest pension. His goal is to keep his Medicare premiums low.

He learns that for 2026, Medicare’s IRMAA surcharge starts when modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) tops $109,000 for single filers, per Kiplinger’s 2026 IRMAA breakdown. If he waits, his RMDs plus pension will push him over that line and add Part B and Part D surcharges of up to roughly $6,936 per year, according to this 2026 IRMAA advisor guide.

David converts $40,000 this year while his MAGI is still under $109,000, staying just below the IRMAA cliff. Doing this for several years shrinks his future RMDs enough that, once they begin, his combined income stays under the surcharge threshold. The lesson: conversions can keep lifetime RMDs small enough to dodge Medicare surcharges, but only if you watch the MAGI line during the conversion years themselves.

David’s Approach	Medicare Cost Result
Let RMDs grow unchecked	MAGI over $109,000, up to $6,936/yr IRMAA surcharge
Convert under the cliff yearly	MAGI stays under $109,000, no surcharge

Worked Example 3: The Wrong Move for Robert

Robert is 64, married filing jointly, and still working full-time, earning $210,000 with his spouse. He hears conversions are smart and wants to convert $150,000 this year.

Here is why this backfires. Adding $150,000 on top of $210,000 pushes part of the conversion into the 32% federal bracket for 2026. He also lands near the $218,000 joint IRMAA threshold, triggering future Medicare surcharges. He pays a steep tax now for a benefit he could get more cheaply later.

The smarter plan is to wait. Robert retires at 66, his income drops to about $60,000, and now the same $150,000 conversion mostly fits inside the 12% and 22% brackets. The result is thousands of dollars in tax saved on the identical conversion.

Robert’s Timing	Tax Outcome on $150K Conversion
Convert while working ($210K income)	Hits 32% bracket, near IRMAA cliff
Convert after retiring ($60K income)	Fits in 12%–22% brackets, far cheaper

The OBBBA Tax-Law Angle for 2026

A major 2025 law, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, made the lower individual tax brackets from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent, rather than letting them expire after 2025. This removed the old “rates are about to jump” deadline that drove many conversions.

The plain-English takeaway: the urgency changed, but the case did not disappear. Conversions still help when you expect your own future income, driven by RMDs and Social Security, to push you into a higher personal bracket, even if statutory rates stay flat. The consequence of assuming rates will rise on schedule is overpaying tax today for no reason. What to do: base your conversion plan on your projected RMD income, not on a tax-law expiration date that no longer exists for these brackets.

Federal vs. State: A Critical Split

Roth conversions are taxed at both the federal and state level, and the two do not always line up. The federal rule is consistent: a conversion is ordinary income in the year you convert. Your state rule can be very different.

Most states with an income tax also tax the conversion as income, so you owe state tax on top of federal in the conversion year. But states with no income tax, such as Florida, Texas, Nevada, Washington, and Wyoming, do not tax the conversion at all, which makes them powerful conversion locations. The consequence of ignoring state law is an unexpected state tax bill. What to do: confirm whether your state taxes retirement-account conversions before you convert, and check your specific state’s department of revenue page.

Conversion Tax Question	Where It Lands
Federal income tax on the conversion	Always due in the conversion year
State income tax on the conversion	Varies; none in no-income-tax states

How to Do a Roth Conversion (Forms and Steps)

The process itself is straightforward, but the paperwork matters. You ask your IRA custodian to move money from your traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. There is no income limit on conversions and no dollar cap on how much you can convert in a year.

You report the conversion on Form 8606, which the Wolters Kluwer Form 8606 guide confirms is required for any traditional-to-Roth conversion. The converted taxable amount also flows to your Form 1040 as income. The deadline to count a conversion for a tax year is December 31 of that year, not the April filing deadline, per Fidelity’s 5-year rule explainer.

The consequence of skipping Form 8606 is that the IRS may tax money you already paid tax on, especially if you have after-tax basis. For a step-by-step walkthrough, see our guide on how to fill out Form 8606 line by line and our companion RMD calculation guide. What to do next: convert before December 31, file Form 8606 with that year’s return, and keep your custodian’s confirmation.

The 5-Year Conversion Clock

Each Roth conversion starts its own 5-year clock. To withdraw the converted amount penalty-free before age 59½, five tax years must pass from January 1 of the conversion year, per the Fidelity 5-year rule page.

For most people doing conversions to reduce RMDs, this clock is a non-issue, because they are over 59½ and rarely touch the converted money. But the consequence of pulling converted funds too early under 59½ is a 10% penalty on that amount. What to do: plan to leave converted dollars untouched for at least five years, which fits the long-term, RMD-reducing goal anyway.

Mistakes to Avoid

• Converting too much in one year. A jumbo conversion can vault you into a higher bracket, wiping out the savings. Spread conversions across years.
• Ignoring the IRMAA cliff. Crossing the $109,000 single or $218,000 joint MAGI line for 2026 adds Medicare surcharges of up to about $6,936 per year.
• Converting an RMD. Once you are 73-plus, you must take the RMD first; the RMD itself cannot be converted, and trying creates an excess contribution.
• Paying the tax from the IRA. Using IRA dollars to cover the conversion tax shrinks the Roth and may trigger an early-withdrawal penalty under 59½.
• Forgetting Form 8606. Skipping it can cause the IRS to tax your after-tax basis twice.
• Converting while still high-earning. Stacking a conversion on top of a big salary often lands in your top bracket, as Robert’s example showed.
• Triggering extra Social Security tax. A conversion can make more of your Social Security benefits taxable in that year, raising your real cost.

Do’s and Don’ts

• Do convert in low-income years, ideally after you retire and before RMDs start, because that is when each converted dollar costs the least tax.
• Do fill your current bracket without overflowing it, so you capture cheap conversions and stop at the next bracket’s edge.
• Do pay the conversion tax from a taxable account, because that keeps the full converted amount compounding tax-free.
• Do track each conversion’s 5-year clock, because it controls penalty-free access to that money under 59½.
• Do model your future RMDs first, because the whole point is to see the actual reduction in forced withdrawals.
• Don’t convert if you firmly expect a lower bracket later, because you would pay more tax now than you would save.
• Don’t ignore Medicare and Social Security effects, because they quietly raise the true cost of a conversion year.
• Don’t wait until RMDs start to begin planning, because the RMD itself becomes off-limits for conversion.
• Don’t convert your entire IRA at once, because one giant taxable spike rarely beats spreading it out.
• Don’t forget your state’s tax, because a state income tax adds to the federal bill in the conversion year.

Pros and Cons of Converting to Reduce RMDs

• Pro — Lower lifetime RMDs: A smaller pre-tax balance means smaller forced withdrawals every year, because the RMD formula divides a smaller number.
• Pro — Tax-free growth: Roth dollars grow and come out tax-free, because the tax was already paid at conversion.
• Pro — No owner RMDs: Roth IRAs require no lifetime withdrawals, because the IRS already collected its tax.
• Pro — Better legacy: Heirs inherit tax-free Roth dollars, because the income tax burden does not pass to them.
• Pro — Bracket control: You choose the year you pay tax, because conversions are voluntary and flexible.
• Con — Tax now: You owe income tax in the conversion year, because the IRS treats the conversion as ordinary income.
• Con — IRMAA risk: A conversion can raise Medicare premiums, because it lifts your MAGI two years later.
• Con — Social Security hit: It can make more of your benefits taxable, because it raises provisional income.
• Con — Irreversible: Conversions can no longer be undone, because recharacterization of conversions was repealed.
• Con — Cash needed: You need outside cash to pay the tax well, because using IRA funds reduces the benefit.

What to Do Next

1. Pull your most recent pre-tax balances and estimate your RMDs at age 73 or 75 using the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table.
2. Identify your low-income window, the years between retirement and your RMD start age.
3. Pick a yearly conversion amount that fills your current 2026 bracket without crossing the next bracket or the $109,000 single / $218,000 joint IRMAA line.
4. Set aside outside cash to pay the conversion tax, so the full amount lands in the Roth.
5. Tell your custodian to process the conversion before December 31, then file Form 8606 with that year’s return.
6. Call a CPA or tax advisor if your balances are large, your income is variable, or you are near a Medicare or Social Security threshold; a multi-year conversion plan usually costs a few hundred to a few thousand dollars and can save far more.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does a Roth conversion eliminate RMDs completely? No. It only reduces RMDs on the converted portion. The dollars you move to a Roth IRA escape lifetime RMDs, but whatever stays in your traditional IRA or 401(k) still faces RMDs based on that smaller 2026 balance.

Can I convert my RMD to a Roth IRA? No. Once you reach RMD age, you must take the required minimum distribution first, and an RMD cannot be converted. Only amounts above your RMD can move to a Roth in that year.

What age do RMDs start in 2026? Age 73 for those born 1951–1959, and age 75 for those born in 1960 or later, under the SECURE 2.0 Act. The age stays at 73 until it rises to 75 in 2033.

How much tax will I owe on a conversion? Your ordinary income tax rate on the converted amount for the conversion year. A $100,000 conversion in the 22% bracket for 2026 costs about $22,000 in federal tax, plus any state tax.

Is there an income limit to do a Roth conversion? No. Anyone can convert any amount, regardless of income. The income limits apply only to direct Roth IRA contributions, not to conversions.

Will a conversion raise my Medicare premiums? Yes, possibly. A conversion raises your MAGI, and crossing $109,000 single or $218,000 joint for 2026 triggers IRMAA surcharges about two years later. Stay under the cliff to avoid it.

What is the 5-year rule on conversions? Five tax years must pass from January 1 of the conversion year before you can withdraw that converted amount penalty-free under age 59½. After 59½, the penalty no longer applies.

Do I still need to file Form 8606? Yes. Form 8606 reports every traditional-to-Roth conversion. Skipping it can cause the IRS to tax money you already paid tax on, so file it with that year’s return.

Does my state tax a Roth conversion? It depends. Most income-tax states tax the conversion as income, but states with no income tax, like Florida and Texas, do not. Check your state’s department of revenue.

Is it too late to convert if I am already 75? No. You can still convert after RMDs begin, as long as you take the RMD first. Converting still shrinks future RMDs, even if you started late.

Can I undo a Roth conversion if I change my mind? No. Recharacterizing a conversion was repealed in 2018, so conversions are permanent. Only convert what you are confident you want taxed this year.

Should I pay the conversion tax from the IRA itself? No. Paying from the IRA shrinks your Roth and can trigger a 10% penalty under age 59½. Use outside cash so the full amount keeps growing tax-free.

This article reflects federal U.S. tax rules as of June 2026 and covers tax year 2026. Confirm current figures and your state’s rules before you act.