This Roth conversion ladder calculator moves a slice of pre-tax savings into a Roth IRA each year and shows when each slice can be spent without paying the 10% early charge. Enter your traditional IRA balance, filing status, birth year, first rung year, and yearly spending. Then size the rungs: fill the standard deduction, fill a 2026 band, or pick a fixed conversion amount. You’ll see an estimate of the taxes on every rung, when its clock ends, and the cash needed before the first one opens.
The defaults describe a single filer born in 1982 who stops working in 2027, at 45, with $600,000 in a rollover IRA and $40,000 a year of spending. Filling the 12% band moves $66,500 a year for a federal bill of $5,800 per rung, 8.72% of the amount moved. The first rung opens January 1, 2032, at 50, and the bridge from other savings is $229,000.
Roth Conversion Ladder Calculator
Plan a year-by-year ladder of IRA-to-Roth moves for early retirement: size each rung to fill a 2026 federal bracket or a fixed amount, see the tax on every rung, the date each one clears its 5-year clock, and the cash you need to bridge the first five years.
Uses the 2026 federal rate schedules and standard deduction from Rev. Proc. 2025-32, held flat in later years, and the 5-year period and ordering rules in IRS Publication 590-B (2025). Assumes pre-tax IRA money with no after-tax basis and treats other income as ordinary income. Educational only, not tax, legal, or financial advice.
How a Roth Conversion Ladder Works, One Rung a Year
A Roth conversion ladder is a series of yearly conversions that move money from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, timed so each slice becomes spendable before 59 1/2. It’s also called a Roth ladder, the usual early retirement route when most savings sit in a 401(k) or other retirement account.
- Roll old plan money into an IRA. An in-plan conversion inside a 401(k) or the TSP follows the plan’s own payout menu, with different rules.
- Convert your traditional IRA in slices, usually by trustee-to-trustee transfer.
- Pay the income taxes from cash. Each slice is ordinary income in the conversion year.
- Wait. The slice opens five years after the conversion, counted from January 1.
- Repeat. Every later rung opens one year after the one before.
The move itself carries no 10% charge; IRS Publication 590-A says a timely conversion avoids it. The one eligibility hurdle: once required minimum distributions begin, that year’s required amount can’t be moved.
Each Rung Has Its Own 5-Year Clock
Every conversion carries a separate five-year period for the 10% additional tax, and it starts on January 1 of the year of the move, not on the transfer date. Publication 590-B gives the example: a conversion on February 25, 2025 has a period that “begins January 1, 2025.”
So a December rung ages almost a full year on day one. Move money on December 20, 2027 and it’s clear on January 1, 2032, barely four years later.
A separate single clock, started by your first Roth contribution, governs tax-free earnings after 59 1/2, so a rung can be penalty-free while its growth stays locked.
Sizing Rungs With the 2026 Brackets
Each rung stacks on top of any other taxable income that year. Rev. Proc. 2025-32 sets the 2026 figures:
| Filing status | Standard deduction | Top of 12% | Rung that fills 12% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single | $16,100 | $50,400 | $66,500 |
| Married filing jointly | $32,200 | $100,800 | $133,000 |
| Head of household | $24,150 | $67,450 | $91,600 |
For the single filer with no other income, $66,500 less the $16,100 allowance leaves $50,400 taxable. The 2026 schedule charges $1,240 on the first $12,400 and 12% of the next $38,000: $5,800. Other choices for the same person:
- Fill the deduction only: a $16,100 rung, $0 federal bill.
- Fixed $50,000: $3,820, or 7.64%.
- Fill 22%: $121,800 costs $17,966, or 14.75%, and your marginal tax rate on the last dollars jumps from 12% to 22%.
The calculator’s other-income field matters. Interest, dividends, and side work sit under the rung and shrink the room in a band; it treats them all as ordinary income. State tax is a flat rate you choose, so federal and state costs show side by side: a 5% state income tax adds $3,325 to a $66,500 rung.
The Bridge: Cash for the First Five Years
Those first five years need other money. The bridge has two parts people forget to add together: living costs, and the bill on the rungs built during the wait.
In the default plan the bridge runs 2027 through 2031. Spending is 5 x $40,000 = $200,000, and five rungs at $5,800 add $29,000, for $229,000. A taxable brokerage account, a savings account, or a spouse’s paycheck can fund it. Use this calculator with your real spending before you quit; plans that skip the rung bills come up short in year four or five.
After 2031 the calculator can help you check coverage: do opened rungs, added up, keep pace with spending until 59 1/2? Over that number of years, ten $66,500 rungs against $40,000 of spending keep pace.
What Comes Out of a Roth IRA First
You don’t pick the rung you spend. Publication 590-B stacks every distribution that isn’t qualified in a fixed order, across all your Roth accounts combined:
- Regular contributions, at any age, with no income taxes and no 10% charge.
- Converted amounts, oldest year first, with the part that was taxable leaving before any part that wasn’t.
- Earnings, last.
That order helps. Because you can withdraw past direct contributions first, they shrink what other savings must cover: with $30,000 of them, the default bridge falls to $199,000. It also blocks shortcuts. A big withdrawal in year three draws on the 2027 rung, still on its clock.
Roth Conversion Ladder vs Rule of 55 and 72(t)
Three routes open pretax money early. The rule of 55 check covers the plan of an employer you left in or after the year you turned 55, with no wait. Substantially equal 72(t) payments also start at once, but the amount is locked for years and busting the schedule is costly. The ladder’s disadvantage is the five-year wait; its advantage is that you choose a new rung size every year.
They combine: Pub 590-A lets an IRA paying substantially equal payments be moved to a Roth with the payments continuing, so a small SEPP can cover the bridge. Our Coast FIRE planner helps pick the year most ladders begin.
Health Coverage, IRMAA, and Other Costs of a Bigger Rung
For marketplace coverage before 65, HealthCare.gov tells applicants to “include most IRA and 401k withdrawals” in income. A conversion counts, so a larger rung can shrink your premium tax credit, and certain tax credits can be worth more than the extra room.
After 63 the concern shifts to Medicare. IRMAA surcharges use income from two years earlier, so a big rung at 63 can raise Part B and Part D premiums at 65. Check the tiers with our IRMAA estimator first.
Recharacterization is gone as an escape hatch: conversions made in 2018 or later can’t be undone. Report each rung on Form 8606, Part II, and use Part III once you start withdrawing. Pay taxes through withholding or estimated payments to avoid an underpayment charge.
Start by running the Roth conversion ladder calculator with your real spending and the year your paycheck stops. If the bridge beats your taxable savings, shrink the rungs, work a year longer, or add a SEPP. Then review the plan with a tax advisor before the first transfer, because it can’t be reversed.
Roth Ladder Questions Early Retirees Ask
Is a ladder better than one big move?
They answer different questions. A Roth conversion calculator or Roth IRA conversion calculator helps you see if converting once beats paying later. Considering converting a large balance at once? It usually lands in a high income tax bracket and opens nothing sooner.
Does a SEP IRA or an old 401(k) work?
Yes. SEP and SIMPLE IRAs convert like other traditional IRAs, though a SIMPLE needs two years of plan participation first. Converting to a Roth from a 401(k) usually starts with a rollover, then rungs from the IRA.
What if I dip into a rung early?
You owe the 10% charge on the taxable part in the year you take it, unless an exception applies, even though the income was reported years earlier.
Does the calculator adjust brackets for inflation?
No. It holds 2026 figures flat; estimated future brackets rise with inflation, so later rungs could grow. Return inputs are assumptions, not future results.
What happens to money I never spend?
A Roth IRA may pass to an heir as money already taxed, instead of a tax-deferred account taxed on the way out, and owners take no required distributions. To see if a Roth IRA ladder beats spending pretax money first, compare it with our withdrawal rate tool.
Last reviewed September 2026 against IRS Publications 590-A and 590-B (2025), the Instructions for Form 8606 (2025), and Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (2026 figures). Dollar figures change yearly; the 5-year and ordering rules are statutory. This page and calculator are for general educational purposes, not tax advice or a pitch for investment products. Your tax situation, tax planning goals, and state rules can change the answer, so review a decision to convert to a Roth IRA with a financial advisor.