Retirement Engine · Advisor Platform
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ADVISOR PLATFORM

Where are we starting?

PLANNING SUITEFast answers

Social Security, RMDs, Medicare and Roth room. No client needed.

GENERAL RESOURCES · INTERNAL, FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY
LTC IllustratorCare premiums by age, benefit and rider.

Returns are read here and never uploaded. Clients and plans are saved on this computer. No outside connections.

Version Oct 30, 2026 · 9:53 a.m. ·

Read last year's return, then project this year line by line. Every line is approved before the report.
RETIREMENT INCOME STRATEGY REPORT

A roadmap for
this household

Four strategies, modeled side by side — what you'll spend, what Roth conversions cost and save, and what's left for family.

A planning instrument, not a promise
CONTENTS
  1. Household
  2. Shared Assumptions
  3. Four Strategies
  4. Advanced — Tax & Legacy Assumptions
  5. Results
    1. Scenario comparison summary
    2. Net assets over time (all four strategies)
    3. What the plan actually pays in taxes, and the conversion-timing check
    4. Your legacy
    5. Holistic planning overview
    6. Year by year at a glance (tax savings, net assets)
    7. Year by year — full detail cards
  6. Allocation Check — closing the income gap
    1. A separate solve; its allocation differs from the strategies above by design

Pages aren't numbered here since this table of contents is generated before final pagination — sections appear in the order listed above; each is clearly labeled where it begins.

EnlightnU Wealth

A planning instrument, not a promise

01 Household02 Assumptions03 Strategies04 Advanced05 Holistic06 Results07 What if08 Allocation09 Next Steps
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RETIREMENT ENGINE · ADVISOR PLATFORM

See what compounds — and what gets taxed.

Model four retirement income strategies side by side: what you'll actually spend, what Roth conversions cost and save, and what's left for the people who come after you.

Saved plans on this computer
A temporary stand-in for a real client database — saved to this browser only, not shared automatically with colleagues. Use Export / Import to hand a plan to someone else.
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Solving an income gap first?
The Allocation Check is a separate solve with one priority: guaranteed income that covers the client’s stated need. It runs on its own and produces a different plan than the Retirement Engine by design; combine the two when you’re ready. Anything already entered here carries into the check, but the check never changes this plan.
01 Household

Who this plan is for

Enter each spouse's information in their own box below. Once you name them, every label throughout this tool — here and in the results — updates to use their actual name instead of "Spouse 1" / "Spouse 2".

Spouse 1

pre-tax, today's $ — not take-home pay. Just the paycheck; if there's also a pension or annuity, enter that in the Pensions & Annuities section below rather than folding it in here — salary stops at retirement, a pension typically doesn't.
age when the salary above stops. If entered, this is treated as a fixed decision and held in all scenarios -- the auto-optimizer will still search Social Security claiming ages but will NOT override this retirement age. Leave blank to let the optimizer search retirement ages as well (searches from current age up to 70). Doesn't affect pension/annuity streams, which have their own start ages.
defaults to 65; raise this if delaying enrollment (e.g. still covered by an employer plan). No IRMAA applies before enrollment, whatever the age.
Medicare generally uses income from your federal tax return from two years ago to determine your premiums. Do you have that return handy, or the relevant income figures from it? Medicare generally uses income from two years earlier to determine this year's income-related surcharges.
Line 11 of Form 1040 (adjusted gross income) plus any tax-exempt interest, from that year's actual return — used only for this household's first projected year of Medicare surcharges.
The same two-year lookback means the plan's second year is priced off the year just before the plan starts, not the two-years-ago year above. Do you have that return handy too, or the relevant income figures from it?
Same definition as above, for the year immediately before this plan starts — used only for the plan's second projected year of Medicare surcharges. From the third year on, the plan uses its own modeled income two years back, no estimate needed.
today's dollars, the amount on your SSA statement (SSA defaults to today's dollars unless you selected "future/inflated dollars") -- your own FRA may not be 67; enter the amount for whatever age SSA labels "full retirement age" on your statement. This is inflated forward automatically to the year you actually claim. If this spouse has little or no work history (e.g. a long-term stay-at-home parent), $0 is the right entry -- the plan automatically applies the spousal benefit (up to 50% of the other spouse's) as a floor, no separate estimate needed.
today's $ — inflates yearly and stops when this spouse's work income stops. Reduces that year's taxable income.
today's $ — inflates yearly and stops when this spouse's work income stops. No tax deduction; reduces spendable cash only.
today's $ — sent directly from Traditional IRA to charity, available starting age 70½ (independent of, and usually earlier than, the RMD start age), capped at the annual IRS limit ($108,000 for 2025, inflation-indexed). Counts toward that year's RMD dollar-for-dollar once RMDs begin, but unlike a regular distribution used to satisfy an RMD, this is never counted as taxable income at all -- not offset by a deduction, genuinely excluded.

Spouse 2

pre-tax, today's $ — not take-home pay. Just the paycheck; if there's also a pension or annuity, enter that in the Pensions & Annuities section below rather than folding it in here — salary stops at retirement, a pension typically doesn't.
age when the salary above stops. If entered, this is treated as a fixed decision and held in all scenarios -- the auto-optimizer will still search Social Security claiming ages but will NOT override this retirement age. Leave blank to let the optimizer search retirement ages as well (searches from current age up to 70). Doesn't affect pension/annuity streams, which have their own start ages.
defaults to 65; raise this if delaying enrollment (e.g. still covered by an employer plan). No IRMAA applies before enrollment, whatever the age.
Medicare generally uses income from your federal tax return from two years ago to determine your premiums. Do you have that return handy, or the relevant income figures from it? Medicare generally uses income from two years earlier to determine this year's income-related surcharges.
Line 11 of Form 1040 (adjusted gross income) plus any tax-exempt interest, from that year's actual return — used only for this household's first projected year of Medicare surcharges.
The same two-year lookback means the plan's second year is priced off the year just before the plan starts, not the two-years-ago year above. Do you have that return handy too, or the relevant income figures from it?
Same definition as above, for the year immediately before this plan starts — used only for the plan's second projected year of Medicare surcharges. From the third year on, the plan uses its own modeled income two years back, no estimate needed.
today's dollars, the amount on your SSA statement (SSA defaults to today's dollars unless you selected "future/inflated dollars") -- your own FRA may not be 67; enter the amount for whatever age SSA labels "full retirement age" on your statement. This is inflated forward automatically to the year you actually claim. If this spouse has little or no work history (e.g. a long-term stay-at-home parent), $0 is the right entry -- the plan automatically applies the spousal benefit (up to 50% of the other spouse's) as a floor, no separate estimate needed.
today's $ — inflates yearly and stops when this spouse's work income stops. Reduces that year's taxable income.
today's $ — inflates yearly and stops when this spouse's work income stops. No tax deduction; reduces spendable cash only.
today's $ — sent directly from Traditional IRA to charity, available starting age 70½ (independent of, and usually earlier than, the RMD start age), capped at the annual IRS limit ($108,000 for 2025, inflation-indexed). Counts toward that year's RMD dollar-for-dollar once RMDs begin, but unlike a regular distribution used to satisfy an RMD, this is never counted as taxable income at all -- not offset by a deduction, genuinely excluded.
Household accounts
Checking, savings, money market. The canal lock: surplus income and windfalls flow in; conversion taxes, IRMAA and spending gaps flow out. Above its target level, the overflow is invested.Checking, savings, and money-market balances. Each year the plan uses this reserve to pay Roth conversion taxes (and any early-withdrawal penalty on money pulled to fund them), IRMAA surcharges the HSA doesn't cover, and the one-time transition expense in the year of the first death. Income beyond the spend target (including RMDs larger than spending needs), lump sums, and home-sale proceeds land here first. It grows at the cash reserve rate in Shared Assumptions and counts in Net Assets and the legacy figures. Like a canal lock, it holds a set level: anything above the reserve target overflows into a taxable “Reinvested surplus” account at the plan's growth rate, which can be sold for conversion taxes and spending gaps after the cash itself. Check “Keep all surplus in cash” to hold everything here instead. When income and Traditional withdrawals fall short of the spend target, the gap comes from here first and from Roth only after cash runs out, since idle cash earns little while Roth compounds tax-free.
The lock's level, in today's dollars (it rises with inflation). Cash above it is invested in the “Reinvested surplus” account. Blank: the starting cash reserve.
A tax-free Roth withdrawal of EARNINGS requires two things, not just age 59½ alone: that age, AND the overall Roth account being open at least 5 tax years -- a separate clock from the per-conversion 5-year penalty clock already modeled elsewhere. Leave blank if there's already a Roth balance entered above (the plan assumes an existing account has already cleared this, the common case for someone already retirement-age); only fill this in if the household's Roth balance starts at $0 and this plan will make its first-ever Roth contribution or conversion — a real edge case mainly for a younger client opening a first Roth mid-plan, where the 5-year clock genuinely hasn't started yet.
Other income, assets & cash flows
Add only what applies — anything left empty stays out of the plan.
Income that runs from one specific calendar year to another — hobby income, consulting, a side business, rental income for a fixed term, a part-time role that ends at a known date. It can also hold a simple property or business sale: enter the taxable gain (or installment payments) as the amount, with the same first and last year for a one-time sale. This model taxes it as ordinary income, so a sale taxed at capital-gains rates will show somewhat more tax than it would really owe. Unlike pensions and annuities (which run until death and have survivor % options), these streams run for a defined window and stop. Each is taxed as ordinary income, added to MAGI, and affects Social Security taxability and IRMAA exactly like any other income. Start and end years are both inclusive — entering the same year for both gives one year of income. Amounts are in today's dollars and inflate at the general inflation rate you set.
Description
Owner
First year
Last year
Annual amount
No temporary income added yet.
For income with a fixed end date — hobby income, consulting, a side business running for two or three years, rental income that stops — use the Temporary / Date-Certain Income section above instead; it's designed for exactly that. Pensions and annuities here are for streams that continue until the owner's death (with an optional survivor % to a spouse): add one row per pension or annuity, each tagged by type and with its own owner, start age, and cost-of-living setting — so streams that turn on at different times (a pension at 62, an annuity purchased later, a second pension at 67) are modeled independently rather than folded into one number. The "Type" column is for labeling and reporting only; this model taxes every stream identically regardless of which type is selected (see the next sentence). "Survivor %" is what continues to the other spouse after this stream's owner dies — 0% for a single-life pension/annuity that stops at death, 50–100% for a joint-and-survivor election. Every stream is treated as fully taxable ordinary income, same as the model's tax treatment of a standard pension; for a non-qualified annuity with an after-tax cost basis, talk to us about the separate exclusion-ratio handling before relying on the numbers here.
Description
Type
Owner
Payment status
Start age
Amount /yr
COLA?
Survivor %
No pensions or annuities added yet.
A standard taxable brokerage account — a separate bucket from the household's Traditional/Roth/cash above, tracked by total market value and total cost basis only (not individual tax lots). Growth uses the same annual growth rate set in Shared Assumptions. On withdrawal, only the proportional gain is taxed, at the capital-gains rate set in Shared Assumptions (plus state tax) — the basis portion comes out untaxed, and the account's basis is reduced proportionally so the same cost-basis percentage carries forward. "Hold" leaves it untouched (grows quietly, shows up in Net Assets and legacy figures). "As needed" sells only to fill a gap (spending, a conversion's tax, Medicare surcharges), the account with the least gain first, before or after Traditional as set below. "Custom" takes a fixed $/yr you set directly. Realized gains count toward MAGI and provisional income, so they can raise IRMAA and the taxable share of Social Security, as on a real return; federal tax on them stacks on top of ordinary income at the 0/15/20% rates.
Description
Owner
Balance
Cost basis
Strategy
Custom $/yr
No brokerage accounts added yet.
“As needed” brokerage is sold only to fill a gap: spending, a Roth conversion's tax, or Medicare surcharges, ahead of any extra Traditional withdrawal for the tax. Cash above the starting cash reserve (kept level with inflation) is invested in a taxable “Reinvested surplus” account that works the same way. Scenarios C and D try both orders and keep the one that leaves heirs more. Dividends and interest are part of the growth rate, not added to it: they're taxed every year (qualified dividends at the 0/15/20% rates, the rest as ordinary income) and reinvested, which adds to basis. If an imported tax return already shows dividends and interest, those stand in for these accounts. Gains on sales stack on top of ordinary income at the 0/15/20% rates; the Capital-gains rate above still applies to property sales and heirs. At the first death, the deceased spouse's own account steps up to its value, a joint account by half.
By default the Engine draws Traditional first (keeping the tax-free Roth growing), then the cash reserve, then “As needed” brokerage, then Roth, and Scenarios C and D may move brokerage ahead of Traditional. Set the order by hand to number the accounts instead: 1 is drawn first, then 2 when 1 runs out, and so on, in every scenario. Required minimum distributions, inherited-IRA payouts and “Custom $/yr” brokerage still come out first, as the law or their schedule requires; “Hold” brokerage isn’t drawn. Roth gives only what comes out free of tax and penalty in its turn; any part that would be taxed or penalized (before 59½ or the 5-year rule) is drawn last. Accounts left blank are used after the numbered ones, in the usual order. Roth conversion taxes are still paid from cash first. The order is saved with the client.
A Traditional IRA or 401(k) inherited from someone outside this household (e.g. a parent) — a separate bucket from the household's own Traditional/Roth accounts above, subject to the SECURE Act's 10-year rule for most non-spouse beneficiaries who inherited in 2020 or later: the account must be fully distributed within 10 years of inheriting it. Inherited before 2020? The 10-year rule doesn't apply: the beneficiary keeps the lifetime payout (the "stretch"), an annual RMD over their own life expectancy with no deadline. The Engine uses it automatically for a year inherited before 2020 (Payout rule: by year), and it can be chosen for an eligible designated beneficiary who inherited later (a spouse, a minor child, a disabled or chronically ill heir, or one not more than 10 years younger). Modeled here as a 10-year window starting the calendar year entered below (year 1 through year 10), not the exact "by Dec 31 of the year containing the 10th anniversary" IRS phrasing, which can differ by up to a year depending on when in the year the original owner died — close enough for planning, but confirm the exact deadline with a CPA before relying on the final year. Distributions are ordinary taxable income, same as a household Trad distribution, but are never subject to the 10% early-withdrawal penalty regardless of the beneficiary's age, and don't count toward or interact with the household's own RMDs. If the original owner had already started their own RMDs before dying, an annual minimum distribution is also required in years 1–9 (not just a lump sum in year 10), based on the beneficiary's own life expectancy: set Owner's RMDs to “Had started” and the Engine takes at least that amount each year. "Level" is a genuinely constant $/yr amortized once from the starting balance over the full 10 years (fully emptying by the deadline regardless); it isn't a universal recommendation — whether level, deferred, or custom timing is best is highly tax-case-dependent, especially if an annual minimum applies in years 1–9.
Description
Owner
Year inherited
Starting balance
Strategy
Custom $/yr
Owner's RMDs
Payout rule
No inherited IRAs added yet.
After age 65, HSA funds can be distributed tax-free for Medicare Part B, Part D, and IRMAA surcharges. The Engine applies HSA funds to cover IRMAA surcharges each year before drawing from other accounts; when the HSA is depleted, the normal spending waterfall resumes. Non-medical HSA distributions after 65 are taxed as ordinary income with no penalty — effectively the same as a Traditional IRA. The HSA has no required minimum distributions. At death: transfers to a surviving spouse tax-free and intact; non-spouse heirs must take the full remaining balance as ordinary income in the year of death with no stretch or deferral.
%/yr — HSAs are often invested more conservatively than the main portfolio
One household home, tracked separately from investment accounts since real estate typically appreciates at a different rate. "Hold" keeps it as part of Net Assets and the legacy figures, at zero embedded gain (this model doesn't tax a home sale, on the assumption the federal $250k/$500k primary-residence capital-gains exclusion covers most households here -- a real simplification for anyone above that). "Sell in year" liquidates it in the given calendar year: current value minus mortgage minus selling costs converts to cash, untaxed, and it drops out of Net Assets from then on. Enable amortization below to have the mortgage balance pay down on a realistic schedule; leave it off to treat the balance as fixed (i.e. you've already factored mortgage payments into your spend target or the loan is a HELOC/other non-amortizing product).
%/yr — typically lower than the portfolio growth rate set in Shared Assumptions; national long-run home-price appreciation has historically run close to general inflation.
Uses the standard amortization formula to compute a fixed monthly P+I payment, applies it each year until the balance reaches $0, and updates home equity to reflect the actual remaining principal. The annual payment is added to the plan as an obligatory cost on top of the household spend target (so the spend target should represent discretionary spending only, not include the mortgage). Once paid off, the payment stops automatically and the freed-up cash stays in the plan.
One line per policy. Each pays its death benefit, free of income tax (IRC §101(a)), in the year its insured person's modeled death falls (the "Plan to age" above), or at the second death for a survivorship policy covering both. Beneficiary: spouse — the benefit lands in the household's cash reserve and funds the survivor's plan; if the spouse has already died it goes to heirs. Beneficiary: heirs — it's added to what heirs receive. Beneficiary: someone else (a charity, an ex-spouse, a trust for others) — it stays out of the household's cash flows and the heir figures entirely. Term and group coverage pays only if the death falls on or before the year coverage ends. Premiums are paid from the household's cash flow each year while the policy is in force (level, not inflated). Owner is recorded for the estate conversation (a trust-owned policy generally stays out of the taxable estate); this model doesn't calculate estate tax. Cash value and policy loans aren't modeled.
No life insurance policies added yet.
Credit cards, car and personal loans, student loans, medical bills, a mortgage on another property: one line per debt. Each monthly payment is paid from the household's cash flow, on top of the spend target, until the balance is paid off (the payment is a fixed dollar amount, not inflated). Interest accrues on the balance each year; a payment that doesn't cover the interest never pays it off. What's still owed comes off net assets and what heirs receive. The mortgage on the household's own home belongs in Home Equity above; one on a rental belongs with the property in Investment real estate below.
No debts added yet.
Rental or other investment property, one line each. Rent and expenses (property tax, insurance, upkeep, management; not the mortgage) are in today's dollars and rise with inflation. Net rent less mortgage interest is taxed as ordinary income; a loss isn't deducted, and depreciation isn't modeled. The mortgage payment is fixed and pays the balance down. The property's value grows at its own rate, and its equity (value less mortgage) counts in net assets. Held to the end, heirs receive it with a stepped-up basis, untaxed. In a year of sale, the value less selling costs and the mortgage becomes cash, after capital-gains tax on the gain over cost basis (depreciation recapture isn't modeled).
No investment property added yet.
One-time cash the household receives free of income tax — an inheritance received as cash, a gift, a life insurance payout from a policy on someone outside this household, a tax-free legal settlement. Each one is added directly to the cash reserve in the year received and is not taxed by this model, so enter only receipts that are explicitly or very likely tax-free. A home sale belongs in Home Equity and Home Sale; a taxable business or property sale belongs in Temporary / Date-Certain Income; life insurance on someone in this household belongs in Life Insurance, where it pays out at that person's modeled death. This is for cash the household simply receives; it is not for an Inherited Traditional IRA, which has its own tax-optimized drawdown rules and its own section.
No lump sums added yet.
Extra planned spending for a specific purpose — travel, a wedding, home renovations, gifting, and so on — layered on top of the base annual spend target in every scenario (A, B, C, and D all fund it the same way; it isn't tied to any one conversion strategy). Enter the amount in today's dollars, same convention as the after-tax spend targets in Four Strategies; it inflates forward automatically. Leave start/end year blank to run for the whole plan, or set a window for a "go-go years" travel budget that tapers off later. This adds to what the household needs to fund each year, so it draws down accounts faster — it isn't a separate untaxed pot like the lump-sum/windfall section above.
Description
Amount /yr (today's $)
Start year
End year
No budget items added yet.
02 Shared Assumptions

What applies to the household as a whole

%, applied to all accounts
brackets, deduction, spend target
% a year, applied to every year of the plan, so it’s a long-run average rather than any one year’s raise. For reference: the 2027 COLA, announced by Social Security on October 14, 2026, is 3.6% (2.8% for 2026).
%, defaults to 1 — a blended assumption: cash sitting idle earns roughly 0%, while capital actually invested would earn more. The interest is taxed each year as ordinary income, on the year's opening balance (when a tax return is loaded, its interest line stands in for it). 1% is a deliberately modest middle ground, not cash left completely idle and not a fully invested, untaxed return either. This bucket still functions primarily as liquidity for tax payments, not a long-term investment, and assumes no losses along the way.
%, federal — applied only to the gain portion of brokerage-account withdrawals (Brokerage, in the Household section; basis comes out untaxed). This model uses one flat rate rather than the real 0%/15%/20% bracket structure (which stacks on top of ordinary income), so treat this as an approximation, not an exact bracket calculation. The household's state tax rate (set below) is added on top, same as most states that tax capital gains as ordinary income.
Selecting a state applies its real published income-tax brackets or flat rate (whichever it actually has) to the same taxable-income base used for federal tax throughout this tool -- a simplification, since each state has its own deduction rules this doesn't model. Doesn't include city/local income tax (e.g. NYC, Philadelphia) or annual inflation adjustment to the state's own brackets.
Optional, from the client's return. Leave blank and the Engine uses its normal math. The Tax Document Reader fills these in.
Form 8606, line 14. Makes part of each conversion and withdrawal tax-free (pro-rata rule).
Form 8606, line 14.
today's $ — what's expected to continue in retirement. Used only in years it beats the standard deduction. Don't count charity already given as a QCD.
Offsets brokerage gains, then $3,000 a year of other income, until used up.
Flags any conversion before Medicare: it raises the income that sets the premium tax credit. The lost credit itself isn't modeled.
After the first spouse dies, living expenses typically fall — but not by half. The "70–80% rule" is a common planning benchmark. These two fields apply to all four scenarios simultaneously, the same way inflation and growth assumptions do.
% of the combined spend target — applies from the year of first death onward. 100% = no change (the default); 80% is a common planning assumption. Applies to the discretionary target only; LTC events, budget set-asides, and mortgage payments are not scaled. Has no effect in Individual mode (no first-death transition to model).
today's $ — funeral costs, estate administration, final medical bills, and similar one-time outlays in the year of first death. Funded from the cash reserve in that year, same as a lump-sum windfall but in the opposite direction. Leave at $0 to ignore.
03 Four Strategies

Configure Scenario A, B, C, and D

A = do nothing, the control. B = Traditional, the textbook advice: fill a chosen tax bracket every year until RMDs force distributions anyway, then stop. C = Max for Heirs, fill the ceiling every year regardless of cost to you. D = Balanced, a middle ground between doing nothing (A) and converting aggressively (C). Configure however you like — these labels are just a starting point.

Claim ages, spend targets, and conversion parameters for each strategy. A = Baseline (no conversions). B = Classic bracket-fill. C = Legacy / max-heirs. D = Balanced middle ground.

Scenario A Baseline

e.g. “do nothing” / max lifetime wealth
taxable-income target; 0 = no conversions

Scenario B Classic

e.g. Traditional — the textbook advice: fill a tax bracket every year until RMDs start (each spouse's own), then stop
Converts up to the top of this bracket every year until RMDs start (for a couple, each spouse's money until that spouse's RMDs start).Every year until RMDs start, converts just enough to fill this bracket to the top — the classic "fill the bracket in the gap years" strategy. For a couple, each spouse's Traditional money can be converted until that spouse's own RMDs start, so a younger spouse keeps converting after the older one's RMDs begin. No manual ceiling to set; it's computed from the bracket and each year's actual other income.

Stops entirely once either spouse's RMDs begin — the simple textbook rule. It doesn't try to judge whether a further conversion would still be worthwhile after that point.

Scenario C Legacy

e.g. Max for Heirs — keep converting past RMD age if it still helps your heirs
taxable-income target; e.g. top of the 22% bracket
Searches for the ceiling that leaves heirs the most under the assumptions entered. Still trims any conversion that lands within $20,000 of an IRMAA tier.The figure this lands on is the best result under everything you entered (return, longevity, tax law, heirs' behavior) -- not an objectively optimal real-world amount, since all of those are assumptions, not certainties. One deliberate exception to "maximize net to heirs": every scenario, including this one, automatically trims a conversion that would land within $20,000 of the next IRMAA tier, rather than crossing it for a small conversion. That's a hard-coded planning heuristic (a full Medicare-surcharge cliff usually isn't worth crossing for a marginal amount), not something this objective re-derives from first principles -- it's possible a specific household's full lifetime numbers would actually come out ahead by crossing a given cliff anyway, and this search won't find that answer for you. The year-by-year detail flags every year this trim happens, so you can see exactly where and by how much.
Lets this scenario cross IRMAA tiers instead of trimming at the $20,000 guard. B and D keep the guard.Turns off the $20,000 guard above for THIS scenario only -- Scenario B and D keep it. This doesn't re-run the optimizer to test whether crossing a given cliff actually wins on net-to-heirs; it just removes the guard rail entirely, so the conversion size is whatever the base "maximize net to heirs" search picks on its own, cliffs and all. Compare this scenario's results with the box checked and unchecked to see whether a specific cliff was actually worth avoiding for this household.
C (and the heirs half of D) normally optimize for what heirs have after the 10-year hold. Check this to optimize for an immediate cash-out at the second death instead.The 10-year hold is the figure in the report: Traditional paid out over 10 years after the heirs' tax, Roth growing tax-free, everything else invested with only its growth taxed. At death values Traditional at the heirs' rate and everything else at face value. The 10-year hold gives conversions their full credit, since inherited Roth money keeps growing tax-free.

Scenario D Balanced

e.g. Balanced — a middle ground between doing nothing (A) and converting aggressively (C)
modestly higher than A/C by default — part of what makes this a genuine middle ground, not just a smaller conversion
taxable-income target; strong enough to still out-inherit "do nothing" despite the higher spend above
04 Advanced

Tax, legacy & QLAC settings

Computed automatically per spouse from birth year and month (SECURE 2.0 and its predecessor: 70½ for born before July 1949, 72 for born July 1949–1950, 73 for born 1951–59, 75 for born 1960+) — enter ages above to see each spouse's RMD start age.
% on inherited Traditional $ if cashed out at once. The 10-year hold figures use the tax brackets instead (see the note under the results).
On by default. Before 59½, an IRA withdrawal taken to pay conversion tax carries the 10% penalty. With this on, no strategy converts more than the cash reserve and the year's spare income can pay the tax on. Off: strategies may take penalized withdrawals to fund conversions, and the penalty is counted in their results.
Age. Blank: each strategy converts from the first year. A conversion pinned on the tax page still applies.
Couples are projected as married filing jointly while both are alive, then single. Married filing separately isn't modeled.
Off by default. Retirement (work stoppage) is a life-changing event that can support a request to base IRMAA on that year’s own, usually lower, income instead of the two-year-old lookback. It has to be filed and approved, so it’s a choice here; it pivots on whichever spouse with work income retires later. A spouse’s death is always assumed filed and granted, for the death year and the two after it, and only where it lowers the surcharge: the survivor’s own income is judged against the thresholds for their new filing status.
%/yr — the documented 2005-2024 average for Medicare Part B premium growth (vs. 2.6%/yr for Social Security COLA over the same period), not general inflation. Applied for the first 10 years only; after that, growth switches to your general inflation rate above, since assuming Medicare costs outpace inflation by this margin forever isn't defensible over a young client's 40-60 year horizon.
A Qualified Longevity Annuity Contract moves up to the statutory per-person cap from a Traditional IRA into a deferred income annuity starting no later than age 85. The transferred amount is excluded from RMDs until payments begin — reducing MAGI, IRMAA exposure, and SS taxability during the deferral window. Payments are taxed as ordinary income. For married couples, each spouse has an independent cap and can fund separate QLACs. The optimizer searches premiums from $100,000 to the per-person cap. Income estimates are illustrative planning estimates, not carrier quotes — update with a carrier quote before finalizing. After the optimizer runs, re-run the plan to see QLAC in the year-by-year playbook tiles.
05 Holistic Planning

Estate documents & long-term care

Status tracking for the non-investment side of the plan — not part of the numeric model except for the optional long-term care cost shock below, which does move the projections if enabled.

Tracked at the household level (not broken out per spouse) to keep this a quick status check rather than a second intake form — if the spouses' documents are genuinely at different stages, use the notes field to flag it.
Document
Status
Last reviewed
Notes
Will
Revocable / Irrevocable Trust
Financial Power of Attorney
Healthcare POA / Advance Directive
HIPAA Release
Funding approach is informational (shows in the printed report). The events below are optional — if added, each is modeled as extra spending added to the base spend target for the given owner's age window, applied uniformly across all four scenarios (an LTC event isn't a Roth-strategy decision), same today's-dollar inflation convention as the budget/set-asides section. Leave this empty to leave LTC entirely out of the numbers.
today's $ — an ONGOING cost, distinct from the LTC cost events below (which model what happens IF care is actually needed). This is what the household pays every year just to keep the policy in force, whether or not care is ever used. Applied as extra spending on top of the base spend target, same as the LTC events below, for as long as either spouse is alive — doesn't model a paid-up date, premium increases, or lapsing the policy partway through the plan.
Description
Owner
Start age
Annual cost (today's $)
Duration (yrs)
No LTC cost events modeled.
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06 Results

Scenario A vs. Scenario B vs. Scenario C vs. Scenario D

Every figure below assumes your spending target is fully spent each year — there's no requirement to spend it all, and unspent capital could be saved or redirected. The "Combined" row adds nominal spending summed over the whole plan to an inheritance valued at a single future date; it's arithmetically correct but not a discounted, apples-to-apples lifetime-value measure — useful for comparing scenarios against each other, not as a single "true" dollar figure. The "Tax savings vs. Baseline" rows compare each strategy directly to Scenario A, exactly as each is configured above — the real choice on the table, not a hypothetical version of the strategy that doesn't convert. If a strategy's claim ages or spend target also differ from Baseline's, that real difference is included in these figures, not isolated out.

Net assets over time

Scenario A — Net Assets Scenario B — Net Assets Scenario C — Net Assets Scenario D — Net Assets

Solid line: while you're alive. Dotted line: the 10 years after — heirs holding the account. Traditional (and any leftover inherited IRA) is drawn down evenly and shown net of the tax heirs actually owe on each year's payout; Roth compounds tax-free the whole time; brokerage is taxed only on its growth since the date of death, since it gets a stepped-up cost basis then.

What the plan actually pays in taxes — and what it buys

Compares what Baseline (A) actually pays against what the selected strategy actually pays, exactly as each is configured above — the basis for the "Tax savings vs. Baseline" figures elsewhere on this page, shown year by year instead of as a single lifetime total. Pick a scenario below, or use the Year by year cards further down — switch either one and both update. Continues through the same 10-year heir-hold window as the chart above, since a strategy that costs the household more during their own lifetime can still leave heirs paying meaningfully less — the running total below only tells the full story once both are included.

Baseline (A) — total tax Comparison scenario — total tax

Bars: that year's difference in tax paid (below the line means the strategy cost more that year; above means it saved). Full-color bars: while you're alive, your own tax. Fainter bars: the 10 years after second death, heirs' tax on whatever Traditional balance remains. Line: the running total across every year so far, through both periods — where it crosses from negative to positive is the point the strategy's cost has fully paid for itself, for the family as a whole.

Saved that year Cost that year Cumulative net saved (running total)

Was each strategy's conversion priced well?

A narrower, self-contained check per strategy: judged only against what that same money would have faced later via its own future RMDs — independent of the Baseline comparison above. A strategy can show an unfavorable rate here and still show real savings vs. Baseline above (or the reverse); this is about timing, the chart above is about the full real-world comparison.

Total taxes paid

Every dollar the household itself pays in tax over the whole plan — while both are alive, in whichever calendar year it's actually paid. Federal and state are broken out separately since they're genuinely different line items (and can move independently -- a Roth conversion strategy chosen to optimize federal brackets doesn't automatically optimize a progressive state's brackets too). Capital gains tax (brokerage withdrawals) and Medicare IRMAA surcharges are shown as their own rows since neither is ordinary income tax, even though both are real costs the plan pays. This is lifetime-while-alive only — it doesn't include the heirs' tax figures shown in the legacy section above, which are a separate, later cost paid by different people.

Federal vs. state, year by year

The same "what the plan actually pays" figures as the chart above, split into federal and state instead of compared against Baseline — so a state with its own steep brackets (or none at all) shows up as its own visible layer, not folded into a single tax number. Pick a scenario below. Covers the household's own lifetime only, not the 10-year heir-hold window shown elsewhere -- the federal/state split isn't separately modeled for heirs' own tax, which uses a single flat rate.

Federal State

Your legacy

Non-spouse heirs must empty an inherited account within 10 years. Traditional dollars are taxed on the way out; Roth dollars never are.

Year by year at a glance

Every year of the plan in one scrollable table, all four strategies side by side. Choose what to view below. Printed below: all three metrics, each on its own page.

Year by year at a glance — Tax savings vs. Baseline

Year by year

This year's assumptions, the Roth conversion, and the actions to take — for whichever scenario you pick. This section runs long by design — use it to check specific years, not necessarily to read straight through.

07 What if

What if…

Every check below starts from the plan as last run and changes one thing; none of them changes the plan. Open one, run it, and its answer stays on the row. Tick “Include in the PDF report” to add it to the report’s What if page.

Each check below starts from the plan in this report and changes one thing, keeping every strategy’s decisions as they are. None of them changes the plan; they show how it holds up.

Markets
Lower growthWhat if returns run below the plan’s rate every year?Not run yet
Holds each strategy’s decisions exactly as last run — claim ages, retirement ages and conversion ceiling, including any the optimizer chose — and changes only this one thing.
percentage points a year
A bad first few yearsWhat if the market falls just as retirement starts?Not run yet
The plan’s growth rate every year except these three, so the average barely moves but the order does: losses early, while money is coming out, do lasting damage. Holds each strategy’s decisions exactly as last run — claim ages, retirement ages and conversion ceiling, including any the optimizer chose — and changes only this one thing.
%
%
%
Probability of success (Monte Carlo)How often does each strategy fund the spending across 2,500 market paths?Not run yet

Shown in full on the Probability Analysis pages earlier in this report.

Runs 2,500 independent market simulations — each with a different randomly-drawn year-by-year return sequence — across all four scenarios simultaneously. Because all four scenarios share the same return sequence within each trial, the comparison is apples-to-apples: the only difference between A and C in any given trial is the conversion strategy, not the market. Returns are modeled as normally distributed; distribution parameters below. Must run the plan first.
% — pre-set from your plan's growth rate; change to model a different expected return for the MC analysis.
% — spread of annual returns. A diversified 60/40 portfolio has historically run close to 10–12%; 100% equity closer to 15–17%. Higher std dev = wider fan, lower probability of success.
Timing
Retire laterWhat if work goes on longer than planned?Not run yet
Holds each strategy’s decisions exactly as last run — claim ages, retirement ages and conversion ceiling, including any the optimizer chose — and changes only this one thing.
years, both spouses
Delay Roth conversionsWhat does waiting to start conversions cost?Not run yet
Shows the dollar cost of waiting to start Roth conversions. Select a scenario and a year to begin conversions — the engine re-runs the full strategy with conversions zeroed until that year, then compares the outcome against starting on schedule. Every year of delay compresses the conversion window, since the ceiling doesn't grow to compensate; the Traditional balance keeps growing untaxed (good) but the remaining years to convert it shrink (bad). The difference appears as a real dollar figure in estate value and heir outcomes. Must run the plan first.
Health and longevity
One spouse dies earlyWhat happens to brackets, RMDs and IRMAA when one spouse files alone?Not run yet
The survivor files single from the year after the death: tax brackets, the IRMAA thresholds and the standard deduction roughly halve, while the IRAs and their RMDs stay the same size. This re-runs all four strategies with one spouse dying at the age you choose, holding each strategy's decisions exactly as last run, and shows what that does to taxes, RMDs and the value of converting while both are alive. Married plans only; run the plan first.
Both live longerWhat if the money has to last longer?Not run yet
Holds each strategy’s decisions exactly as last run — claim ages, retirement ages and conversion ceiling, including any the optimizer chose — and changes only this one thing.
years, both spouses
A long-term-care eventWhat if care costs arrive late in life?Not run yet
Adds a care cost the plan doesn’t already have, on top of any long-term-care events entered in the plan. Holds each strategy’s decisions exactly as last run — claim ages, retirement ages and conversion ceiling, including any the optimizer chose — and changes only this one thing.
today’s dollars
years
Costs
Higher inflationWhat if prices rise faster than planned?Not run yet
Holds each strategy’s decisions exactly as last run — claim ages, retirement ages and conversion ceiling, including any the optimizer chose — and changes only this one thing.
percentage points a year

No what-ifs were selected for this report.

08 Allocation Check

Allocation Check — Solving the Income Gap

A separate solve with a different priority. The Retirement Engine asks how to pay the least lifetime tax and leave the strongest legacy across four strategies. This check asks one narrower question: how much guaranteed income closes the gap between what the client needs each month and what Social Security and pensions already provide — and how the rest of the assets should sit around that income floor. Because the priorities differ, the two will usually produce different plans. That’s expected, not an error.

Retirement Engine (sections 01–06)
Solves for: lowest lifetime tax and strongest after-tax legacy.
Levers: Roth conversions, claiming ages, withdrawal order, IRMAA and bracket management.
Output: four year-by-year strategies compared against Baseline.
Allocation Check (this section)
Solves for: a retirement income gap — guaranteed income that covers the stated need.
Levers: Personal Pension sizing, FIA, and the equity / fixed split set by the Risk Index.
Output: a today’s-dollars allocation snapshot and a one-page leave-behind.
Combining the two. Run the check on its own whenever the income gap is the first conversation. When the client is ready for the full plan, carry the chosen structure into the Retirement Engine: add the Personal Pension under Pensions & Annuities as an Annuity-type stream (annual payout, start age, survivor %), reduce the funding account balances by the premium, and re-run the four strategies. The engine then optimizes taxes and legacy around the income floor this check set. Data flows one way only — the engine feeds the check, and the check never writes back.
Savings & Investments
Everything: 401(k), IRA, brokerage, savings, plus the annuity, FIA and cash values entered here. Rough total is fine.
Premium paid into an income annuity, counted in total assets above. Shown as the Personal Pension base layer; pensions and Social Security go under Income. Leave 0 if none.
Accumulation-phase annuity with a surrender value. Shown as the FIA layer. Leave 0 if none.
Part of the total above. Shown within Fixed Income; the Risk Index is not applied to it. Leave 0 if unknown.
Income
Client Risk Index
The client's risk score. It tunes the What's Possible structure; it doesn't change the current house, which shows only the assets stated above.
0 — most conservative50 — balanced100 — most growth
Risk
Index
Protection & Documents in Place

Thank you.

Thanks for taking a few minutes to look at your retirement income. This sketch solves one priority — guaranteed income that covers what you need — and is a starting point for the conversation, not a quote, offer, or personalized recommendation. When you're ready, we'll fold it into a full plan that also covers taxes and legacy, and build it together.

A planning instrument, not a promise
09 Next Steps

Want to execute one of these strategies?

Send over your information and we'll follow up to build a real plan together. This opens your email client with everything filled in for you to review — nothing is sent automatically or stored anywhere.

Opens your email client with everything filled in.

Thank you.

This is a planning illustration, not tax, legal, or investment advice. It assumes flat annual growth (no market volatility), federal tax brackets and IRMAA tiers held at current levels and adjusted only by the inflation rate you set, Traditional balances tracked separately per spouse (RMDs and penalties apply to each spouse's own account and age), and a pooled Roth balance rather than separately tracked spousal Roth accounts.

Review your numbers with a qualified financial advisor and CPA before acting on anything shown here.

A planning instrument, not a promise