1. You Avoid Required Minimum Distribution Headaches

Let’s start with the big one. Required Minimum Distributions, or RMDs.

Traditional IRAs and most pre-tax retirement accounts force you to start pulling money out in your 70s. The rules have changed a bit, but for most people, that means somewhere between 73 and 75. You do not get to choose. The government tells you, “You have to take at least this much out this year and pay tax on it.”

On one level, that is not a terrible problem. High earners often hit big RMDs because they did a lot right. You pumped money into pre-tax accounts, grabbed tax deductions, and let those balances grow. That is a smart move.

The problem shows up later when:

• You do not actually need all that income.
• You get bumped into higher tax brackets.
• You start triggering other tax and healthcare gotchas.

Here is where Roth IRAs come in clutch: Roth IRAs have no RMDs for the original owner. You are not forced to pull money out just because you hit a certain age.

That gives you some very real perks:

• You keep more control over when and if you use those dollars.
• You can let that tax-free growth keep compounding if you do not need the cash.
• You are not stuck paying tax on withdrawals you did not even want.

If most of your money sits in pre-tax accounts, the government eventually sets the pace. If a meaningful portion is in Roth, you choose the pace.

Roth Conversions During Your “Golden Window”

Now, picture this timeline.

• While working: high income, high tax bracket, still saving.
• You retire: income drops, maybe way down.
• RMDs kick in later in your 70s, pushing income back up.

That gap between retirement and RMD age is your “golden window.” Your tax bracket might be much lower in those years. During that window, you can convert some traditional IRA or 401(k) money into a Roth on purpose.

You pay the tax now while your rate is lower, then enjoy tax-free growth and no RMDs on those converted dollars later. You are filling up the lower tax brackets with conversions instead of waiting for RMDs to blast you into higher brackets when you are older.

Backdoor Roth: Not Flashy, Very Effective

If you are a high earner who cannot contribute to a Roth IRA directly, the backdoor Roth moves up the list.

Backdoor Roth contributions:

• It is a tax-neutral move when done correctly.
• Let you build a Roth bucket over decades.
• Do not take away from your pre-tax savings options.

Year by year, it does not feel exciting. But fast-forward 20 or 30 years. You now have a chunky Roth balance that never had to compete with your 401(k) for contribution room, and it will never have RMDs while you own it.

That is when you really start saying, “Oh, I am glad I did that.”

2. You Keep Medicare IRMAA Costs In Check

Let’s talk Medicare and a little thing called IRMAA.

IRMAA stands for Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount. In plain English, this is an extra charge added to your Medicare Part B and Part D premiums if your income is above certain thresholds.

Here is the kicker:

• IRMAA uses a two-year lookback on your income.
• It is based on your taxable income, not just wages.
• Retirement account withdrawals that are taxable count toward that number.

If you cross certain income lines, your Medicare premiums can jump by hundreds of dollars per month. And these are not gentle steps. You hit a threshold by even a dollar, you can move into the next tier.

Now think about how that plays with your retirement income mix.

Traditional IRA withdrawals, RMDs, capital gains, interest from taxable accounts, all that can show up in the IRMAA calculation. Roth withdrawals do not. Pulling money from a Roth IRA does not increase your taxable income.

That is a huge planning lever.

You might have a year where:

• You want to cover a big expense.
• You want to help a kid with a down payment for a home.
• You want to take a big trip.

If all you have is pre-tax money, a big withdrawal might bump you into a higher IRMAA tier. If you have a healthy Roth balance, you can tap that instead and keep your reported income lower.

When Conversions Help and When They Sting

There is a twist here, though.

Roth conversions themselves are taxable. So if you are doing big conversions after 65, they can temporarily push up your IRMAA brackets. You might pay more for Medicare for a year or two.

Some people are totally fine with that. They look at it as, “I will take the hit now to get more into Roth and keep my future premiums and taxes lower.” Others prefer to frontload more conversions before 65 to avoid bouncing IRMAA around after Medicare starts.

Either way, the long-term benefit is the same. Once the money is in the Roth, future withdrawals are not counted for IRMAA or regular income tax.

3. You Protect Yourself From the “Widow Penalty”

This one is not fun to talk about, but it matters a lot.

When one spouse passes away, the surviving spouse has to deal with more than grief. The tax code changes for them, too. They go from filing as married filing jointly to single.

That change matters for one simple reason: single tax brackets are tighter.

Imagine this:

• As a married couple, you had wide tax brackets, and a certain level of income felt very manageable from a tax angle.
• One spouse dies, and the surviving spouse still needs a similar income, but the brackets shrink.
• The same withdrawals from pre-tax accounts can now push the survivor into higher tax rates much faster.

It gets rough if most of the money is in pre-tax accounts:

• RMDs do not care that one spouse has passed away. The account balances are still large, so the required withdrawals are still large.
• Inherited IRAs from the deceased spouse can end up in the survivor’s name, adding more pre-tax money that will be forced out.
• The surviving spouse might not even need all that income and may end up reinvesting it in a taxable account, which then creates more tax forms later.

Now think about the same scenario with more Roth money in the mix.

Roth withdrawals are not treated as taxable income. So if the survivor has a big Roth bucket, they can:

• Pull what they need without inflating their tax bracket.
• Soften the impact of those tighter single brackets.
• Keep more flexibility to manage taxes year by year.

Why This Makes Roth Conversions More Attractive Today

This is one of the big reasons you will see advisors encourage Roth conversions while both spouses are alive, especially in the 60s and early 70s.

While you are both here, you benefit from those wider married-filing-jointly brackets. You can convert more at reasonable tax rates. Later, if one spouse passes away, the surviving spouse has more Roth to pull from and fewer painful surprises built into their tax bill.

You will not see the payoff in year one. But years later, that surviving spouse will feel a huge difference in how much control they have over their income and taxes.

4. You Deal With Fewer 1099 Tax Surprises

Let’s talk about something far less emotional but very real: 1099s.

If you have a big taxable brokerage account, it may be your “utility player” account. It is flexible, you can use it before retirement, it does not have the age 59½ rules, and that is great.

Even if you build it with tax-efficient ETFs and maybe some municipal bonds, a taxable account still:

• Kicks out interest.
• Kicks out dividends.
• Kicks out capital gains when funds trade inside the fund.

All that shows up on a 1099. That means more taxable income, more variables, and more chances to get pushed into higher brackets or IRMAA tiers.

Roth accounts do not send you a 1099 for earnings or withdrawals in retirement. No taxable interest. No capital gains to report. No surprises in the mail at tax time from your Roth.

That is one of the sneaky reasons more Roth can make life calmer later. You simplify your tax picture.

Using Your Taxable Account To Build Roth

Here is a move a lot of planners like in that golden window between retirement and RMDs:

1. You do a Roth conversion, which creates a tax bill on purpose.
2. You pay that tax bill using money from your taxable account, not from the IRA you just converted.
3. Over time, you shrink your taxable account and grow your Roth.

What happens over the long term:

• Your taxable account, which creates 1099s every year, gets smaller.
• Your Roth balance, which does not spit out tax forms, gets bigger.
• Future returns on those converted dollars now compound tax-free instead of being taxed year after year.

You still need to pay attention to the size of conversions, the tax brackets you are hitting, and how long you have before you need the money. But conceptually, you are trading a more taxable asset (brokerage account) for a less taxable one (Roth) over time.

That lines up very nicely with a smoother tax life in your 70s, 80s, and beyond.

5. Your Kids (Or Other Heirs) Will Absolutely Love You For It

Last big reason, and this is the one that usually makes people smile.

If you care about what you leave behind, Roth accounts are incredibly friendly for heirs. In fact, besides life insurance, a lot of people see Roth as the best type of asset to pass on.

Here is why your heirs love Roth money:

• Roth assets are tax-free to them when they follow the rules.
• Uncle Sam has already been paid.
• They can pull from that inherited Roth without adding to their taxable income.

Compare that to leaving behind a big traditional IRA:

• Under current rules, your heirs usually have to empty that inherited IRA within 10 years.
• Every dollar they pull out is taxable income.
• If they are in their peak earning years, those forced withdrawals stack on top of a high salary.

You can probably see the difference. Inherited pre-tax money can feel like a tax bomb. Inherited Roth money feels like a gift with no strings attached.

How This Shapes Your Own Withdrawal Strategy

Because Roth is such a nice asset to leave behind, many people treat it as the “back burner” account in retirement.

They often:

• Spend from taxable accounts and pre-tax IRAs first.
• Let the Roth grow as long as possible.
• Use Roth only when needed to keep income or taxes down in a given year.

The result is that by the time you pass away, your Roth balance may be quite large. That is not an accident. It is a feature of the plan.

You are basically saying, “I will pay more of the tax tab during my lifetime so my kids do not have to.” For many parents, that feels like a win.

Your kids probably will not send you a thank-you card in the afterlife, but if they understood the math, they would.

Final Thoughts: You Like Roth Now, You Love It Later

When you zoom out, a pattern becomes very clear. Roth accounts are not just about tax-free growth. They are about control.

They help you:

1. Skip RMD headaches and avoid forced withdrawals.
2. Keep Medicare IRMAA surcharges from getting out of hand.
3. Soften the tax squeeze after the loss of a spouse.
4. Cut down on annoying 1099s from taxable accounts.
5. Leave your heirs assets that are simple and tax-free to use.

All of this becomes more important, not less, as you age. The older you get, the more moving parts you have with taxes, healthcare, and family. Roth dollars give you options at every turn.

If you already have Roth money, you are off to a strong start. If you are early in your career, those quiet backdoor contributions or well-timed conversions may not feel exciting yet. Fast-forward a few decades, and future you will be very happy you made Roth part of your long-term plan.