What my personal calculations have shown me is that it was worth it (more yearly spending possible) to Roth convert even a few percent beyond the estimated RMD tax rate if you are far enough away from Roth withdrawals (maybe more than 8 or so, everyone will be different). The benefit of essentially moving money from a taxable account to a Roth account exceeds the added tax.
Then we have a few years of Roth converting to the top of the same RMD tax bracket. Then we have five or so years of Roth converting just to the top of lower tax brackets and taking 0% capital gains. We'll have more than enough gains by then, and the benefit of moving taxable money to the Roth account for only a few years is small. We'll probably start Roth withdrawals about the same time as RMD's start (10 more years since all remaining tIRA's are in DW's name).
So three different Roth conversion modes for us, and that doesn't even include ACA limits, or tIRA inheritance, or paying taxes later at the single rates. The good thing is that just getting somewhat close to your optimum strategy gets you nearly all the benefits. At the optimum there's lots of trade-offs, like ACA subsidies vs. Roth conversion. Both can result in a substantial benefit, and there may be only a small difference between choosing one or the other. Especially considering the level of uncertainties involved.
Then we have a few years of Roth converting to the top of the same RMD tax bracket. Then we have five or so years of Roth converting just to the top of lower tax brackets and taking 0% capital gains. We'll have more than enough gains by then, and the benefit of moving taxable money to the Roth account for only a few years is small. We'll probably start Roth withdrawals about the same time as RMD's start (10 more years since all remaining tIRA's are in DW's name).
So three different Roth conversion modes for us, and that doesn't even include ACA limits, or tIRA inheritance, or paying taxes later at the single rates. The good thing is that just getting somewhat close to your optimum strategy gets you nearly all the benefits. At the optimum there's lots of trade-offs, like ACA subsidies vs. Roth conversion. Both can result in a substantial benefit, and there may be only a small difference between choosing one or the other. Especially considering the level of uncertainties involved.