Another thumbs up to Gumby for putting this together, good idea and a useful resource.
After looking at the numbers for SS, I found myself saying huh? I was surprised at how high the income values for full SS taxation are. I'd always figured if you have $44K of non SS income for MFJ it would all be taxable at 85%. Key point on the form is "up to 85%". As a result of seeing Gumby's numbers, and since I'm entering the timeframe where we have one small SS check and some years before RMD where I'm planning on Roth conversions, I looked into the calculations in more detail.
As others have said, it's difficult to look at the form and understand it. I know I couldn't. Since these calculations include how much SS you get, which is different for everyone, it's also tough to simplify it down to some numbers in a chart.
I've looked around the forum and haven't found a thread on the subject. I'm wondering if there's one out there and I can't find it. Not sure if this thread is the right place to have a discussion, or perhaps start one elsewhere. After spending some time wrapping my mind around how it affects our situation I feel comfortable with how it works, and suffice it to say the reality is different than I expected before this exercise based on my reading of the form without comprehending the underlying equations.
I'm wondering if others would find this useful? Or if it's just too individual to get something that explains it?