Here is what i see as base inputs :

- age
- filing status
- estimated year to start SS income
- past year taxable income
- estimated forward year(s) taxable income
- current state rate for taxable income

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I will tell you what I did, and you can determine to what extent it picks up the variables you mention.

You don't mention existing TIRA balance. My goal was to have mine completely converted to Roth before RMD's start. Any dollars I took in the form of RMD's would never make it to the Roth.

I knew how many years remained before the start of RMD's and I had an existing balance (plus growth over ensuing years) so dividing by years gave me a target amount to convert each year. Then I had to look at what marginal rate a conversion of that size would be taxed. I wanted to max out the 25% bracket but go no higher. That caused me to have to scale back on the annual conversion which is one reason I have about 3-4 more years of conversions to go and I will have to take RMD's in the last 2 or 3 of them. The message here is even though I been converting for ten years or so, I should have started sooner.

One big mistake I made in the early years was having Vanguard withhold 20% of the conversion for taxes so only 80% made it into the Roth account. Once I wised up. I let the entire conversion amount go into the Roth, and I paid the additional taxes from a separate taxable account.

The other mistake I made was not reflecting IRMAA in my calculations of an amount to convert. Roth conversions drive up your AGI as far a IRMAA is concerned. I was solely focused on Marginal Tax Rate. This factor only matters in the two years prior to when you start on Medicare. Had I started Roth conversions earlier, they wouldn't be driving my income as high in the IRMAA brackets as they presently are. In my case I am now paying an extra $500 a month or so for Medicare each month as a consequence. This penalty will drop once my TIRA is empty but could had been mostly avoided if I was smarter at the outset.

Lots of moving parts. Good Luck.

Retirement Investing FAQ

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