Here is an article from Christine Benz at Morningstar on this topic: morningstar.com - We need tal...

Thanks for the article. It's spot on.

We are of the generation where Roth IRAs were not around initially, and as such the result of our throwing the max allowed at our IRAs and 401Ks have left us with a huge tax debt when RMDs become an issue down the road. Yes, a very first world problem, but we expect our taxes to be higher in retirement than while working if we do nothing.

One of the partial solutions to this is Roth conversions, which we have been doing up to the 24% tax bracket annually. My calculations show that we will minimally be in the 28% tax bracket with RMDs, in part due to the expected reversion to the 2017 tax rates. Since we pay the tax with cash on hand, rather than from the conversion, we view it as essentially depositing the taxes paid on conversion into the Roth. Because of the change to inherited IRAs, requiring a 10 year draw down, inheriting a Traditional IRA can be somewhat problematic for our kids, and certainly paying more in taxes is not what we envisioned when making the initial deposits. Both of our kids are still single, and at 30 Eldest already makes more than DH did at the end of his career, which would result in huge tax bills with the TIRA inheritance.

Interestingly, even after about 8 years of Roth conversions, the stock market has made it such that our TIRA balances have gone up. Not complaining, really, but the conversions have not actually lowered our future tax bill from RMDs. RMDs won't be imposed on us for about 7 years, so no action taken yet, but should we still be in the same position, we intend to give to charity via the QCD option. In fact I see via Googling a link that we don't have to wait for RMDs at 73 to do QCD, and can start at 70.5 years old. fidelitycharitable.org - Qualified charitable distribution(QCD,taking%20their%20required%20minimum%20distributions.

Because we have kids, and this would be part of what they could potentially inherit, we want to include them in on the decision making process. I envision all 4 of us coming to the table with the our favorite charity and discussing the merits of each, reaching a consensus on where to donate the money in full or part. Because they were part of our frugal LBYM lifestyle that allowed for investment, I feel they should also be part of the donation decision process.

FWIW,

IP