The Learn Hub · Education, not a pitch
Roth space and conversions — the machine, in plain English
What Roth money is, how conversions work, who they fit, and the traps — the pro-rata rule, the five-year clocks, and the IRMAA step two years out.
A note on who Max is. Max is a cartoon owl. He is not a financial advisor, insurance agent, or tax professional, and nothing here is personalized advice. When a question turns personal, he does not answer it — he teaches the general version and points you to a licensed conversation, which is automated and says so before it says anything else.
What it is
Roth money is money you have already paid tax on, that then grows and comes out tax-free in retirement, with no required distributions during your life. A Roth conversion moves money from a pretax IRA or plan into Roth space, paying ordinary tax now so it never gets taxed again. The point is to choose the year you pay — ideally a low-income year — instead of letting required distributions and survivorship choose it for you.
The 2026 figures
- IRA contribution limit
- $7,500, plus $1,100 catch-up at 50 or older
- Roth IRA income phase-out, single
- $153,000 to $168,000
- Roth IRA income phase-out, married filing jointly
- $242,000 to $252,000
Who conversions fit — and who they do not
- Fits
- Low-income years before required distributions or before a spouse's death; large pretax balances; cash on hand to pay the tax from outside the account; heirs likely to be in high brackets.
- Does not fit
- People who would pay the tax from the IRA itself; those relying on income-tested benefits; anyone whose current bracket is already as high as it will ever be.
Education only
This explains the mechanism. It does not recommend a conversion for you, name a product, or manage your money. Whether to convert, and how much, is a licensed conversation about your actual return.
The traps that lurk here.
Three of them. Pro-Rata Pete blends an old pretax IRA into your backdoor conversion so it is only partly tax-free. The five-year clocks mean converted money and Roth earnings each have their own aging period before they come out penalty- and tax-free. And the IRMAA Cliff can raise your Medicare premium two years after a big conversion year. A conversion can still be the right move — but count all three before you sign.
Figures on this page are for tax year 2026 and were last verified 2026-07-25. Tax and benefit numbers change every year — check the current-year figure before acting on any of them. The 2026 Medicare IRMAA income tiers were not yet confirmed when this was written; where they matter, they are named but not stated as fact.
Related
Desk’s open.
— Max