The Retirement and IRA Show Social Security and Roth Conversion Strategies: Q&A #2545
12 snips
Nov 8, 2025 Listeners dive into maximizing Social Security survivor benefits, particularly for widows with unclaimed spouse benefits. The duo also tackles whether couples should pursue Roth conversions and how much they should convert. Strategies for timing conversions before RMDs and the implications of IRMAA on tax planning are explored. Insights on whether to stop contributing to Roth accounts to cover conversion taxes are discussed, along with the impact of the Net Investment Income Tax. Overall, it's a practical guide for navigating retirement finances.
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Compare Survivor Versus Your Delayed Benefit
- Check whether your own delayed-retirement benefit could surpass the survivor benefit before picking a claiming strategy.
- If your benefit could overtake the survivor amount, claim the survivor first and switch to your own at 70; otherwise claim your own now and switch at full retirement age.
How Delayed Credits Affect Survivor Benefits
- Delayed retirement credits don't apply to a survivor unless the deceased earned them before death.
- Survivors can inherit delayed credits even if the original worker never claimed benefits before passing.
Use Low-Income Years To Convert To Roth
- Use low-income years before big income sources start to do Roth conversions up to your target tax bracket.
- Consider converting large amounts this year while Social Security and annuity income remain low to reduce future RMD pressure.