I do not know what is wrong with me, but I can never resist a discussion of taxes. I can make some people’s eyes glaze over when I get all interested in such talk.
I am not a financial advisor or a CPA. But I just want to say that some of you might want to take a closer look at what this change could mean.
Yes. Raising the age for the RMD certainly can feel like a reprieve for some, like bonus years to let your IRA be untouched. But if you are not there yet, you might want to run some numbers to see if you could be missing a current opportunity. For some, it could make sense to get in some conversions to Roth before your pay-the-piper birthday.
A look at tax-brackets might be a good idea. Do you have room to pay extra now or is a guess about later the way to go?
Roth conversion after reaching RMD age can be more of a hassle or a hit because the RMD must be taken first before doing a conversion. (Don’t forget to look into using a QCD as your RMD — if you are charitably inclined and the tax advantages could work in your favor — especially now when itemizing is not as prevalent — but that’s a different topic, sort of.)
Anyway, even if not worrying about protecting non-spousal heirs, doing Roth conversions along the way to RMD age can be a way of helping yourself to lessen your own future tax hit. Not always. But sometimes. Pay now? Pay later? But Roth conversions could be an opportunity worth looking into while you wait for those extra couple of candles on your cake.
If my thoughts on this matter interest you, please get some professional advice. Mine is worth exactly what you are paying for it.
Btw, the OP, champion6, has given us some good links.