Not everyone invests the same....I can't assume 10% return in retirement because I can't or won't put the entire IRA at investment risk when I am depending on it for income. I am not going to average 10% return because I am closer to 50/50 between equities and guaranteed funds. I was making over 5% on guaranteed side for the last couple years, but it looks like that is about to come to an end. I am still not going higher on the equities mix than 50/50 unless it drops to 0.1% again...and even then I wouldn't go higher than 60/40. I may be more conservative than others....or maybe I would put more at risk if it was just me, but I have my wife to consider.
I have never really worried about the RMD's, perhaps because I have the philosophy that if I live into my 90's, I will be happy to deal with higher RMD's. I'll sign for that right now. At age 80, the RMD is still only about 5%. At age 90, it is 8.2%. I hope I live to complain about having to pay tax on 8.2% of my IRA in 2050. I am not going to argue if the numbers work out that it may be more advantageous for tax purposes to convert to Roth in the long run. It may be, but I am not going to give up such a huge chunk of my IRA in income taxes in one year plus pay the higher Medicare premiums when I have no idea how long I am going to live. Good luck to everyone, these are not easy decisions to make and what may be right for one is not necessarily right for everyone.
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