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Retirement tax planning & Roth conversions
Retirement tax planning is deciding, each year, where your spending comes from and how much to convert — so you pay less tax over your whole life instead of less tax this April. For most households that means using the cheapest years of their adult life on purpose, managing the bracket they will live in once required distributions start, and not letting the tax tail wag the retirement dog.
In short
Retirement tax planning means making account decisions — Roth conversions, which accounts you spend from, when to take required distributions, how to give — with your lifetime tax bill in mind rather than a single year. Lock Wealth Management is a fee-only, CFP®-led firm in Midtown Atlanta that does this as part of planning, starting at $250/month.
What this actually involves
Know your bracket before you claim anything
The years between your last paycheck and your first Social Security check are often the cheapest tax years of your adult life. We plan around them rather than stumbling through them.
Roth conversions with a reason
We convert when there is room in a low bracket to do it, show you the trade against your own projection, and tell you when not to convert. No converting for the slogan.
Watch the lines that quietly cost money
Income above certain thresholds raises what you and your spouse pay for Medicare and can affect other benefits. We run those numbers before a conversion, not after.
Work alongside your CPA
Your preparer files what happened. We plan what happens next. We would rather the two of us be working from the same picture than from two different ones.
Handle the once-only tax events
A business sale, restricted stock, an inherited IRA, a large charitable gift, a downsizing. These decisions come once and echo for a decade.
Who this is for
- You are within five years of retiring and most of your savings are in traditional accounts.
- You have already done conversions and are not sure whether to keep going.
- You sold a business, exercised options, or received an inheritance with a tax decision attached.
- You give charitably and want the deduction to do more work.
- You think you might be close to a Medicare income threshold.
Who this is not for
- You need a tax return prepared — that is your CPA, and we will coordinate with them.
- You want to pay no tax ever, which is not a strategy available to you.
- You are looking for a scheme that depends on the rules not being read closely.
Hypothetical illustration
A retired couple in Atlanta with no earned income and $1.4 million in a traditional IRA were sitting in a low bracket with a large gap above their taxable income. The plan was to fill that gap with conversions for four years before Social Security and required distributions arrived, keeping each year inside the bracket and inside the Medicare threshold. The point was not a clever number; it was that the window was open for a limited time and would close on its own.
Illustration only. It does not represent an actual client situation and is not a guarantee of results.
How our fees work
We're paid only by our clients: a flat monthly planning fee, plus an optional asset-based fee for the accounts we manage. No commissions, no product payouts, no revenue sharing.
Foundations
$250/month
Get organized, build a plan, and keep an advisor in your corner.
Comprehensive
$400/month
Broader planning across taxes, estate, and long-term goals.
Business owner
$800/month
Integrated advice across personal and business finances.
Investment management is optional and billed separately as a percentage of the accounts we manage; we walk through it during your proposal meeting. See the full process and fee details.
Questions about retirement tax planning & roth conversions
Read next
- Roth Conversions: When They Make Sense and How They WorkThe mechanics, with the cases where they work.
- When NOT to Do a Roth Conversion: 5 Scenarios to Watch Out ForThe five situations where converting is the wrong move.
- How Much Tax Will You Pay in Retirement?How the pieces add up once income starts.
- Qualified Charitable Distributions: Give From Your IRA Without Adding to Your Taxable IncomeA tax-efficient way to give after age 70½.
See whether you have a tax window open
A free 15-minute call with Ben Loughery, CFP®, CRPC™. If there is a low-tax window in your situation, we will tell you. If there is not, we will tell you that too.
Schedule a free 15-minute callNo cost, no obligation, and nothing to sell you at the end of it.