Roth conversion ladder calculator
Convert a slice of your IRA each year, wait five years, and take it out before 59½ with no 10% penalty. The catch is the first five years. Here's what it takes to get across them.
To get from 45 to 59½ on a ladder, you need outside the IRA
$226,200
Your first rung lands at 50; until then you live on the bridge, and it also pays the tax on every conversion. With $250,000 set aside you are covered, with $23,800 to spare.
- Federal tax on each $40,000 conversion
- $2,620
- On 2026 brackets, with the standard deduction.
- Convert each year at 0% federal tax
- up to $16,100
- Up to $66,500 stays in the 12% bracket or below.
| Age | Convert | Rung | From bridge |
|---|---|---|---|
| 45 | $40,000 | — | $42,620 |
| 46 | $40,000 | — | $42,620 |
| 47 | $40,000 | — | $42,620 |
| 48 | $40,000 | — | $42,620 |
| 49 | $40,000 | — | $42,620 |
| 50 | $40,000 | $40,000 | $2,620 |
| 51 | $40,000 | $40,000 | $2,620 |
| 52 | $40,000 | $40,000 | $2,620 |
| 53 | $40,000 | $40,000 | $2,620 |
| 54 | $40,000 | $40,000 | $2,620 |
| 55 | — | $40,000 | $0 |
| 56 | — | $40,000 | $0 |
| 57 | — | $40,000 | $0 |
| 58 | — | $40,000 | $0 |
| 59 | — | $40,000 | $0 |
Federal income tax only, on 2026 brackets held in today's money. State tax is not modelled, and neither is the effect of the extra income on ACA health subsidies, which can cost more than the tax. The bridge is assumed not to grow. Nothing is stored and nothing is sent to us — the address bar carries your figures so you can save or share them.
The five-year gap is the whole plan
Nothing you convert in your first year of retirement can be spent until the sixth. So a ladder never starts on its own: it needs five years of spending held somewhere else, and that money also pays the tax on the conversions you make meanwhile. Short of that, the ladder fails at the start, not the end.
The usual fix is to start converting before you stop work, or to build a taxable account alongside retirement savings. Your own Roth contributions count too: they can come out at any time. If most of your money sits in a 401(k), it is usually rolled into a traditional IRA first, which ends the Rule of 55 for that plan.
Why the converted money can come out first
Roth IRA withdrawals follow a fixed order: your contributions first, then conversions, oldest first, then earnings. That order is what makes a ladder work: you reach the converted money without touching the growth on it, which stays locked until 59½.
Take a conversion out before its five years are up and the 10% applies to it, even though you already paid the income tax.
Questions people ask
- What is a Roth conversion ladder?
- A way to reach retirement money before 59½. Each year you convert part of a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA and pay income tax on it. Five years later that converted amount can come out with no 10% additional tax. Convert every year and, after the first five, a rung becomes available every year.
- When does the five-year clock start?
- On 1 January of the year you convert, whatever the month. A conversion made in December 2026 can come out from 1 January 2031. Each conversion has its own clock.
- What do I live on for the first five years?
- Money outside the traditional IRA: cash, a taxable brokerage account, or your own Roth contributions, which can come out at any time without tax or penalty. A 72(t) series or the Rule of 55 can also fill the gap. The calculator above adds up how much you need, including the tax on the conversions you make in those years.
- How much should I convert each year?
- Usually about one year of spending, so each rung pays one year. Converting up to the standard deduction costs no federal income tax if you have no other income, and the 12% bracket sits above that. Larger conversions reach higher brackets.
- Does it affect health insurance?
- It can. A conversion is income, and income sets ACA premium tax credits for marketplace cover before Medicare. A conversion that pushes income up can cost more in lost subsidy than in tax. The calculator does not model that, so check it against your marketplace estimate.
The other routes to money before 59½ are the 72(t) calculator and the Rule of 55; the withdrawal strategy chooser shows which of them fit your accounts. For the subsidy side, see health insurance in early retirement.
Sources: Internal Revenue Code §408A(d)(3)(F); Treas. Reg. §1.408A-6, Q&A-5 and Q&A-8; IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (2026 brackets and standard deduction, as amended by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act).