Roth Conversion Ladder Calculator | Predictable Income

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Roth Conversion Ladder

The FIRE community's favorite loophole. Convert Traditional IRA to Roth in yearly tranches, then tap each tranche penalty-free after 5 years.

💡 How it works: Each year, convert one year's worth of living expenses from your Traditional IRA/401(k) to Roth. You pay ordinary income tax on the conversion that year, then wait 5 years. After the 5-year seasoning, each conversion can be withdrawn penalty-free, even before age 59½.

Traditional IRA/401(k) Balance ($)

Annual Living Expenses ($)

Retirement Age

Taxable Bridge Account ($)

Effective Tax Rate on Conversion 12%

Expected Annual Return 6.0%

Your Conversion Ladder — First 7 Years

Year	Age	Convert	Tax Owed	Funded From	Available at Age

Years You Can Bridge With This Plan

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before tapping Roth ladder conversions

Total Tax Over Ladder

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across conversion years

Age You Access First Conversion

—

penalty-free withdrawal unlocks

Traditional IRA Balance vs. Cumulative Roth Conversions

The ladder's magic is in its timing: you convert during low-income retirement years when your marginal tax rate is lowest, then access the money tax-free later. The 5-year seasoning period is why you need a bridge (taxable brokerage, Roth contributions, etc.) to cover the first 5 years of expenses.

Roth Conversion Ladder Calculator

The Roth Conversion Ladder Calculator maps out the FIRE community's favorite loophole, giving early retirees a clear path to accessing traditional retirement funds decades before age 59½ without paying the 10% penalty. Enter your Traditional IRA balance, annual living expenses, retirement age, taxable bridge account, and expected tax rate on conversions, and the calculator builds a seven-year ladder table showing year by year how much to convert, the tax owed, which account funds your living expenses that year, and the age at which each conversion unlocks for penalty-free withdrawal. A bridge analysis tells you whether your taxable brokerage account is large enough to cover the five-year seasoning period, the critical gap that makes or breaks the strategy. The chart tracks your Traditional IRA balance declining as the converted Roth balance grows, visualizing the gradual tax-advantaged handoff. It's the calculator that turns a strategy most people have heard mentioned into an executable, year-by-year plan.