How much Roth conversion fits in your bracket?
Converting up to the top of your current bracket is the cheapest Roth money you will ever buy. Converting one dollar past it costs noticeably more. This shows you exactly where that line sits this year.
- Income before deductions$0
- Less your deduction$0
- Taxable income$0
- Top of your current bracket$0
- Conversion that fills it$0
- Federal tax on that conversion$0
Filling each bracket from here
What it costs in federal tax to convert up to the top of each rate.
| Fill to top of | Convert | Federal tax | Rate on it |
|---|
Illinois residents: Illinois generally does not tax retirement plan distributions, and a Roth conversion is a distribution from a qualified plan. For most Illinois filers the state cost of a conversion is nothing, which is a meaningfully better deal than it would be in a state that taxes the income. Confirm your own situation with your tax preparer.
Is a conversion actually right this year?
Bracket room tells you what is possible, not what is wise. The answer turns on your future bracket, where the tax money comes from, your Medicare timeline, and what you want the account to do for your heirs. That is a conversation worth having before December.
Assumptions and limits. Uses the 2026 federal ordinary income tax rate schedule and standard deduction amounts from IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32: standard deduction $16,100 single and married filing separately, $32,200 married filing jointly, $24,150 head of household; additional deduction of $1,650 per qualifying age-65 taxpayer, or $2,050 for an unmarried taxpayer; and the temporary senior deduction of $6,000 per taxpayer age 65 or older for tax years 2025 through 2028, reduced by 6% of modified adjusted gross income above $75,000 ($150,000 joint) and unavailable to married filing separately. Modified adjusted gross income is treated as equal to adjusted gross income. Calculations treat all income as ordinary income taxed at the statutory rates. They do not account for long-term capital gains or qualified dividend rates, the 3.8% net investment income tax, the additional Medicare tax, alternative minimum tax, Medicare IRMAA surcharges, Social Security provisional income, the qualified business income deduction, phase-outs of credits or deductions, state income tax, or the five-year rules that apply to converted amounts. This tool is general education, not tax, legal, or investment advice, and it is not a recommendation to convert any amount. Confirm every figure with your own tax professional before acting.