Question: (Rose, Southeast WI) I am 57 and retired (after 55). I own my home with no mortgage. I have NO earned income. This is about ROTH conversions, sorry. No back door, I don’t want to deal with the pro-rata nonsense. I can take money from one or more of 4 sources to do ROTH conversions from traditional IRA/401K accounts. I could take about the same amount of money from each source. The 4 sources I could take the cash out of are:
• Inherited IRA (RMD through age 87)
• Brokerage
• 401K (the rule of 55 applies)
• social security (starting age 62)
I understand that tax implications of the RMD/401K (ordinary tax), Brokerage (mostly LT Cap Gains and Dividends) and social security starting at 62 (85% tax). As a note, the funds are being converted to get them into a tax free account and to reduce my future tax bracket (would be 28-33% if I do nothing). The longer it takes to move the funds, the more years I will be in a higher bracket. If I use funds from the brokerage account, I will pay less in taxes (15% bracket on about 55% gains) and can convert more to fill up the tax bracket each year. This will allow me to convert faster but will also leave the ordinary tax funds to be paid when the tax brackets are higher.
Should I use the higher tax funds while the brackets are lower and then switch to the lower tax funds after the tax brackets go up? Or, vice versa?

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