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Welcome to the Roth IRA Conversion Optimizer Blog
The latest posts are below. Feel free to respond to any of the posts with comments, questions or suggestions.
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Why Monte Carlo Matters: Bringing Real‑World Uncertainty Into Your Retirement Plan
Retirement planning isn’t just about spreadsheets and assumptions; it’s really about getting ready for all the curveballs life can throw at you. Markets jump around, inflation changes, tax laws shift, and life rarely follows a straight path. Even so, most planning tools still lean on a single fixed return assumption, a neat little number that…
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New FIRE Dashboard: Track Your Path to Lean, Standard, and Fat FIRE
We just launched a powerful new enhancement to the Roth IRA Conversion Optimizer — the FIRE Dashboard, designed to give users a crystal-clear view of their FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) journey. Whether you’re aiming for Lean FIRE, Standard FIRE, or Fat FIRE, this dashboard shows exactly where you stand and how far you have…
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New Release: Early‑Withdrawal Modeling, 72(t), and Rule of 55
Retirement planning isn’t one‑size‑fits‑all, especially for people who step off the traditional retirement timeline. This update is designed specifically for the groups who need accurate early‑withdrawal modeling: If you fall into any of these categories, this release gives you a level of precision that’s hard to find anywhere else. See the User-Editable Blue Columns blog…
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Announcing the 2026 Release of the Roth IRA Conversion Optimizer
The 2026 edition of the Excel Roth IRA Conversion Optimizer spreadsheet is now available, bringing your planning tools fully up to date with the latest federal tax changes and retirement‑related thresholds. 🔄 What’s New in the 2026 Version The 2026 update incorporates all major federal changes relevant to Roth conversion planning, including: These updates ensure…
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Introducing the Commercial Versions of the Roth IRA Conversion Optimizer
Until now, the Roth IRA Conversion Optimizer has been licensed strictly for personal use. Advisors and planners regularly reached out asking for a way to use it with clients — but the licensing didn’t allow professional use. That’s exactly what the new Commercial and Extended Commercial versions are built for. These editions officially open the…
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Now Available: Mac Version of the Roth IRA Conversion Optimizer
Great news — the Excel Roth IRA Conversion Optimizer is now fully compatible with Excel for Mac (Microsoft 365), with the same full feature set as the Windows version. The Optimizer gives you a powerful, flexible way to analyze your retirement strategy directly in Excel: This tool eliminates the constant re‑entry of data that plagues…
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Long-Term Capital Gains Now Available!
Version 3.2 is now available with a significant change to the way taxes are calculated for non-retirement savings. The earnings on Savings are now broken into two buckets: Fixed Income and LTCG (Long-Term Capital Gains). The Fixed Income bucket has its own growth rate, and it will be taxed along with the other taxable income.…
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“Probability of Success” Added to Monte Carlo
A Monte Carlo analysis randomizes the rate of return each year similar to what would happen in the real world. The Monte Carlo function in this worksheet is designed so that the average CAGR across a large number of iterations, like 500+, will be close to the rate of returns entered by the user in…
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“Head of Household” Now Available as Filing Option
Release v3.1b adds Head of Household as a filing option. When users select this option, it will use the Head of Household Federal tax brackets. It will also automatically change the standard deduction to $22,250. See link below for a comparison of how the filing status impacts the net worth and taxes over time. In…
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Is the “fill up your bracket” approach good enough for a Roth Conversion?
A common rule of thumb with Roth conversions is to convert just enough each year to “fill up” your current tax bracket without spilling into a higher one. This is better than doing nothing, but is rarely optimal. This strategy can leave a a lot of money on the table–potentially millions of $’s over a…
SkyRockRidge
Roth IRA Conversion Optimizer
The Roth IRA Conversion Optimizer is an advanced Excel calculator built to maximize your lifetime wealth by identifying the optimal Roth conversion amount for each year of your multi-year retirement projection. Once your baseline strategy is set, you can easily run a Monte Carlo simulation to analyze risk, map out market volatility, and confidently save or compare multiple custom scenarios.
To ensure the most accurate results, the Optimizer provides support for the following: federal taxes, state taxes, federal estate tax, state estate tax, heir tax on inherited IRA, IRD deduction, LTCG taxes, Social Security tax torpedo, NIIT, IRMAA, widow tax penalty, 72T, QCDs, MFJ/HoH/Single filing status, IRA basis, adjustable inflation, adjustable bracket inflation, and much more. While the default settings will be sufficient for most people, there is significant flexibility for those who need it.
Most Roth optimizers and calculators are simplified, “black-box” models that use a “fill-up-your-bracket” approach to minimize taxes—which is rarely optimal. Unlike those tools, this Optimizer is a highly configurable, tax-aware forecasting engine that combines strategic tax smoothing with a deterministic search to maximize wealth. Built entirely in Excel with visible formulas, it provides a transparent, year-by-year breakdown of your projected account values, income, expenses, taxes, and net worth. See the white paper and methodology links below for more details.
- Tax Smoothing: A Roth Conversion Framework for Maximizing After Tax Net Worth
- Roth IRA Optimization Methodology
This is the public site for the Optimizer Knowledge Base, Blog, Product Listing, and Advisor Partner Program. SkyRockRidge.etsy.com is the official Optimizer storefront.
Both personal use and commercial versions are available (see the Product listing). A free 5-day evaluation copy is also available for firms and advisors to test the model before purchasing. Contact me directly to request your free download.
Not Financial Advice: This tool is provided for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or tax advice. Please consult a licensed professional for personalized guidance.
No Guarantees: While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, we make no guarantees regarding outcomes or results. Use of this tool is at your own discretion and risk.