Roth Madness 2026: The Ultimate Roth Conversion Showdown
Every March, brackets take over the world — so we built one for Roth conversions.
Roth Madness is a head‑to‑head tournament of Roth conversion strategies, modeled using current tax law, Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount (IRMAA) impacts, Social Security tax interactions, and long‑term net present value (NPV) outcomes. Advisors get a front‑row seat to see how different conversion paths perform over a lifetime.
Rules of Roth Madness
One Client Profile, Three Scenarios
All strategies use the same household fact pattern to ensure apples‑to‑apples comparisons. Each round will have a different planning wrinkle.
Four Competing Strategies
- 1‑Year Conversion
- 5‑Year Conversion
- 10‑Year Conversion
- Bracket Ride (convert up to 24% annually until fully converted)
Four Scoring Categories
- Roth IRA Value at Death
- Lifetime Taxes Paid
- IRMAA and Social Security Tax Impact
- Total NPV
Final Champion
The strategy with the highest overall NPV becomes the Roth Madness Champion.
Client Profile
- IRA Owner Age: 55
- Spouse Age: 53
- Filing Status: Married Filing Jointly
- Annual Income: $325,000
- 2026 IRA Balance: $1,200,000 (7% ROI)
- Savings Balance: $500,000
- Retirement Age: 65
- Retirement Annual Income: $125,000
Round One: Clients Live to Age 86
In Round One, our baseline assumption is that the clients will live to age 86. There are no additional spending needs beyond their annual income.
1 Year vs 5 Year Conversion Findings: Almost $60K less taxes are paid by spreading the conversion out over 5 years. It is slightly better from an IRMAA and Social Security Tax impact standpoint but not by much. The Total NPV of the 5 Year conversion model is $452K better than the 1 Year model.
Bracket Ride vs 10 Year Conversion Findings: Bracket Ride yields almost $20K less in taxes paid than the 10 Year Conversion Model but loses the IRMAA / Social Security Tax Impact battle by $9K. This ultimately leads to the 10 Year Conversion’s small victory of $1,360 better total NPV.
Round One Overall Winner: It was neck and neck, but 10 Year Conversion takes the crown for the first round, showcasing the largest NPV of all models.
Run a Roth Madness Scenario
Want to see how your client’s numbers stack up? We’ll run a custom Roth Madness bracket using your client’s real fact pattern and send you a report summary.
This is a powerful way to show clients the long‑term impact of different Roth strategies — and it’s completely free.
What’s Next
Round Two will be published 3/23 but you don’t have to wait if you want to see how the modeling works behind the scenes. Schedule a demo to see how we can help you:
- Model multi‑year Roth strategies
- Compare bracket‑based conversions
- Forecast IRMAA and Social Security tax interactions
- Produce client‑ready reports in minutes
We’re offering a March Madness demo discount that shrinks like the bracket:
- 40% off for demos booked the week of 3/16-3/20
- 30% off for demos booked 3/23-3/27
- 20% off the week of 3/30-4/3
Book early to get the biggest win.