Early Retirement Account-Access Bridge — Retirement Calculators

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Bridge dates and spending

Starting year (January 1)

Age in whole years on January 1

Additional months of age on January 1

Annual spending, excluding modeled taxes

Other annual income, after tax

Annual spending inflation

Annual investment return

Withdrawal order after income and SEPP

Can accessible accounts cover the bridge?

Calculating current account access and taxes…

Taxable account and tax assumptions

Tax calculation

Tax filing status

Other annual ordinary income (not investment income)

Other annual qualified dividends

Flat state tax rate

This is tax context for the full calendar year, held nominally fixed. Enter spendable income separately above, after its baseline taxes. The bridge funds only additional tax caused by its conversions, plan withdrawals, SEPP and taxable gains. Future federal thresholds use your inflation assumption applied to the reviewed 2026 values. State tax uses the flat rate here.

Taxable account balance

Taxable account remaining cost basis

Flat-rate mode uses the combined federal and state rates above; bracket mode ignores them. Taxable sales use proportional basis, and losses receive no tax credit. No separate annual tax drag on unsold assets is modeled.

Roth IRA contributions and prior conversions

Total Roth IRA balance

Regular contribution basis still available

Enter remaining principal after all earlier withdrawals, across all of your Roth IRAs. Earnings stay locked throughout this worksheet.

Prior conversion 1

Conversion 1 tax year

Conversion 1 taxable principal remaining

Conversion 1 nontaxable principal remaining

Taxable principal seasons January 1, 2026.

Pretax IRA and new conversion ladder

Pretax IRA balance, excluding SEPP account

Convert each January 1

The conversion amount stays nominally fixed and is limited to the remaining IRA. New conversions are fully taxable. Flat mode funds their tax in January; bracket mode funds additional tax over that year’s modeled months. Each conversion becomes accessible on January 1 five years later.

Former employer plan: standard Rule of 55

Eligible former employer plan pretax balance

Age at end of the year you separated

I already separated before the bridge begins, and this plan allows these withdrawals.

The standard exception requires separation during or after the calendar year turning 55. It applies only to the qualifying employer plan, not an IRA or a rollover IRA. Special public-safety exceptions are outside this worksheet.

Existing fixed SEPP / 72(t) schedule

Separate SEPP account balance

Approved fixed annual SEPP payment

SEPP start year (January 1)

Use an already established fixed payment, or zero. This tool does not establish a compliant payment amount. Payments continue even if other accounts cover spending, with surplus deposited into taxable savings. The dedicated account is never converted or used for extra withdrawals.

How it works›

Tax brackets or flat assumptions. Bracket mode uses the existing household tax engine. For each calendar year it subtracts tax on your other income from tax after bridge conversions, SEPP, eligible employer withdrawals and positive realized long-term gains. The extra tax is funded evenly over the modeled months of that year; a cent-level reserve solve includes the tax caused by funding the tax. Other spendable income is entered separately after its baseline tax. Federal parameters are the reviewed 2026 snapshot, projected with the spending inflation assumption; state tax is a flat rate. Flat mode instead uses your combined tax rates. Both modes omit capital-loss benefits, credits, itemized deductions, Social Security, ACA and special-rate gains; all taxable sales are assumed long-term.IRS: retirement distributions IRS: capital gains

Roth access and ordering. Regular contribution basis comes first. Conversions follow by tax year, taxable principal before nontaxable principal within each year. Unseasoned taxable principal blocks access to later principal. Its five-year clock begins January 1 of the conversion year. Earnings are never withdrawn here, and principal access is capped by the actual Roth balance after market changes. This is separate from the five-year rule for qualified Roth earnings.IRS Publication 590-B: Roth ordering and conversions

Rule of 55 and SEPP boundaries. Only the standard separation-from-service exception is modeled for the entered employer plan. Fixed SEPP payments must continue until the later of five years from the first payment or age 59½; an ending balance shortfall is flagged. This January-start worksheet cannot validate prior payments, modifications or an RMD-method schedule. Do not count an account twice across the IRA, employer and SEPP fields.IRS: early-distribution exceptions IRS: substantially equal periodic payments

Monthly timing and assumptions. Spending, other income and fixed SEPP payments occur at the start of each month; investment growth follows at the entered constant effective annual return. Spending rises each January. Conversions occur each January, including a partial final year. Flat-mode conversion tax is funded then; bracket-mode incremental tax is reserved over that year’s modeled months. Taxable sales remove proportional cost basis; taxable gains and pretax withdrawals follow the selected tax mode. Losses produce no tax benefit. No penalty-bearing withdrawals, Social Security claims, ACA subsidies, future tax-law changes, transaction costs or market uncertainty are modeled. A gap is reported even if locked accounts hold substantial assets.