Withdrawal Order Optimizer
Which account should pay for retirement first? Run the same household through seven drawdown orders, with RMDs, Social Security taxation and IRMAA, and rank them by what is left after your heirs' taxes.
- Methods explained
- Save scenarios
- Compare saved scenarios
- Chart
- Household prefill
- Printable report
Household
Accounts today
Income and spending
Your order today
Change withdrawal order by age
Use the order above until the first change. Each change lasts until the next one. Ages follow your original timeline, including after a death.
Roth conversions
Assumptions
Best order for this household
+$149,693
More for heirs than your order, today's dollars
Lifetime income tax
−$85,741
$512,880 against $598,621
Pre-tax money left to heirs
$626,364
$870,905 with your order, before their 32% tax
Medicare surcharges
–
$0 over the plan
Every order, ranked
Best: Pre-tax, then taxable, then Roth
| Order | Heirs keep | Versus yours | Lifetime tax | IRMAA | Pre-tax left | Top bracket | Runs dry |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-tax, then taxable, then Roth | $2,581,181 | +$149,693 | $512,880 | $0 | $626,364 | 22% | – |
| Fill the 12% bracket from pre-tax, then taxable | $2,581,181 | +$149,693 | $512,880 | $0 | $626,364 | 22% | – |
| Fill the 22% bracket from pre-tax, then taxable | $2,581,181 | +$149,693 | $512,880 | $0 | $626,364 | 22% | – |
| Fill the 24% bracket from pre-tax, then taxable | $2,581,181 | +$149,693 | $512,880 | $0 | $626,364 | 22% | – |
| Every account in proportion | $2,532,271 | +$100,783 | $543,751 | $0 | $731,407 | 22% | – |
| Fill the 10% bracket from pre-tax, then taxable | $2,518,141 | +$86,654 | $551,457 | $0 | $772,245 | 22% | – |
| Taxable, then pre-tax, then Roth (yours) | $2,431,488 | – | $598,621 | $0 | $870,905 | 22% | – |
Ranked by whether spending was met, then by after-tax wealth at the end of the plan. Dollar figures are in today's dollars.
Taxes and surcharges each year
Account balances with the best order
Year by year
| Year | Age | RMD | From taxable | From pre-tax | From Roth | AGI | Bracket | Tax | IRMAA | Pre-tax | Roth | Taxable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 62 | $0 | $0 | $100,620 | $0 | $108,120 | 12% | $13,120 | $0 | $1,994,349 | $157,500 | $517,500 |
| 2027 | 63 | $0 | $0 | $103,050 | $0 | $110,813 | 12% | $13,438 | $0 | $1,985,863 | $165,375 | $535,613 |
| 2028 | 64 | $0 | $0 | $105,538 | $0 | $113,572 | 12% | $13,762 | $0 | $1,974,342 | $173,644 | $554,359 |
| 2029 | 65 | $0 | $0 | $107,827 | $0 | $116,143 | 12% | $13,838 | $0 | $1,959,841 | $182,326 | $573,762 |
| 2030 | 66 | $0 | $0 | $110,428 | $0 | $119,034 | 12% | $14,172 | $0 | $1,941,884 | $191,442 | $593,843 |
| 2031 | 67 | $0 | $0 | $112,820 | $0 | $121,728 | 12% | $14,244 | $0 | $1,920,517 | $201,014 | $614,628 |
| 2032 | 68 | $0 | $0 | $115,538 | $0 | $124,758 | 12% | $14,587 | $0 | $1,895,227 | $211,065 | $636,140 |
| 2033 | 69 | $0 | $0 | $87,456 | $0 | $121,247 | 12% | $12,601 | $0 | $1,898,160 | $221,618 | $658,405 |
| 2034 | 70 | $0 | $0 | $25,155 | $0 | $69,137 | 10% | $3,352 | $0 | $1,966,656 | $232,699 | $681,449 |
| 2035 | 71 | $0 | $0 | $25,774 | $0 | $71,816 | 10% | $3,526 | $0 | $2,037,925 | $244,334 | $705,299 |
| 2036 | 72 | $0 | $0 | $26,406 | $0 | $74,561 | 10% | $3,703 | $0 | $2,112,096 | $256,551 | $729,985 |
| 2037 | 73 | $0 | $0 | $27,049 | $0 | $77,375 | 10% | $3,885 | $0 | $2,189,299 | $269,378 | $755,534 |
| 2038 | 74 | $0 | $0 | $27,704 | $0 | $80,257 | 10% | $4,070 | $0 | $2,269,675 | $282,847 | $781,978 |
| 2039 | 75 | $92,263 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $184,843 | 12% | $19,417 | $0 | $2,286,282 | $296,990 | $859,788 |
| 2040 | 76 | $96,468 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $192,235 | 12% | $20,618 | $0 | $2,299,305 | $311,839 | $943,709 |
| 2041 | 77 | $100,406 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $199,505 | 12% | $21,810 | $0 | $2,308,844 | $327,431 | $1,033,764 |
| 2042 | 78 | $104,947 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $207,520 | 12% | $23,204 | $0 | $2,314,091 | $343,803 | $1,130,650 |
| 2043 | 79 | $109,673 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $215,875 | 12% | $24,670 | $0 | $2,314,639 | $360,993 | $1,234,807 |
| 2044 | 80 | $114,586 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $224,582 | 12% | $26,210 | $0 | $2,310,056 | $379,043 | $1,346,695 |
| 2045 | 81 | $119,075 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $233,036 | 12% | $27,628 | $0 | $2,300,530 | $397,995 | $1,466,366 |
| 2046 | 82 | $124,353 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $242,453 | 12% | $29,278 | $0 | $2,284,986 | $417,894 | $1,594,761 |
| 2047 | 83 | $129,095 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $251,524 | 12% | $30,621 | $0 | $2,263,685 | $438,789 | $1,732,059 |
| 2048 | 84 | $134,743 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $261,694 | 22% | $32,582 | $0 | $2,235,389 | $460,729 | $1,878,981 |
| 2049 | 85 | $139,712 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $271,391 | 22% | $34,497 | $0 | $2,200,461 | $483,765 | $2,035,328 |
| 2050 | 86 | $144,767 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $281,379 | 22% | $36,436 | $0 | $2,158,479 | $507,953 | $2,201,613 |
| 2051 | 87 | $149,894 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $291,652 | 22% | $38,166 | $0 | $2,109,014 | $533,351 | $2,378,599 |
| 2052 | 88 | $153,943 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $301,074 | 22% | $39,637 | $0 | $2,052,824 | $560,018 | $2,565,947 |
| 2053 | 89 | $159,134 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $311,861 | 22% | $41,447 | $0 | $1,988,375 | $588,019 | $2,764,983 |
| 2054 | 90 | $162,982 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $321,551 | 22% | $42,929 | $0 | $1,916,663 | $617,420 | $2,975,212 |
| 2055 | 91 | $166,666 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $331,316 | 22% | $44,401 | $0 | $1,837,497 | $648,291 | $3,197,010 |
| 2056 | 92 | $170,139 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $341,116 | 22% | $45,850 | $0 | $1,750,726 | $680,706 | $3,430,733 |
| 2057 | 93 | $173,339 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $350,898 | 22% | $47,261 | $0 | $1,656,256 | $714,741 | $3,676,705 |
| 2058 | 94 | $174,343 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $358,744 | 22% | $48,115 | $0 | $1,556,009 | $750,478 | $3,933,813 |
| 2059 | 95 | $174,833 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $366,321 | 12% | $48,920 | $0 | $1,450,236 | $788,002 | $4,202,103 |
How it works›
The orders. Taxable first defers ordinary income the longest. Pre-tax first drains the accounts that RMDs will later force open. Proportional takes from every account by its share of the total. Bracket fill takes pre-tax money up to the top of a bracket, then turns to the taxable account, and only returns to pre-tax when nothing else is left. Roth goes last in every order but proportional.
What ranks them. Orders that leave spending unmet rank below those that meet it. Among the rest, the order that leaves the most after-tax wealth wins: Roth and taxable balances at full value, since heirs get a stepped-up basis, and pre-tax balances less the heirs' tax rate you enter.
Why the heirs' rate matters. At a 0% heirs' rate the cheapest plan is the one that pays the least tax during your life, which means leaving pre-tax money untouched. Most heirs must empty an inherited IRA within ten years, often in their peak earning years, so a rate near their bracket is the honest input.
Each year. The same loop as the Roth Conversion Planner: RMD, any conversion, then spending, with taxes and withdrawals solved together to the cent. 2026 federal brackets, the senior deduction through 2028, Social Security taxed per IRS Pub. 915, capital gains at 0%, 15% and 20%, the net investment income tax and IRMAA on a two-year lookback.
What it leaves out. An order that changes from year to year, returns that vary, and tax-loss harvesting. The Retirement Income Planner runs any one of these orders across a thousand markets.
Reference sources. These sources support the component rules. Model choices and exclusions are described in the notes above.SSA: period life tableIRS: retirement distributions