RetireSmartIRA vs RMD Forecaster

Plan your retirement taxes like a pro — this year, next year, and across retirement. RetireSmartIRA helps you model the tax decisions usually scattered across spreadsheets, IRS worksheets, and CPA meetings: Roth conversions, Social Security timing, RMDs, IRMAA, the ACA cliff, and more. It's built for the financially engaged: people who want to understand their numbers, not just be told what to do. No spreadsheets, no black boxes: every dollar traces back to the input that produced it. ANSWER THE QUESTIONS THAT ACTUALLY MATTER • What will I owe this year? Estimate federal tax, state tax, NIIT, IRMAA, ACA effects, and withholding needs before tax time. • How much should I convert to Roth this year, and over time? Build a multi-year conversion ladder instead of guessing. • When should my spouse and I claim Social Security? Compare claiming strategies across both lifetimes and survivor outcomes. • Which year should I make a major charitable gift? Test gift timing against conversions and your projected tax bill. • What does my family actually keep? Compare your lifetime taxes with what heirs may owe on inherited IRA assets. MULTI-YEAR TAX PLAN The Multi-Year Plan builds a Roth conversion strategy across your retirement horizon, then lets you choose how to convert: minimize lifetime tax, fill to a target tax bracket, or stay under a Medicare IRMAA tier. Compare the approaches side by side. Choose how each year's conversion tax is paid, and enter wages and pension income year by year for either spouse. See the projected impact on lifetime taxes, ending IRA and Roth balances, future RMDs, IRMAA exposure, and inherited-account taxes. Model charitable giving (QCDs and cash gifts), adjust any year, review the assumptions, and export a CPA-ready briefing. SCENARIO BUILDER: PLAN IN REAL TIME Test Roth conversions, withdrawals, QCDs, charitable gifts, withholding, and Social Security changes before you act. One screen shows federal tax (2026 brackets), state tax (all 50 states + DC), NIIT, IRMAA surcharges, ACA effects, standard vs. itemized with SALT cap math, and taxable brokerage income. See the cost of each converted dollar: every bracket, state step, and surcharge named where it begins. QUARTERLY ESTIMATED TAXES Record what you have paid: a payment ledger with dates and federal and state amounts, measured against each IRS due date and your safe-harbor target. Withholding counts across the year the way the IRS credits it, and your coverage prints in the report. RETIREMENT DRAWDOWN Project how your IRA and 401(k) balances spend down over 40 years: RMDs only, a target spending level, or a withdrawal rate. See when your income reaches the first Medicare IRMAA tier, in future or today's dollars. SOCIAL SECURITY COUPLES PLANNER Compare claiming at 62 vs. FRA vs. 70 for both spouses, with lifetime benefits and survivor protection side by side. RMD CALCULATOR FOR YOUR IRA AND INHERITED IRAs Most calculators get inherited IRAs wrong. RetireSmartIRA handles RMDs at 73 (or 75 under SECURE 2.0), spousal inherited IRAs, the 10-year rule, and stretch options for eligible beneficiaries. WHO IT'S FOR • Anyone doing this year's retirement tax planning: conversions, withdrawals, charitable gifts, withholding • Pre-retirees mapping out a multi-year Roth conversion strategy • Retirees managing RMDs, IRMAA, and the ACA cliff • Anyone with a government pension, 457 or 403(b) whose state taxes it differently • Federal/military households (FERS, military retirement, VA Disability) ALWAYS CURRENT Every IRS limit, HHS poverty guideline, ACA threshold, and Medicare bracket reflects 2026 values. State tax data is verified against each state's own published forms, and every state shows the date it was last checked and the sources behind it. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Your financial data never leaves your device: no cloud accounts, no data harvesting, no ads, no subscriptions. BUILT FOR APPLE Native iPhone, iPad, and Mac app. Free on all three.

There are many web sites where you can calculate the Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) for next year. But what about all the future years? The IRS Distribution Period table requires a larger and larger percent of tax deferred retirement accounts be withdrawn each year. How long is your retirement account going to last? How large is your RMD going to become? The Distribution Period table was designed by the IRS to ensure the owner withdraws all the retirement account by the time they are age 120. If your retirement account is invested in the stock market and if the market goes up, the market growth will slow the account decrease. What does this mean to your future? The RMD Forecaster app gives you an idea of how RMDs and IRA/401K balances will grow and shrink in the future. Enter the current year, owner date of birth, prior end-of-year IRA/401k account balance, and the stock market rate-of-return that YOU anticipated for the future. RMD Forecaster uses the initial balance and the applicable IRS distribution period to calculate the RMD amount. It subtracts the RMD from the account balance. Then the stock market rate-of-return is used to forecast how the remaining account balance will grow during the year. This calculation is repeated each year until age 120. The rate you entered will not be correct each year so the forecast will not exactly correct. But you can get an indication of your future income by trying a lower, conservative rate of return and trying a higher, optimistic rate. Neither may be the actual future rate, but seeing the trend of future RMD amounts and account balances is helpful. The anticipated future stock market rate-of-return is a "best guess" entered by the user. The taxes due on the RMD amounts are not calculated by this app. The IRS could change the Uniform Lifetime Table and the tax laws at any time. The forecasts provided should not be construed as financial, legal or tax advice. This tool is intended for informational purposes only and may not reflect the most current tax laws or regulations. You should consult with a qualified tax professional or financial advisor before making any decisions based on the information provided by this tool.