Ed Slott's frameworks on RMDs, inherited IRAs, and the retirement savings time bomb are cited throughout this section. His core message: control your own tax bill — don't let the IRS control it for you.
Roth conversions
How and when to convert a traditional IRA to a Roth — staged multi-year strategies, bracket management, IRMAA awareness, and 2026 urgency framing.
Self-completing Roth — Version A (IUL)
Convert your IRA to a Roth with zero out-of-pocket taxes. An IUL death benefit funds the entire tax liability — you never write a check to the IRS.
Self-completing Roth — Version B (Bonus FIA)
A 15–20% Bonus FIA premium offsets the conversion tax. Staged over multiple years, the annuity self-funds taxes on both the conversion and future withdrawals. No insurability required.
Tax bracket management
Filling bracket headroom, managing IRMAA thresholds, harvesting gains at 0%, and coordinating income sources across the three tax buckets each year.
RMD planning
Ed Slott's "maximum not minimum" paradigm. Strategies to reduce future RMDs before they become an unavoidable tax event — Roth conversions, QCDs, and life insurance.
QCDs & NUA strategies
Qualified Charitable Distributions eliminate RMDs tax-free. Net Unrealized Appreciation converts ordinary income to long-term capital gains on employer stock. Both Ed Slott frameworks.
Tax-loss harvesting
Offsetting capital gains, navigating the wash-sale rule, carrying forward unused losses, and knowing when harvesting actually hurts more than it helps.
Social Security & taxes
How combined income triggers SS taxation at 50% and 85% thresholds — and strategies to stay below them using Roth income, IUL loans, and QCDs.
Withdrawal sequencing
The optimal order to draw from taxable, tax-deferred, and tax-free accounts — dynamically adjusted each year around bracket position, RMDs, and Social Security timing.
IRMAA — the Medicare stealth tax
The hidden Medicare surcharge that blindsides high-income retirees. A single dollar over a threshold triggers thousands in extra premiums — 2 years after the income event. 7 strategies to avoid it.