Is It Too Late to Do a Roth Conversion at 75?

No, it isn't too late. IRS conversion rules set no age limit on converting a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. But at 75 the math is harder, and one adviser writing in Kiplinger argues that for many people that age a conversion no longer pays off.

A Roth conversion means moving money from a traditional IRA into a Roth IRA. The amount moved generally counts as taxable income that year. After that, qualified withdrawals from the Roth are tax-free. A withdrawal is qualified only after a five-year period that starts with the first tax year a Roth IRA was funded, so someone opening a first Roth at 75 could owe tax on earnings withdrawn sooner. The trade is simple: pay tax now, avoid it later.

Why does age 75 change the math?

The traditional rule of thumb is to convert if you expect your tax rate to rise later. Vanguard's research adds that the break-even point also shifts with how long the money stays invested and where the tax money comes from. Time matters because the converted money needs years of tax-free growth to make up for the upfront tax. At 75, there are fewer of those years.

The conversion can still make sense for a different reason. It can shrink the tax bill that lands on heirs or lower future required withdrawals, though RMDs continue on whatever stays in the traditional IRA. Those are the arguments worth testing, not the long-horizon growth story aimed at 45-year-olds.

What about required minimum distributions?

Required minimum distributions, or RMDs, are the amounts the IRS makes you withdraw from traditional retirement accounts each year. Under the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 and the IRS regulations, the starting age is 73 for people born from 1951 through 1958 and 75 for people born in 1960 or later. Proposed IRS rules from 2024 would set it at 73 for people born in 1959. People who are 75 now were born in 1950 or 1951, so their starting age was 72 or 73 and has already passed.

Here is the catch for a 75-year-old. Once RMDs have started, the RMD must be withdrawn first, and it cannot be converted to a Roth, as the IRS also states. Only the amount above the RMD can be converted. So the conversion is possible, but it stacks on top of income that is already forced.

Roth IRAs, by contrast, have no RMDs for the original owner. That is a real benefit, and one reason some retirees still convert.

What does a conversion cost beyond the tax?

The conversion tax itself is only the first cost. Added income can ripple through other parts of a retirement budget.

Medicare Part B and Part D premiums rise for people with higher incomes through a surcharge called IRMAA, the income-related monthly adjustment amount. It is generally based on income from two years earlier, so a conversion at 75 can raise premiums at 77. The Social Security Administration publishes the income brackets each year.

Conversion income can also push more Social Security benefits into taxable territory, and it can nudge a household into a higher federal bracket. With these effects in mind, a MassMutual executive quoted by Kiplinger says measured, partial conversions may work better than an all-or-nothing approach.

Who might still benefit?

The case may be stronger for a few kinds of households. Each is a possibility, not a rule.

A retiree whose taxable income is unusually low this year, perhaps because of large deductions, may be in a lower bracket than heirs will be. A Kiplinger contributor calls a low-income year a possible window to convert at a lower rate, but notes that deductions lower taxable income, not the income figure Medicare uses, so they won't shelter a large conversion from IRMAA. Someone who expects to leave the IRA to children in their peak earning years may prefer that the tax be paid at the parent's rate.

The rules for inherited accounts matter here. Under the SECURE Act of 2019, most non-spouse heirs must empty an inherited IRA within 10 years. When the owner dies after RMDs have begun, those heirs generally must also take annual withdrawals during the 10 years. Heirs in high brackets can face a sizable tax bill on that schedule. A Roth inheritance generally avoids income tax on qualified withdrawals, though the 10-year deadline still applies. The IRS treats a Roth owner as having died before RMDs began, so those heirs generally need not withdraw anything before the 10th year.

Who may gain little?

Someone who needs the IRA money to live on, and who will be in a similar or lower bracket for the rest of their life, may gain little. Paying tax now to avoid tax at the same rate later can be close to a wash: in a Vanguard illustration, a conversion with the tax paid from the IRA breaks even at the investor's current rate. It can be a loss once surcharges are counted.

The same may go for anyone who would have to pay the conversion tax out of the IRA itself. That shrinks the amount that ends up growing tax-free, which weakens the case.

How do you actually test it?

The test is to compare two tax bills. Estimate this year's tax with and without a conversion of a specific amount. Then estimate what the same dollars would cost in tax if withdrawn later, by you or by heirs. Add any IRMAA and Social Security taxation effects to the conversion side.

Tax software or a preparer can run this as a projection. One approach, suggested by the MassMutual executive in the Kiplinger column, is to consider converting only enough to fill the current bracket without crossing into the next one, then repeat in later years if it still makes sense.

One rule is worth knowing. A conversion cannot be undone. The old option to reverse, called recharacterization, was eliminated for conversions by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.

Next step

If you are weighing a conversion, consider asking a qualified tax preparer or fee-only planner, before the year ends, to run a one-year projection showing your tax with and without a modest conversion, including the Medicare surcharge effect two years out.

This article is for general information only and is not financial, tax, or legal advice. Consider speaking with a qualified professional about your own situation.

Sources

• Kiplinger, "Did I Miss My Chance to Do a Roth Conversion? I'm 75 and Taking RMDs," November 2, 2026. https://www.kiplinger.com/retirement/roth-iras/did-i-miss-my-chance-to-do-a-roth-conversion-im-taking-rmds
• Kiplinger, "The $183,000 RMD Shock: Why Roth Conversions in Your 70s Can Be Risky," December 20, 2025. https://www.kiplinger.com/retirement/roth-iras/rmd-shocks-why-roth-conversions-in-your-70s-can-be-risky
• Kiplinger, "Parents and Caregivers: Don't Miss Your Roth Conversion Window," November 6, 2025. https://www.kiplinger.com/retirement/roth-iras/roth-conversions-for-parents-and-caregivers
• Vanguard, "A 'BETR' way to assess Roth IRA conversions," August 28, 2025. https://corporate.vanguard.com/content/corporatesite/us/en/corp/articles/betr-way-assess-roth-ira-conversions.html
• Vanguard, "A 'BETR' calculation for the Traditional-to-Roth IRA conversion equation," December 31, 2025. https://investor.vanguard.com/investor-resources-education/news/a-betr-calculation-for-the-traditional-to-roth-ira-conversion-equation
• Internal Revenue Service, Retirement plan and IRA required minimum distributions FAQs. https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/retirement-plan-and-ira-required-minimum-distributions-faqs
• Internal Revenue Service, Publication 590-A. https://www.irs.gov/publications/p590a
• Internal Revenue Service, Publication 590-B. https://www.irs.gov/publications/p590b
• Internal Revenue Service, Retirement plans FAQs regarding IRAs. https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/retirement-plans-faqs-regarding-iras
• Internal Revenue Service, Topic no. 423, Social Security and equivalent railroad retirement benefits. https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc423
• 26 CFR 1.401(a)(9)-2, applicable age (Cornell Legal Information Institute copy). https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/26/1.401(a)(9)-2
• 26 CFR 1.401(a)(9)-5, required minimum distributions from defined contribution plans (Cornell Legal Information Institute copy). https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/26/1.401(a)(9)-5
• Thomson Reuters, on the 2024 final and proposed required minimum distribution rules. https://tax.thomsonreuters.com/news/required-minimum-distribution-rules-incorporate-secure-secure-2-0-act-changes/
• Social Security Administration, POMS HI 01101.010, Modified Adjusted Gross Income. https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0601101010
• Social Security Administration, POMS HI 01101.020, IRMAA Sliding Scale Tables. https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0601101020