Miller Brown Ohm, CPAs

06/17/2026

⏳ The rule of 55 lets you pull money from a 401(k) or 403(b) penalty-free if you leave that employer in the year you turn 55 or later.

Most people assume they have to wait until 59½, which is actually the rule for IRAs.

In a recent reader quiz, more than 80% got the earliest penalty-free 401(k) age wrong.

The catch is that the break only applies to the plan of the employer you just left, and only while the money stays in that 401(k).

If you roll the balance into an IRA, the rule of 55 disappears and the 10% early-withdrawal penalty applies again until you turn 59½.

That is why a rollover, often the first thing people do after leaving a job, can quietly cost them years of penalty-free access.

You still owe ordinary income tax on whatever you withdraw, and some plans force a single lump sum that can push you into a higher bracket.

If you think you might use it, roll old accounts into that 401(k) while you are still employed, not out to an IRA after you leave.



*The content shared here is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not personalized investment, tax, legal, or financial advice. Consult a licensed professional before making decisions based on your specific situation.*

05/26/2026

Don't move all of your traditional IRAs into Roth IRAs before retirement.

📊 This is an updated version of a post I ran about three months ago. Several readers correctly identified two math errors in the original, and the numbers have been corrected here.

The scenario: a married couple, both 67, with $32,000 in Social Security, $18,000 from a pension, and $25,000 in traditional IRA withdrawals — $75,000 in gross income.

The first step is Social Security taxation. At this income level, provisional income (non-SS income plus half of SS) equals $59,000, which puts them above the $44,000 MFJ threshold. That means 85% of their Social Security is taxable, or $27,200.

AGI comes to $70,200: $27,200 in taxable SS plus $18,000 pension plus $25,000 IRA.

The 2026 deductions for this couple total $47,500. That includes the $32,200 standard deduction for MFJ, $3,300 in additional age 65+ deductions ($1,650 per person), and $12,000 in the new senior deduction ($6,000 per person under the OBBBA).

The $6,000 senior deduction is per person, so a couple where both spouses are 65 or older claims $12,000 total. The original post showed $6,000, which was the per-person figure, not the couple figure.

Taxable income after deductions: $22,700. Federal tax at the 10% bracket: $2,270. Effective rate on $75,000 gross: 3%.

The senior deduction phases out above $150,000 AGI for joint filers and is scheduled to expire after 2028 unless extended.



P.S. Every Friday I send a short email with the week's top post, my take on the best article I read, and what I'm writing about on the site. Link in the comments.

*The content shared here is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not personalized investment, tax, legal, or financial advice. Consult a licensed professional before making decisions based on your specific situation.*

05/20/2026

📊 This is an updated version of a post I ran about 3 months ago. One figure in the original caption was wrong: the IRA catch-up contribution for those 50 and older is $1,100 in 2026, not $1,000. SECURE 2.0 indexed that limit starting in 2024.

The 401(k) deferral limit is $24,500 for 2026. The standard catch-up for ages 50-59 and 64+ is $8,000, bringing the total to $32,500.

The new SECURE 2.0 super catch-up for ages 60-63 is $11,250. A 62-year-old maxing out a 401(k) can contribute up to $35,750 in 2026 when combined with the base deferral.

IRA contributions are $7,500 for 2026, with a $1,100 catch-up for those 50 and older for a total of $8,600. The catch-up is now indexed to inflation.

Three items are marked NEW because they came from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, not the annual inflation adjustment. The senior deduction gives taxpayers 65 and older an additional $6,000 deduction, phasing out above $75,000 (single) or $150,000 (joint). The SALT cap increased from $10,000 to $40,400 for most filers through 2029. The estate tax exemption was permanently raised to $15,000,000 per person, replacing a scheduled drop to roughly $7,000,000 that was set to happen this year.

The 0% capital gains rate for married filers applies to income up to $98,900 in 2026. The annual gift exclusion is $19,000 per recipient.

All figures apply to the 2026 tax year, with returns due in April 2027.



P.S. Every Friday I send a short email with the week's top post, my take on the best article I read, and what I'm writing about on the site. Link in the comments.

05/20/2026

Upcoming race in memory of Steve Smith. You don't want to miss this one.

05/15/2026

Roth conversion information

⚖️ A Roth conversion comes with two separate 5-year clocks, and which one matters depends on your age.

Before 59½, each conversion starts its own 5-year penalty clock on January 1 of the conversion year, and withdrawing that converted amount before the clock expires triggers a 10% penalty.

At 59½ or older, the per-conversion penalty clocks become irrelevant because the 10% penalty no longer applies to any Roth withdrawal, regardless of when the conversion happened.

The rule that applies at any age is the overall Roth 5-year clock, which governs whether earnings come out tax-free, and it starts with your very first Roth IRA contribution or conversion.

Earnings require both the overall Roth 5-year clock and a qualifying event, usually reaching 59½, though disability, death, or a qualified first-time homebuyer distribution can also qualify.

Regular contributions, meaning money contributed directly to a Roth IRA, always come out first under the ordering rules and are always penalty-free, because income tax was already paid.

For most retirees converting at 59½ or older, the per-conversion clocks are usually not the issue. The bigger planning questions are taxes, IRMAA, Social Security taxation thresholds, and RMD timing.



P.S. Every Friday I send a short email with the week's top post, my take on the best article I read, and what I'm writing about on the site. Link in the comments.

05/03/2026

📊 Most retirees considering Roth conversions run one number: their current bracket vs. their heirs'.

Variable 2 is your future RMD-era bracket, since RMDs at 73 stack on top of Social Security and any other income.

Variable 3 is who inherits, because charities pay no income tax on inherited traditional IRAs.

The variable most retirees skip entirely is IRMAA: a Roth conversion that pushes your MAGI from $217,999 to $218,001 adds $2,296 to your Medicare premiums two years later for the couple.

The strongest case for converting requires three conditions: high-bracket heirs, a large IRA with low current income, and IRMAA room.

The strongest case against pairs the opposites: low-bracket or charitable heirs, a modest IRA, or already-high MAGI.

Most retirements fall between those clean cases, which is why partial conversions modeled year-by-year almost always beat an all-or-nothing decision.

A useful rule: convert in years your bracket sits below where it will be later.

05/02/2026

📊 The Social Security taxation thresholds for single filers are $25,000 and $34,000, both unchanged since 1984.

The "up to 85% taxable" figure is the share of Social Security benefits that become taxable income, not the tax rate.

A retiree with $35,000 in combined income will see most of their benefit added to taxable income and then taxed at ordinary rates of 10% or 12%.

Federal income tax applies after the 2026 standard deduction ($18,150 for a single filer 65+) plus up to $6,000 from the senior bonus deduction, which phases out above $75,000 MAGI and ends after 2028 unless extended.

IRMAA is the third system, and it is a Medicare surcharge, not a tax.

The first tier adds $1,148 per year for a single filer with MAGI above $109,000, structured as a cliff where one dollar over the line pays the full surcharge.

IRMAA uses MAGI from two years prior, so your 2024 return determines your 2026 surcharge.

The tradeoff with Roth conversions used to manage future IRMAA: conversions create taxable income in the year you convert, which can cost more upfront than the IRMAA savings if your later income is already low.

05/01/2026

Think twice before collecting social security early

⚖️ Delaying Social Security does not mean working until 70. It means using other income, savings, or reserves to bridge the gap.

Each year you delay past full retirement age (67 for most people retiring now) adds 8% to your benefit permanently. Claiming at 62 reduces your benefit by roughly 30%.

The break-even point is often in the early 80s, but varies based on COLAs, taxes, and survivor dynamics.

If you die before break-even, you do not lose the difference. You collected real cash flow during years when delayers received nothing.

For married couples, the higher earner's benefit becomes the survivor's check for the rest of their life. Some couples split the timing: the lower earner claims at 62 to cover cash flow, while the higher earner delays to 70 to maximize the survivor's lifetime income.

The exception: people with serious health concerns or no family longevity. For them, claiming earlier often recovers more total dollars.

04/23/2026

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