For high earners with a large pre-tax 401(k)/IRA — and years to go before Medicare

A seven-figure pre-tax 401(k) is a tax bill
waiting at 73. One move can shrink it.

One household — modeled through the same planning engine our advisors use — found a single move worth six figures in lifetime tax. Answer three quick questions to see whether their example is relevant to your situation.

Education First · No Numbers Up Front 3 Questions Grounded in a Real Simulation

Mistake #1

An all-pre-tax 401(k) becomes a forced RMD bill at 73 — often the biggest tax bracket of your life, arriving when you least expect it.

Mistake #2

Those forced withdrawals drag Medicare (IRMAA) surcharges up with them — a tax on a tax.

Mistake #3

The retirement-to-Medicare years are a low-income window — the one chance to convert at low rates. Miss it and it's gone.

How much is in pre-tax retirement accounts?

Roughly — your 401(k) and traditional IRA balances (not Roth).

$

Total pre-tax retirement balance