The screens
Taxes
The four views on the Taxes screen, from year-by-year taxes and brackets to the Roth conversion explorer, withdrawal order comparison and what the tax engine models.
The Taxes screen uses your plan with average returns. 2026 uses published figures. Later years follow current law adjusted for inflation, plus changes already written into law.
It has four views.
Year by year
- Lifetime taxes in today's dollars, across all years of the plan.
- Highest-tax year, and what drives it.
- Years with Medicare surcharges (IRMAA), if any.
- Taxable income and your bracket each year, a table you can scan for years with room in a low bracket or a jump into a high one.
- Taxes by year, a chart of federal, state, local and payroll taxes in today's dollars.
Roth conversions
The Roth conversion explorer tests conversion plans on your projection. Choose a goal: Most left after taxes or Lowest lifetime taxes. You can also choose to keep each year's conversion under the next IRMAA tier and under the ACA subsidy cliff.
The search tries about 125 plans that fill a chosen bracket over different windows of years. It ranks them by your goal. Choose Use this in my plan to apply one, or try it as a scenario first. See Roth conversions and filling a bracket.
Withdrawal order
Which accounts to spend from first runs your plan with several withdrawal orders and compares lifetime taxes and what's left after tax. Choose Use next to an approach to apply it. See withdrawal order.
What we model
This view lists what the tax engine includes and leaves out.
Federal, modeled:
- brackets, and standard and itemized deductions, with the 2026 SALT cap and the limit for the 37% bracket
- the senior deduction
- capital gains and qualified dividend rates
- net investment income tax and alternative minimum tax
- payroll, self-employment and Additional Medicare taxes
- taxation of Social Security
- early-withdrawal penalties
- the child tax credit and marketplace premium tax credits
- Medicare premiums, including IRMAA
Federal, not modeled:
- the qualified business income deduction above the income threshold
- depreciation on rentals
- the 25% and 28% capital gains rates
- most other credits, such as earned income, education, energy and child care credits
- state tax credits beyond personal exemptions
States: every state and DC is listed with a badge: Modeled, Approximate, No income tax or Not available. Each lists what it leaves out.
Cities and counties: local income taxes the app includes, such as New York City and several others.