Retirement withdrawal plan
By Nicolas StrautSee which account to withdraw from each year, how much to convert to Roth, and when to claim Social Security. The plan also shows the tax that order saves vs withdrawing from taxable accounts first. This year's answer is free. The full plan costs $79, paid once.
Age 65 this year
Age 63 this year
What you have today
Both of you, added together
Taxable accounts and cash
Cost basis, from your brokerage statement
What you need and what you'll get
Rises with inflation each year
From your statement at ssa.gov
Total tax you'd save
2026 · freeCompared with withdrawing from taxable accounts first, in today's dollars.
Counts federal and state tax, Medicare surcharges, and the tax still owed on what's left in your 401(k) and IRA at 95.
What to do in 2026
Withdraw $101,300 from your 401(k) and IRA
That covers your $90,000 of spending and this year's tax. Leave the brokerage account and the Roth untouched. Brokerage dividends of $6,000 go toward spending too.
Convert $39,300 to Roth
That fills the 12% bracket to its top, $100,800 of taxable income. Do it by December 31, 2026. Your income stays $71,400 under the first Medicare surcharge line for 2028 premiums.
Social Security
When each of you should file, and what it adds to your lifetime income, is in the full plan.
30-day money-back guarantee. If the plan isn't useful to you, reply to your receipt within 30 days for a full refund. You don't need to give a reason.
Already bought? Get your plan link
Your numbers stay in your browser until you buy the plan.
What the full plan shows
| Year | Ages | From 401(k) and IRA | From brokerage | From Roth | Convert to Roth | Social Security | Federal and state tax | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 65, 63 | $101,300 | $0 | $0 | $39,300 | $0 | $17,300 | Fill the 12% bracket before Social Security starts. |
| 2031 | 70, 68 | $62,200 | $0 | $0 | $49,000 | $50,500 | $17,900 | Social Security starts, so you need less from the IRA. |
| 2033 | 72, 70 | $31,000 | $0 | $0 | $53,000 | $84,900 | $16,300 | The last pretax dollars come out this year, before any required distribution is due. |
| 2034 | 73, 71 | $0 | $15,000 | $0 | $0 | $87,000 | $0 | Spend from the brokerage account, where most of what you sell is basis or gains taxed at 0%. |
Sample plan with example figures. Yours covers every year to 95, the taxable-first comparison, and your Social Security filing ages.
City and county income taxes and itemized deductions are left out.
30-day money-back guarantee. If the plan isn't useful to you, reply to your receipt within 30 days for a full refund. You don't need to give a reason.
What the $79 buys
Every year to the end of the plan with what to withdraw from each account, what to convert and when each of you files for Social Security, a reason for every number, the comparison with withdrawing from taxable accounts first, Medicare surcharge and RMD flags, a PDF, a spreadsheet with live formulas, and a calendar of deadlines. It includes the ten-year Roth conversion plan and the Social Security claiming plan, built from the same numbers.
What it is not
The plan is not advice and doesn't manage money. It runs the strategies described under "How this is calculated" on the numbers you enter, and every tax figure traces to an IRS, SSA or CMS source printed on the report.
What it costs
One payment of $79. No subscription, no account to link, and a 30-day money-back guarantee. If you already bought the Roth conversion plan ($39) or the Social Security plan ($39), email [email protected] after you buy and Tweed refunds that earlier payment.
The plan is calculated in your browser. Tweed saves your inputs only when you buy, at a private link only you have.
Figures from IRS, SSA and CMS sources.
In this article
How this is calculated
The plan runs your household year by year from 2026 until the younger of you is 95. Each year it adds up spending, Social Security, pension income, and any required minimum distribution. Then it works out federal tax, long-term capital gains tax, state tax, and the Medicare surcharge that year's income sets 2 years later.
It compares up to 486 strategies. Each one fills a target tax bracket (12%, 22% or 24%) from your 401(k) and IRA, covers the rest of your spending from the brokerage account and then the Roth, and converts whatever bracket room is left. Each strategy also starts each of you on Social Security at an age from 62 to 70. The plan shown is the one that leaves the most after-tax money at 95.
The comparison is the common order: brokerage first, then the 401(k) and IRA, then the Roth, with no conversions and both of you filing at full retirement age.1The search runs on your device, so it doesn't try every pair of filing ages for every order. It tries each person's age in turn, then every pair of ages for the best withdrawal order. That finds the best plan among these strategies, not proof that no better plan exists.
Show the formulas and every figure
- Up to 50% of Social Security is taxable above $32,000 of provisional income for a couple, and up to 85% above $44,000. Provisional income is your other income plus half your benefits.2
- The 2026 standard deduction is $32,200 for a couple, plus $1,650 for each spouse 65 or older. The senior deduction adds $6,000 per person from 2025 to 2028 and shrinks by 6% of income above $150,000.3
- Ordinary income fills the brackets first. Qualified dividends and long-term gains stack on top, taxed at 0% up to $98,900 of taxable income for a couple, 15% up to $613,700 and 20% above that.3
- The net investment income tax adds 3.8% on dividends and gains above $250,000 of income for a couple.4
- The first Medicare surcharge line for 2026 premiums is $218,000 of income for a couple and $109,000 single, set from the return 2 years earlier.5
- Required distributions start at 73 if you were born from 1951 to 1958 and at 75 if you were born in 1960 or later. Each one is last year's balance divided by the IRS Uniform Lifetime factor for your age.6
- Each filing age's benefit comes from your benefit at full retirement age and SSA's rules for filing early or late.7
- Years after 2026 use the 2026 figures indexed at your inflation input, because the IRS and CMS haven't published them yet. The plan marks those years.
What the plan leaves out
Market swings
The plan uses one steady return so you can check each row by hand. It doesn't run Monte Carlo.
Survivor years and life expectancy
Both of you are assumed to live until the younger is 95. The filing ages depend on that, so a shorter life can change the best age to file.
Other filing statuses and accounts
Head of household and married filing separately aren't covered yet. Inherited IRAs, annuities, HSAs, and government pensions aren't modelled either.
Some state and local rules
City and county taxes, itemized deductions, and state rules for capital gains are left out. A few states tax part of Social Security, and the plan says so when you pick one of them.
Who the plan fits
You're retired or within three years of it
The plan starts this year, so it fits best when the next few years of withdrawals are real decisions.
You hold money in at least two kinds of account
Order only matters when you have a choice, such as a 401(k) or IRA plus a Roth, a brokerage account or both.
You file single or jointly and are 59½ or older
This version doesn't plan withdrawals before 59½. It flags any year that would need one.
Weighing a full planner instead? Read the ProjectionLab review and the Boldin review. To test the same savings in bad markets, use the Monte Carlo retirement calculator. For the reasoning behind the order, read which account to withdraw from first in retirement.
Retirement withdrawal plan FAQ
Which account should you withdraw from first in retirement?
The account to withdraw from first depends on your tax bracket each year. Withdrawing from the brokerage account first is the common rule, and it often leaves a large IRA that required distributions later force out at a higher rate. Filling a low bracket from the IRA in early retirement, as this plan does when it saves money, spreads that tax out.
How is this different from ProjectionLab or Boldin?
ProjectionLab and Boldin are full planners you keep updating, for $129 and $168 a year. This plan answers one question, what to withdraw, convert and claim each year, for one payment of $79, and it shows the tax saved vs a named comparison.
Why does the tax saved include tax owed at the end of the plan?
The tax saved includes tax owed at the end of the plan because converting early prepays tax. Counting only the tax paid while you're alive would make a plan that converts look worse, even when it leaves you more money. The full plan shows both totals side by side, and you can change the tax rate on what's left at 95.
Does the plan include Monte Carlo?
No, the plan doesn't include Monte Carlo. It uses one steady return so you can check each year's numbers by hand. Use the Tweed Monte Carlo retirement calculator to test how the same savings hold up in bad markets.
How do you get back to the plan?
Open the private link from the email Tweed sends after you pay. Lost it? Enter the email you paid with on this page and Tweed sends the link again.
Personal finance writer, former Forbes contributor and This Week in Fintech writer. He isn't a financial advisor or a CPA.
Sources
- https://www.fidelity.com/viewpoints/retirement/tax-savvy-withdrawals
- https://www.irs.gov/publications/p915
- https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-25-32.pdf
- https://www.irs.gov/individuals/net-investment-income-tax
- https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/2026-medicare-parts-b-premiums-deductibles
- https://www.irs.gov/publications/p590b
- https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/agereduction.html