Listener Q&A: Trusts, IRMAA, Inheritance Taxes, Capital Gains, and More
Big Picture Retirement®
Devin Carroll
4.7 • 545 Ratings
🗓️ 26 May 2025
⏱️ 41 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this special episode, we catch up on a backlog of insightful listener questions—covering everything from estate planning and Social Security taxation to Roth conversions and Medicare rules. If you've been wrestling with real-world retirement planning decisions, you're not alone. Today's episode delivers practical answers to the kinds of issues many people face but few have clearly explained.
We tackle:
-
IRMAA and Social Security Taxation – Does IRMAA include Social Security income if it's not taxable?
-
Capital Gains on a Vacation Home – Should you delay estate planning until after the sale of a property? What about the "2 out of 5 years" exemption?
-
Paying Inheritance Taxes – If all your accounts list beneficiaries, how will state inheritance taxes (like Pennsylvania's) get paid on time?
-
Step-Up in Basis with TOD Deeds – In Oklahoma, does property with a Transfer on Death deed still receive a step-up in basis?
-
Impact of Home Sale on IRMAA and Roth Conversions – How does selling a vacation home affect your income-based Medicare premiums and Roth conversion strategies?
-
Medicare Enrollment Rules at Age 65 – Are you legally required to enroll in Medicare at 65 if not on a qualifying employer plan?
-
Trusts and Anonymity – How can you use estate planning tools while keeping your affairs private and self-directed?
-
Probate Friendliness by State – Which states make probate easy, and which ones almost demand a trust-based plan?
-
Inherited IRAs and Roth Conversions – Can a beneficiary convert inherited IRA funds into a Roth IRA for future tax-free growth?
If you've ever had a nuanced question about retirement or estate planning, chances are someone else has too—and we're tackling them head-on in this packed Q&A episode.
Although this show does not provide specific tax, legal, or financial advice, you can engage Devin or John through their individual firms.
📍Contact Devin's team at https://carrolladvisory.co/podcast1
📍Contact John's team at https://www.rossandshoalmire.com/
If you're thinking, "I love the Big Picture Retirement podcast!" please consider rating and reviewing this show! This helps us support more people -- just like you -- move toward a confident retirement. Just scroll down to the "ratings and reviews" section, tap to rate with five stars, and select "Write a Review." Then be sure to let us know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven't done so already, follow the podcast. We add new content every week, and if you're not following, you'll likely miss out. Follow now!
Don't miss the Big Picture Retirement Planning Cheat Sheet. We've distilled the essential brackets, thresholds, and rules of retirement into an easy-to-digest, three-page summary. https://www.carrolladvisory.com/pl/2148282517
Want to ask Devin or John your question? Just visit https://www.bigpictureretirement.com/ and click on the "Ask A Question" menu selection.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | The Big Picture Retirement Show does not provide tax, legal, or financial advice. |
| 0:04.3 | Listeners are encouraged to seek out their own advisors in these areas. |
| 0:11.0 | Hey, everyone. |
| 0:11.9 | Welcome to The Big Picture Retirement Show. |
| 0:13.8 | I'm your host, Devin. |
| 0:14.8 | Join today by my co-host, John Ross. |
| 0:18.0 | Howdy. |
| 0:18.7 | John, listener questions. |
| 0:20.6 | Yes, we got a bunch of them. We do. They have been piling up. You know, we've been doing an inbox episode every Thursday where we answer a listener's question and we thought, well, this will be a good way to stay on top of it. You know, where we didn't run into the issue that we ran into last summer, where, I mean, we spent almost all summer with just episodes |
| 0:38.0 | answering listener questions. |
| 0:39.5 | Right. |
| 0:39.9 | It wasn't enough. |
| 0:41.0 | Yeah. |
| 0:41.3 | No, one episode a week. |
| 0:43.2 | Yeah. |
| 0:43.6 | Doing one listener question or maybe two. |
| 0:47.5 | And it's funny because in these questions, we will often send an episode to the editor |
| 0:52.6 | the other day and it was 13 minutes. |
| 0:55.1 | And we're answering one question for 13 minutes. Yeah. Well, we're both a little long-winded. We'd like to be thorough. |
| 1:02.0 | That's right. With thorough. Go with that. After looking through all of the questions that we have pending, |
| 1:08.2 | I thought, you know what? We need to take some of the weight off, and we need to trim a few questions out of there. And let's just do an episode where we do nothing but answer listener questions. Yep, I think that's a good one. So we're going to jump in here. Yep. Let's get some of these questions answered. And let's kick it off with Amy. And I like this question because it leads into some very recent news that we've had. |
| 1:29.5 | Amy said, if there is no tax on Social Security, will the Irma calculation exclude the Social Security |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Devin Carroll, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Devin Carroll and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.

