When Roth Conversions Make Sense—and When They Don’t (Plus IRMAA Traps to Avoid)

Money Matters by Allworth Financial

Allworth Financial

Investing, Business, Business:investing

4.7 • 839 Ratings

🗓️ 7 February 2026

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode of Money Matters, Scott and Pat answer listener questions and explain when Roth conversions make sense, when they don’t, and how taxes, IRMAA Medicare surcharges, and market volatility can change retirement outcomes. They discuss strategic gifting to adult children, helping fund Roth IRAs, 401(k)s, and HSAs without killing motivation, and walk through a real call from a retired teacher debating whether converting his accounts is worth it. Along the way, Scott and Pat break down the math behind Roth conversions, explain how pensions and Social Security affect the results, and why paying conversion taxes from retirement accounts can wipe out the benefits. If you’re retired or nearing retirement and considering Roth conversions, this episode offers clear, practical guidance to avoid costly mistakes. Join Money Matters: Get your most pressing financial questions answered by Allworth's co-founders Scott Hanson and Pat McClain. Call 833-99-WORTH. Or ask a question by clicking here. You can also be on the air by emailing Scott and Pat at questions@moneymatters.com. Download and rate our podcast here.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Would you like an opinion on a financial matter you're dealing with?
0:08.7	Whether it's about retirement, investments, taxes, or 401Ks, Scott Hansen and Pat McLean would like to help you by answering your call to join Allworth's Money Matters.
0:19.0	Call now at 83399 Worth.
0:21.6	That's 83399 W-O-R-T-H.
0:26.2	Welcome to All-Worth's Money Matters, Scott Hanson.
0:28.8	Matt McLean.
0:29.8	Glad you are with us today.
0:31.4	This is an exciting day for us, Pat,
0:33.9	because we started this program almost 31 years ago, over 30 years ago, on the radio.
0:41.4	Okay.
0:42.8	Last week was our last week that we aired on terrestrial radio.
0:47.6	We're now 100% podcasts.
0:49.9	Okay.
0:50.5	And what is great about that for us?
0:52.5	For years, when you're at radio, we were four stops you'd have to do. Middle of the hour, bottom of the hour. A quarter of the hour, bottom of the hour, three quarters of the hour. And on the post, like, you had to hit it, right? So you're talking to somebody and you're looking at the clock. You're talking to somebody. You're looking at the clock. You're trying to wrap it up because you got to shut up
1:13.1	at 45. And then we remember we cut a deal with the radio and say, look, we're only going to do at the bottom of the hour. So no commercials at 15 and 45. Now we don't have to worry about any of that. Oh, that's, I didn't notice it.
1:24.5	That's why the clock doesn't count down.
1:26.5	Yeah, it's not no countdown anymore.
1:27.6	Why do we have it at all?
1:29.7	Just to give us an idea how long we're talking, I guess we start boring everybody. Okay. Okay. Yeah. So some weeks we might have podcasts that are 35 minutes and others we might have some that are now and it depends on. Sometimes we'll drone on for a lot longer. Yeah. So anyway, if you're listening, we're glad you're listening.
1:46.7	Thank you for listening.
1:47.7	I appreciate the.
	...

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