Roth conversions and IRMAA in your early 60s

The years between leaving work and claiming Social Security can be the lowest-income years of your life. That makes them a popular time for Roth conversions: moving money from a traditional IRA into a Roth IRA and paying the income tax now, at a low rate.

There's one catch that arrives later. Medicare looks back at your income from two years earlier. So a conversion you do at 63 can raise the premiums you pay at 65.

This is general education, not tax or financial advice. A tax professional or fee-only planner can model your own conversions.

How IRMAA works

Most people pay the standard Part B premium: $202.90 a month in 2026. If your income is over a threshold, you pay more, in steps. Monthly amounts for 2026 (CMS):

• $109,000 or less single, $218,000 or less joint: Part B $202.90, no Part D extra.
• Up to $137,000 / $274,000: Part B $284.10, Part D +$14.50.
• Up to $171,000 / $342,000: Part B $405.80, Part D +$37.50.
• Up to $205,000 / $410,000: Part B $527.50, Part D +$60.40.
• Under $500,000 / $750,000: Part B $649.20, Part D +$83.30.
• $500,000 / $750,000 or more: Part B $689.90, Part D +$91.00.

The Part D amount is added on top of your drug plan's own premium. The income measure is your adjusted gross income plus tax-exempt interest (SSA). Medicare is per person: if you're both on Medicare, each of you pays the surcharge.

The steps are cliffs. One dollar over a threshold moves you into the whole next step. A single person at $109,001 pays $81.20 a month more for Part B and $14.50 more for Part D than someone at $109,000: about $1,148 for the year.

Why the early 60s matter

The two-year lookback means:

• Income in the year you turn 63 generally sets your premiums in the year you turn 65.
• Income at 64 sets them at 66, and so on.
• Income at 62 or earlier generally doesn't touch IRMAA. Social Security sometimes uses a return from three years earlier when the newer one isn't available (SSA).

Many early retirees convert most heavily before 63 for this reason, then keep later conversions under the next threshold.

Other things a conversion can change

• Marketplace health insurance before 65. Most IRA withdrawals count as income for premium tax credits (HealthCare.gov), and so does the taxable amount of a conversion. See Health insurance before Medicare.
• Tax on Social Security. Once benefits start, more of them can become taxable as your other income rises (IRS Topic 423). Converting before you claim keeps the two from stacking.
• Your tax bracket. A conversion stacks on top of your other income. Converting in smaller pieces over several years often keeps more of it in lower brackets.

If your income has dropped

IRMAA looks back two years, so it can still charge you for a salary you no longer earn. If you've had a life-changing event, you can ask Social Security to use a more recent year with form SSA-44 (SSA). Events on the form include:

• work stopping or being reduced (the most common one for new retirees);
• marriage, divorce or the death of a spouse;
• losing pension income or income-producing property;
• an employer settlement payment.

A Roth conversion or a big capital gain isn't on that list. Income you chose to take generally stays counted.

A calm way to plan

1. Map your low-income years. From your last paycheck to Social Security and Medicare.
2. Convert most in the years before 63, if marketplace subsidies allow.
3. From 63, check each year's total against that year's IRMAA thresholds, which CMS publishes every fall.
4. Leave a margin. Dividends and capital gains distributions can land late in the year.

Paying some IRMAA isn't always a mistake. A year or two of higher premiums can be worth it if the conversion saves more tax later. It's a trade-off to weigh, not a line you must never cross.

Next step

Read Getting to your money before 59½ for how a Roth conversion ladder works, and Medicare in plain English for the parts and sign-up windows.

Find your Freedom Date →