I am considering doing Roth conversions over the next 4-8 years (from age 65-73).
With help from the standard deduction plus bonuses deductions ($2k + $6k) for tax filers over age 65 the 12% bracket has effectively just got wider:

the new $6,000 deduction is stacked on top of both the regular standard deduction — $15,750 for single filers or $31,500 for married couples filing jointly in 2025 — and the 65-plus addition. For instance, a 65-year-old single taxpayer who qualifies for the full $6,000 deduction would be able to deduct a total of $23,750 from these three tax breaks on their 2025 tax return. A qualifying 65-year-old couple could deduct up to $46,700.

source:
taxes/what-to-know-new-tax-law-2025
I am looking to fill the 12% Federal tax bracket ($48,475 for single filers for TY2025) with yearly Roth conversions over the next 4-8 years.
Anyone else see this as an opportune time to execute Roth conversions?
convert-a-traditional-ira-to-a-roth-in-retirement

At the present time I am remaining extremely conservative with my retirement funds, which I have yet had to tap into. That allows me to not worry about the taxable account which is as fully invested in equity funds as it has ever been.
At the present time, I like to pair conservative funds with risky funds since I am too lazy to want to be an active trader. So, if I pick up a bank loan fund then I will likely also pick a more conservative floater. It should be noted however that in 2022 FFRHX, for one, only lost .31. Still, FLTR and FLOT ended in the black that year.
It's always interesting to bounce ideas off you @Junkster.

Just thought I'd chime in with support for Kiplinger. I've been getting this magazine for probably 50 years ever since my dad got a subscription for me after starting my first real job where I had some disposable income to invest. After he passed, my sister continued that tradition.
I enjoy reading the articles still.
Keep is mind that the organization has an objective...per Wiki, "It claims to be the first American personal finance magazine and to deliver "sound, unbiased advice in clear, concise language". It offers advice on managing money and achieving financial security, saving, investing, planning for retirement, paying for college, and major purchases like automobiles and homes."
It's a great mag for folks starting out and those who want some current information about topics of interest. It's not the most complete or esoteric in terms of investments, but if it gets folks on the road to saving and investing, that's a good thing.

My parents first bought into FCNTX about 35 years ago and have been happy with the returns. They didn’t get exorbitantly wealthy but it has provided a nice cushion for their retirement. The star manager (Will Danoff) seems to be relinquishing some of his responsibilities nowadays, so we’ll see what the future holds. But it’s been a good fund for a long time.

@DrVenture, thank you for sharing. The falling dollar since Dec 2024 was concerning when it fallen 9% YTD. The question of whether the dollar remains as the world last resort have been brought up several times. The last downgrade by Moody due to increased deficit is alarming and it is getting worse, not better with the latest tax cut bill. Since late last year, we rebalanced from US to developed and emerging market aggressively and made considerable gains.
With our retirement are coming up, we want to takes some equity risk of the table and focus on better multi-sector and foreign bonds, and not so much with treasury, especially long bond. In all cases, we are staying with short duration in light of inflation still lingering.
My concerns are the following :
1. Staginflation
2. Can US continue to finance its deficient by selling long bonds ? Bessent said her can takes care of that.
3. What will happen when on one would work on the fields and meat packing factories?

My opinion is very fungible, because a lot is based on changing circumstances. But, it sounds like we are in a similar position and have a similar approach. Some de-risking, and chasing returns where possible at the same time. One of the notions that has me on the fence is what is going to happen with rates.
IMO, what happens in fields and meat-packing (and construction, and hospitality, and manufacturing) is that wages will come up significantly, to attract workers. Labor competition could get crazy. Irony adjacent is that so many were adamantly against minimum wage increases for so long, and now they embrace policies that make minimum wage efforts look negligible. Even air-conditioned jobs at McDonalds have gotten pricey, due to labor competition.
I believe that the biggest issue will be that the workforce of agriculture may not exist at all in the places where it is needed. They are called "migrant workers" for a reason. They travel to where the work is. This is a very difficult life. Is there any amount of money that you can pay U.S. citizens to do this sort of hard work, live like that, and keep showing up? Federal bailouts may help the farmers survive in the short-term, but it will not get the food to people's tables. And food exports have always been a big part of balancing trade for us. For that to work you need a surplus of product. I believe that this administration will have to find a way to bring back the workers we need - a big, streamlined expansion of the H2A visa program. Which will still be very expensive, compared to what it costs now to bring in migrant labor off the books.

Barron’s Funds Quarterly+ (2025/Q2–July 7, 2025)
https://www.barrons.com/topics/mutual-funds-quarterly
(Performance data quoted in this Supplement are for 2025/Q2 and YTD to 6/30/25)
COVER STORY, “ETFs Are Eating the World. The Right – and Wrong – Ways to Invest”. It’s hard to imagine an investment idea or theme without a related ETF. There are 4,000+ ETFs in the US, 700+ were added just in 2024, and several hundred are pending before the SEC. Note that there are only 2,400 listed stocks in the US (but there are many ETFs for single-stocks). Many mutual funds/OEFs are adding ETF classes after Vanguard’s patent expired in 2023. Almost 1,300+ active ETFs are competing with active OEFs. Many new ETFs won’t survive because viable ETFs need $100+ million AUM. There have been strong inflows, and the total ETF AUM is $11 trillion, and almost 33.3% of all listed funds (OEFs, ETFs) excluding the money-market funds (CEFs are too tiny to move the needle). Lot of money is just shifting from OEFs into ETFs.
The ETFs has several advantages: (i) tax-efficiency (due to tax-free creation/redemption), (ii) accessibility, (iii) trading convenience, (iv) lower ERs; big ETFs are very liquid. Many financial advisors now prefer to use ETFs for asset allocation. On the other hand, there is more temptation to trade and reinvestments are inconvenient.
Top 4 ETF sponsors/firms (Vanguard, BlackRock/BLK, Invesco/IVZ, State Street/STT) have 82% of the total ETF AUM, so there is lot of noise out there. Major stock ETFs are SPY, IVV, VOO (SP500); RSP (equal-weight SP500), IEFA (EAFE), VT (total world stock), NOBL (dividend Aristocrats), TCAF (capital appreciation), etc. Major bond ETFs are AGG, BND (US aggregate bond); BNDW (total world bond), MUNI (intermediate-term munis), JCPI (inflation-protected), ANGL (fallen-angle HY), etc. Major alternative ETFs are GLD, GLDM (gold bullion); IBIT, FBTC (spot Bitcoin), etc.
There are flaws in some of these ETFs. Some bond, private-asset and commodity ETFs are in small, fragmented and illiquid markets that trade infrequently or not at all. The ETF pricing then is based on matrix-pricing or professional estimates/ guesses that may break down during market stresses. Most commodity ETFs hold futures because it isn’t practical to hold physical commodities except for some precious metals. This adds the complications of backwardation/ contango at future rolls. Also beware that ETFs can hold only up to 15% in private, illiquid assets, so pay attention to what the rest 85% is in. Then, there are leveraged ETFs, +/- 1x, +/- 2x, etc, often in pairs, so the firms make money whether investors have gains or losses.
QUARTERLY REVIEW. It was a wild quarter for leveraged ETFs as winners and losers were magnified. Beware that their stated leverage applies on a daily basis, but it diverges long-term. The broad market had an early-April drawdown but rebounded strongly to new highs. A solid advice is to think long-term and ignore short-term noises (political, currency, etc), but the entire credit for crypto rally belongs to this Administration that is also a player. Ordinary folks can join the fund with small amounts in ETFs IBIT, FBTC, etc. Foreign stocks (especially small-caps), gold-miners (finally joining the gold rally), bonds and market-neutral funds did well in Q2. Outflows from mutual funds/OEFs continued and went into ETFs. (By @LewisBraham at MFO)
More on FUNDS & RETIREMENT
The new budget may trigger AMT for more people in higher income brackets. The AMT exemption amount is the same (as in TCJA, 2017) but the phaseout level has been reduced and the phaseout is at a faster pace. Higher SALT deductions and high state and property taxes may trigger AMT. Expectations are that most couples with income under $400K won’t be impacted.
MFOP data for Q2 pending.
Top 5 Categories, Q2 https://i.ibb.co/kgwb8rkv/MFOP-Quarterly-Top5-070625.png
Bottom 5 Categories, Q2 https://i.ibb.co/FtLx8ZP/MFOP-Quarterly-Bottom5-070625.png
LINK

@DrVenture, thank you for sharing. The falling dollar since Dec 2024 was concerning when it fallen 9% YTD. The question of whether the dollar remains as the world last resort have been brought up several times. The last downgrade by Moody due to increased deficit is alarming and it is getting worse, not better with the latest tax cut bill. Since late last year, we rebalanced from US to developed and emerging market aggressively and made considerable gains.
With our retirement are coming up, we want to takes some equity risk of the table and focus on better multi-sector and foreign bonds, and not so much with treasury, especially long bond. In all cases, we are staying with short duration in light of inflation still lingering.
My concerns are the following :
1. Staginflation
2. Can US continue to finance its deficient by selling long bonds ? Bessent said her can takes care of that.
3. What will happen when on one would work on the fields and meat packing factories?

I am adding cautiously to INTL large caps. Starting in Jan 2025, I pulled back heavily on riskier assets, after riding the 2023/2024 equity wave. But, this rationale was twofold. I needed to pull back due to impending retirement (2026). And the tariff chaos was well-telegraphed. I added about 60%, of what I pulled out, back to equities on April 8, when the WH signaled they were backing down on harsh rhetoric and tariff rates. This got me to where I am now (58/15/27). I have added to PIMIX and PFN and PDO in the last month, as well, on hopes rates are really going to tick down by the 4th quarter.
This is all in regards to the short and medium term.
Obviously, the debt/deficit and inflation are on people's minds right now. The long term. And we KNOW that Trump will insert his agent into the FED in mid-2026 and try to push rates down significantly. I believe this has two implications, That inflation may gain a foothold and could become a problem. And that it will probably help existing bond fund prices.
There are a lot of plates spinning. Caution and FOMO are battling it out. My totally unqualified view is that the second half of 2025 could be decent, IF jobs and inflation do not deteriorate too much. And if the FED cuts, the markets will be enthralled. Rate cuts should help tech, as they use debt heavily to finance growth. This, and the tight labor market might, offset any job losses. Inflation is the wild card, How does the FED deal with inflation, should it exceed 3%, and they have already cut rates? Do they let it run? Does a new Trump FED appointee appease, or do the right thing? From an investing standpoint, how do bonds and stocks react if the FED is forced to raise rates. Or fails to do so in the face of inflation?
As always, I am open to respectful disagreement and alternative opinion. And healthy debate.

Last week's annual Social Security report still projects that the retirement trust fund will be depleted in 2033.
Across the board benefit cuts of approximately 23% will be required unless action is taken.
"That leaves us hurtling toward the aforementioned 23% benefit cuts in just eight years—
an outcome that is both unacceptable and entirely avoidable."
"There are just two ways to avoid that:
1. When the solvency cliff is reached, Congress can inject general revenue into Social Security on an emergency basis to maintain benefits. Social Security would be partially financed through debt for the first time.
2. We elect a Congress and president willing to push through a strong, progressive solution that does include tax increases."
"And both of those things could occur - probably in that order.
First a crisis, then a progressive solution that gets the program back on track."

https://retirementrevised.substack.com/p/this-is-not-the-moment-for-social

Stable-Value (SV) Rates, 7/1/25
TIAA Traditional Annuity (Accumulation) Rates
Across the board decreases of -25 bps.
Restricted RC 5.25%, RA 5.00%
Flexible RCP 4.50%, SRA 4.25%, IRA-101110+ 4.50%
TSP G Fund 4.25% (previous 4.500%). (Edited 7/4/25)
Options outside of workplace retirement plans include m-mkt funds, bank m-mkt accounts (FDIC insured), T-Bills, short-term brokered CDs.
#StableValue #401k #403b #TIAA #TSP
https://ybbpersonalfinance.proboards.com/post/2062/thread

@hank @larryB
You're correct. But I suppose I'm (still) in a rare situation, owing no 1040 federal tax, nor cap gains or tax on divs--- year after year. Collecting the divs gives me some freedom as to where to redeploy the "free money." Total return is indeed the goal. With my mutual funds in the T-IRA, those divs get auto-reinvested. :)
https://client.schwab.com/app/learn/#/story/3-retirement-income-mistakes-to-avoid
Vid:
https://client.schwab.com/app/learn/#/story/how-to-evaluate-dividend-stocks

At first blush it looks like it's better not to contribute to a deductible IRA, but rather to keep retirement savings in a taxable account. It seems better to pay the lower cap gains tax on the taxable account than the higher ordinary income tax on T-IRA withdrawals. But because initial contributions are deductible, the arithmetic doesn't work out that way.
Disregarding T-IRAs, one could use Roths. Contributing to Roths instead of keeping one's retirement savings in taxable accounts seems like an obvious win. Income in Roths is taxed at 0%; income in taxable accounts is taxed at 15% or more.
That is, unless one qualifies for 0% tax on cap gains. One way to do that is to have relatively low taxable income to take advantage of the 0% cap gains tax bracket. Another is to never sell but to bequeath appreciated assets to heirs.

Glad nearly all my retirement savings are in taxable accounts, so that 15% LTCG would be a better deal for me in Virginia and should save about 3% vs if I was tapping an IRA. Cool.....

Fidelity crunches the taxes for each state with the assumption that a retiree withdraws $100,000
annually from a traditional IRA.
Although the results are interesting and useful, I wish Fidelity would have included property and sales taxes
in their analysis for a more holistic view.
Key takeaways
• State taxes can have a big impact on your retirement nest egg and choosing a lower-tax state could save you thousands annually.
• Despite their reputation for high taxes, some northeastern states may be highly favorable states for retirees who withdraw from IRAs.
• Often seen as retirement-friendly, some Sunbelt states can have relatively high taxes on IRA withdrawals.
• Married couples often pay much less in taxes than single filers on the same IRA income—about 6 percentage points less.
https://www.fidelity.com/learning-center/personal-finance/best-states-to-retire-for-taxes

The conversions and/or QCD's do not count towards the total RMD amount
Fidelity: "QCDs can be counted toward satisfying your required minimum distributions (RMDs) for the year, as long as certain rules are met."
https://www.fidelity.com/retirement-ira/required-minimum-distributions-qcds
Roth conversions ( a taxable event ) can be done at any time. ... The caveat is that, if required, the full RMD amount ( taxable ) must still be taken ( sometime ) during the applicable tax year.
I used to think so also. But the IRS is clear on this point. Money withdrawn from an IRA before the annual RMD is met is ineligible to be put back into any IRA (whether traditional or Roth). The RMD must come first.
Ed Slott (site): " All IRA RMDs Must Be Satisfied Prior to Doing a Roth Conversion. ... If a person has multiple IRAs, even if they are held at different custodians, the total aggregated IRA required minimum distribution (RMD) must be withdrawn before any Roth IRA conversion (or 60-day rollover) can be completed. "
https://irahelp.com/slottreport/new-rule-all-ira-rmds-must-be-satisfied-prior-to-doing-a-roth-conversion/
The RMD is determined based on the COB December 31st total of *all* your Traditional/Rollover IRA's.
Usually but not always. For example, if you're in the process of doing a 60 day rollover at the end of the year (pulling money out of your IRA on Dec 29th and rolling it back in on Jan 3rd), you have to add back that money to the COB Dec 31st balances in calculating your RMD.
IRS Pub 590-B: "Outstanding rollovers. The IRA account balance is adjusted by outstanding rollovers that aren't in any account at the end of the preceding year."
https://www.irs.gov/publications/p590b#en_US_2024_publink100090063
On the other hand, 401's must be RMD'd individually/seperately
Though you can aggregate 403(b) withdrawals for RMDs.
https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/rmd-comparison-chart-iras-vs-defined-contribution-plans

Dear Vanguard Client,
We're writing to inform you that Vanguard will be permanently discontinuing checkwriting services for your IRA account on Sept‍ember 2‍4,‍ 20‍25. This change is part of our ongoing efforts to enhance the security of your retirement savings. We've noticed that many clients have already transitioned to more secure and convenient options, such as electronic bank transfers.
What you need to know
= Checkbook orders will no longer be accepted after Ju‍ly 1, ‍202‍5. If you need new checks before the service ends, please place your order before this date.
= Checkwriting service will be fully removed on IRAs on Sept‍ember 2‍4, ‍20‍25. After this date, your checks will not be processed.
= Nonretirement accounts remain unaffected by this change.

@hank and @Crash for some excellent discussion(s) on CEF's check out this forum Early Retirement
dickoncapecod (read his bio) is an excellent resource, knowledgeable and helpful. There are also a number of other well versed posters. Hope you find it worth your time.
Note: the "CEF Holdings ---- June 2025" thread the link should take you to changes by the month should you decide to keep visiting.
I usually hold 10-12 CEF's in a mixture of equity and bond versions. I think that most people hold them for the income that is thrown off but as @hank may have mentioned the trick is to know when to buy or bail. Buying at a discount works most of the time for me but not always. Sometimes it's a signal that the fund has lost its mojo but not always. Also be aware that at some brokerages (Fidelity) distributions are reinvested at a 3-5% discount but not every CEF provider provides that on the platform.
I also follow (subscribe) to a service provided by Doug Albo (mostly equity CEF's) on SA. ADS Analytics is also a highly regarded resource there.

One article on the question
A late night listen prompted me to consider the possibility. Guest was Whitney Baker (audio linked at end). Among the concerns she noted is the amount of leverage (borrowed money) in the system. I’m playing that game myself on small scale by (1) carrying a recent home upgrade on a (interest-free for 18 months) credit card so the money can stay invested in a Roth as long as possible. And I carry a small 3% mortgage on my home preferring to risk the money in the markets rather than pay off the loan. Suspect I’m not alone here in that thinking. Of course these are minuscule amounts of “leverage” compared to what hedge funds or CEFs engage in.
Alan Greenspan famously said in the 90s that you can’t recognize a bubble until it has burst. He’s been laughed at for the remark. I get it. But he’s not a dumb person. I won’t list them, but several “authorities” believe there is a market bubble (and they have been scorned in recent years). Bill Fleckenstein is one. Fleck cites passive inflows into retirement savings plans along with index investing. Don’t laugh too loud. He’s certainly been right for several years on gold which has more than doubled over only 2 or 3 years. And highly respected James Stack has his investors at 57% invested and 43% in cash or T-bills. That’s very conservative for him.
Of course, you can cite even more “authorities” who insist there is no bubble. Honestly, I’m not making the case either way. But the question is one worth considering. In a real market crash it’s very hard to “log-in” and sell your plummeting investments and virtually impossible to speak to your friendly fund rep. It gets very crazy. We had a small sneak-preview in late March.
I’ve looked up the P/E (one measure of relative value) on M* for some funds of interest. They all seem tame to me - not signifying a bubble. I have no idea how M* calculates these.
PRWCX: 21.91
DODBX: 13.65
LCORX: 14.08
PRFDX: 14.73
OAKBX: 13.04
Link to Meb Faber May 2025 interview with Whitney Baker

Here’s an improved link to the transcript
Audio Link
Thank you @Mark. I hope above audio link works for those wanting to listen. I did a very quick read.
A Barry Ritholtz podcast with guest Bill Bernstein. - Bernstein’s credentials:” Efficient Frontier Advisors Co-Founder & Neurologist “
It’s a casual rambling look at stock market risks over many years and how various investors deal with the risk. Bernstein is interested in the part of the brain that instinctively tells us to flee when the going really gets bad. Very hard instinct for most to repress. They discuss different portfolios that are easier to stick to than 100% equities. One is a portfolio designed to endure “the worst 98% of all markets”. They debate whether an all-stock approach is best, but both seem to doubt most individuals could stick to it in prologued bear markets - even if they were 30+ years away from retirement.
Sounds like at any given time you have 5 chances out of 6 that stocks will go up. But how to deal with the 1 in 6 probability they will tank? Bonds enter into the discussion. Jim Grant and Charlie Munger are a couple big names they weave into the discussion (along with William Shakespeare). There are some references to Trump’s tariffs and the risk to markets they pose as well as his family’s general financial acumen - but not the dominant theme.

Looks like I'm having a computer malfunction.

The board’s software is really difficult to work with this evening!

- The only two sources of financial stress are risk and debt.
FD: It depends. Risk is in your head; change your thinking or maybe change your style.
The right debt is healthy and welcome. Example: buying a house with a loan.
- A home is not an investment.
FD: Home is the best investment for most Americans. Most retirees have small portfolios.
- Trying to get ahead by cutting down on expenses is a loser’s game.
FD: Cutting expenses is one of the best choices for most people because Americans spend too much money and have small portfolios at retirement.
- Increasing income is the key to financial happiness.
FD: If income is a higher salary, probably. Increasing investment income isn't the key.
If someone makes $150K annually, is she happier than another who makes $100K?
If someone's portfolio is worth 10 million, is she happier than another who has "only" 5 million?
- A dwelling under 1250 sq. feet represents a meager existence / lack of success in life
FD: Again, if you are a student or just started working in NYC, you are doing fine.
- Driving a 10-15 year old (rusty) vehicle also represents a lack of success in life.
FD: Really? So, why did Sam Walton drive an old vehicle?
- Never finance a new vehicle. Always pay cash.
FD: Know how to negotiate new vehicles and always finance it when the rate is low at 0-1.99% while your investments do much better.
- Don’t skimp on insurance.
FD: too generic. You need the proper insurance.
We always had Home, Auto, and Umbrella. When we had young kids, we had term life insurance. As retirees with grown kids, we stopped it years ago.
- Always give large outsized tips for services well rendered.
FD: Please define "well rendered."
Wait, I have one. Save a million by age 35. The devil is in the details :-)