The Retirement Tax Mistake That Can Quietly Cost Savers Thousands

Retirement tax planning requires decisions today based on tax rates, investment returns and personal circumstances that may not become clear for decades. The wrong Roth conversion can create an unnecessary tax bill, while waiting too long can leave retirees trapped by required withdrawals and higher lifetime taxes.The Problem Hiding Inside Traditional Retirement AccountsTraditional IRAs and 401(k)s offer an attractive bargain during a worker’s highest-earning years: contribute pretax dollars today and defer the tax until retirement.For disciplined savers, that bargain can eventually become complicated.Decades of contributions and investment gains can produce an account large enough to generate substantial required minimum distributions,...