A reasonable decumulation calendar for a household with a sizeable pre-tax balance, in compressed form:
Convert pre-tax to Roth up to the chosen IRMAA tier ceiling (often Tier 0 or Tier 1). Harvest 0% LTCG only if the year has unused 0%-bracket headroom after conversions. Live on taxable cash and conversions.
Same, with attention to the IRMAA two-year lookback: conversions in these years set the Medicare premium at 65 and 66. Tier discipline becomes mechanical here.
Medicare enrollment (section “Medicare”). HSA contributions stop; HSA balance continues to compound and reimburse medical expenses tax-free.
Continue conversions. Social Security delayed for the higher earner; potentially claimed earlier for the lower earner in a married couple, depending on the claiming-strategy analysis (section “Social Security”).
Higher earner claims maximum Social Security. Conversion window narrows; sizing continues against the new baseline AGI.
QCD eligibility opens. Charitable giving migrates from taxable to pre-tax via QCDs. Direct-to-charity IRA bequest designations finalized.
Last clean conversion years before RMDs begin. Final tranches sized against the projected RMD wall.
RMDs begin. QCDs satisfy RMDs up to the annual cap. Residual conversion only into remaining headroom under the chosen tier. SBLOC liquidity begins to carry discretionary consumption; pre-tax depletes; Roth compounds; taxable continues to step-up at death.
Spend pre-tax and HSA; preserve Roth and appreciated taxable for heirs; coordinate with estate plan to direct any residual pre-tax to charity at death.
This is the choreography. None of it is hidden, none of it is illegal, none of it is exotic. What is hidden is the cost of not doing it: a six- or seven-figure transfer of household wealth to the IRS, the state, CMS, and your child’s marginal bracket, executed quietly over thirty years by people who optimized accumulation and never thought about the exit. The system extracts more from the unprepared by design. Prepare.