Roth conversions can make absolute sense for people, when done with a specific, realistic, and intentional goal in mind. Once the goal is established, then putting together a plan, which you systematically execute, evaluate, and adjust, will help you ensure that your Roth conversions go more smoothly.

Of all the articles I have read, not one of them was written from a client’s perspective. After all, every truthful adviser will agree that it is times like these where financial advisers should be adding the most value to their clients—wouldn’t be useful to try and capture the client’s perspective in this? So, here is a list of ways your financial adviser should be earning their keep—written from what I believe to be the client’s perspective.

If you’re currently on Medicare, and paying IRMAA surcharges, you might be wondering what impact the recently passed Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act might have on your IRMAA surcharges. The short answer is that there does not appear to be anything in the Act that directly impacts your IRMAA for 2020. The longer answer, however, is that there still might be something you can do to lower or eliminate your IRMAA for 2020 or in the future.

At the time of this writing, we’re talking about the stock market decline due to the coronavirus pandemic. But truthfully, this approach worked for many portfolios during the Great Recession of 2008-2009, the ‘lost decade’ of the early 2000s, and countless other periods when stocks didn’t perform as well as investors would have liked.

When stocks started tumbling because of unprecedented, worldwide concerns over COVID-19, also known as the coronavirus, our firm started reaching out to our clients for two reasons. First, many of our clients had never been with us during a market downturn, and we wanted to give them assurance. Second, we wanted to see what questions people have about their portfolios.

One of the most common services that we perform for our clients is Roth conversions, particularly for our recently retired clients. If you don’t mind how much you pay in income tax, it can be quite simple to do Roth conversions. However, if you’ve accumulated significant wealth in your retirement accounts, you might have a hefty tax bill if you decide to do this all in one year. If you want to keep your overall lifetime tax liability as low as possible, you’ll probably want to do your Roth conversions over time, and make annual adjustments depending on significant tax events that occur each year. In other words, you probably need to establish a Roth conversion plan.