u/BarefootMarauder

Hi All: I've been struggling with the decision to continue paying for software like Boldin and/or Projection Lab. I've been retired for 2 years now (as of today!), and I've been using Boldin for a little over 2 years. Regardless of what I do to my plan to stress-test it, my chance of success is always 99%. I have to basically double my annual spending to get the plan to drop below 99%.

Not saying any of that to brag, but it makes me wonder why I need to continue paying for Boldin just to update my account values each quarter or year just to look at the new numbers.

As far as tax planning, Roth conversions, Social Security strategy, etc, it seems like there are so many other free tools out there for doing those things. In fact, I find it very confusing to use Boldin for those things because Boldin doesn't really know all my exact investments and/or nuances of how we spend and move money around. It all seems based on estimates, averages, and best guesses. I'd tried using the Roth conversion explorer in Boldin, but it never seems to meet my needs. I'm trying to do small Roth conversions each year while also staying under a certain MAGI for ACA subsidies. If I'm careful and intentional, I can actually do Roth conversions while owing very little or zero tax each year, which still getting a pretty high subsidy.

To do that in Boldin, I feel like I have to jump through a bunch of hoops to get it to match up with that I'm trying to accomplish. But I can figure it out myself using a basis spreadsheet.

Anyway... I'm rambling. Just wondering what other retired folks think about continuing to pay for tools like Boldin when your retirement plan is already pretty solid. Is it worth it? Would other free tools like Empower, Fidelity's retirement planner, FiCalc, or others serve pretty much the same purpose?

I've looked for information such as a "day in the life" of a retired Boldin user to get better insights into how folks are using it. 🙂

Hi All: Looking for a little guidance here... I started doing small Roth conversions last year, and Form 8606 asks for basis in the amount of the conversion (Part II, line 17). I was reading online that you're supposed to use pro-rata rules to determine the basis amount, rather than taking the full amount of your NON-deductible contributions as basis the first time you do a conversion.

In my case, there's only been one year (2022) where I had a $7000 NON-deductible contribution that was reported on Form 8606. So my IRA account has mostly pre-tax contributions, and $7000 of post-tax/NON-deductible contributions. Can I take the entire $7K as basis for the 2025 Roth conversion? From reading the Form 8606 instructions, it seems like I can.

Does anyone know for sure if pro-rata rules apply here? And if so, how is that calculated? Is it based on the total value of the IRA at time of conversion? Or is it based on total pre-tax + post-tax contributions?

I converted a small amount last year from my Trad IRA to my Roth IRA. Is Form 8606 always required whenever you do a Roth conversion? I received Form 1099-R from my brokerage company for 2025, and Box 2b was checked for "Taxable amount not determined". But everything in my Traditional IRA is pre-tax/deductible contributions. Is 8606 still required?

EDIT: I figured out I did have at least one year when I made a non-deductible IRA contribution. I also read about pro-rata rules, and it sounds like my basis needs to be a ratio based on the total amount of IRA contributions vs. the non-deductible portion. For example, if the IRA was worth $100,000, and $7000 was after-tax (non-deductible) basis, then my ratio is 7%. So, if I converted $20,000 for 2025, then would I use 7% of that ($1,400) as basis, and only pay tax on $18,600? Does that sound right? Does the basis % get re-calculated each year based on the value of the IRA at the time of conversion?