u/Correct_Ad4771

Ok. First off I made bad decisions in younger years when I was in military and so my nest egg is smaller than it should be.

Anyway…retired military, 57YO, current railroad employee. I made just under 150k last year from railroad. I maxed out 401k for 2026 (will put like 32,150 into 401k).

Next year I will cross 150k from my employer which means the catchup has to go to a Roth.

Will that happen automatically (like will Fidelity just slide $$ above 24,500 from 401k to Roth) or do I have to allocate in advance?

As far as Roth vs 401k goes I have no Roth right now.

I expect to be in the 22% bracket when I retire and I am there now. Is it worth starting a Roth and converting now or just say screw if and wait for RMD’s?

So when the pundits say 80% of working income is a good guideline…are we talking take home or gross before taxes/401k, etc.

I feel like this might be a dumb question and as with all of these questions, YMMV.

I have what I feel would be a good amount of “pension” type income when I do retire between a military pension and Railroad Retirement Board payments (ballpark 100k if I go at 62 for the wife and I…creeps on up to about 125k at 65 and like 140-145 at 67).

I figure when I retire and stop kicking in $$ to company stock, 401k, taxes go down, etc I pick up about 4500 a month in take home money so I don’t think I NEED 80% of the roughly 180k I am bringing in.

Am I crazy?