The 3 Questions You MUST Answer BEFORE Doing a Roth Conversion
Release Date: 12/03/2025
The Three Biggest Retirement Planning Mistakes I See All the Time
The Power Of Zero Show
David McKnight discusses the three biggest retirement planning mistakes that show up over and over again. Avoiding them will dramatically increase the likelihood that your retirement savings will last as long as you do. Mistake #1 pertains to over-accumulating in tax-deferred accounts like 401(k)s and IRAs – a mistake that surprises many people as they feel they’re doing everything right. The problem here is that you’re taking a deduction at historically low tax rates only to postpone the payment of those taxes to a point in the future where tax rates are likely to be much higher...
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Why Retirees with Guaranteed Income Spend More (and Are Happier!)
The Power Of Zero Show
David McKnight explores a retirement planning phenomenon that almost nobody discusses, but that has been documented repeatedly in academic research. It’s the idea that when retirees convert some of their savings into guaranteed lifetime income through an annuity, they actually spend more money and enjoy retirement more than those who rely on their liquid retirement savings alone. Even though many people assume that doing so would make retirees more conservative with their spending, research actually shows the opposite. According to academic studies, when retirees have reliable lifetime...
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The Best Tax-Free Account for Retirement
The Power Of Zero Show
David McKnight touches upon what he considers the most overlooked tax-free income stream. What he’s referring to is to leave enough money in your traditional IRA so that your required minimum distributions can be completely offset by your standard deduction in retirement. David believes that focusing on tax-free retirement strategies is more crucial than ever, since it’s becoming increasingly clear that taxes are likely to rise dramatically in the future. The United States is $39 trillion in debt and, as interest on that debt continues to grow and compound, the Government will eventually...
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Convert to Roth… But Not TOO Much: The $400,000 Rule Explained
The Power Of Zero Show
David McKnight addresses an issue he sees more and more in his conversations with retirees and pre-retirees: the so-called Roth over-conversion trap. The problem stems from converting too much money with the result of shortening the lifespan of your retirement savings. David believes that the reason why many Americans are racing to convert everything they have in their IRAs and 401(k)s has to do with the fear about where the country is headed financially. Penn Wharton has warned repeatedly that, if we don’t right our fiscal ship by 2043, no combination of raising taxes or reducing...
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5 Years from Retirement? Here’s Your Planning Blueprint
The Power Of Zero Show
In this episode of the Power of Zero Show David McKnight gives you a blueprint with the key steps to follow for a successful and stress-free retirement if you’re about five years away. The first step is figuring out your retirement income shortfall, the income you’ll need every month in retirement, as well as how much of that will be covered by sources like Social Security and pensions. The retirement income shortfall represents the amount of income your retirement assets need to produce in order to fund your lifestyle. One strategy many retirees rely on is taking a portion of their liquid...
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Which Retirement Accounts Should You Draw from First?
The Power Of Zero Show
Today’s episode of the Power of Zero Show sees David McKnight address one of the most important decisions you’ll ever make in retirement: where you should withdraw money from first. It’s important to note that the sequence in which you draw down your retirement dollars can dramatically affect how long your money lasts and how much of it you get to keep. Since the Trump tax cuts were permanently extended on July 4th, 2025, retirees have been presented with one of the most significant tax planning windows they may ever see. The national debt continues to grow – with Social Security and...
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How I’d Invest $1,000,000 in 2026
The Power Of Zero Show
David McKnight discusses the allocation of $1M if he had it to invest in 2026. David sees a taxable brokerage account as the least efficient investment account you could possibly own – since it’s taxed every year and it’s exposed to both short- and long-term capital gains. While this type of account is liquid and can serve as an excellent emergency fund, it’s the most tax-unfriendly of all the investment alternatives. The goal, says David, isn’t to grow wealth within this type of account, rather to use it as a funding source to systematically build multiple tax-free income...
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The #1 Most Hated Retirement Strategy (That Actually Works)
The Power Of Zero Show
This episode of The Power of Zero Show sees David McKnight discussing the single most hated retirement strategy in America: annuities. Interestingly enough, annuities are also one of the most powerful tools you can use to protect yourself from the biggest financial risk you face in retirement. Longevity risk, a retirement danger most retirees never fully grasp, is the reason why this topic matters so much. As David explains, “Longevity risk is the risk of living longer than you expected, running out of money before you run out of life.” While some people shrug longevity risk off as a...
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Elon Musk Says Stop Saving for Retirement Because of A.I. (Good Advice?)
The Power Of Zero Show
David McKnight dissects Elon Musk’s recent claims that, because of AI robotics and automation, the future will have such hyperabundance that ordinary people may no longer need to save for retirement. In Musk’s future, robots are going to do all the work, AI will create prosperity, and society will provide everything you need at a little or no – cost. While David likes Musk’s vision for the future, he doesn’t agree with him on this one. When examined through the lens of economics, government obligations, and retirement realities, Musk’s idea of the future collapses. David...
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Why Americans Hate Annuities
The Power Of Zero Show
David McKnight explores one of the most fascinating and misunderstood topics: Retirement planning annuities. In the article Annuitization Puzzles, Economics Nobel Prize winner Richard Thaler tries to answer a deceptively simple question: If annuities are so good at protecting retirees from outliving their money, why don’t more people buy them? Thaler, one of the founding fathers of behavioral economics, coined the phrase “the annuity puzzle” to describe a striking contradiction between theory and real life. According to traditional economic models, the rational choice would be for...
info_outlineDavid McKnight addresses three key questions you must be able to answer before executing a single Roth conversion.
Too many people go for Roth conversions without a game plan – this is something that can lead to overpaying taxes and running out of money sooner than anticipated.
David points out that if you can’t answer the three key questions, you should stop and reevaluate because guessing here can cost you big.
“What’s the total amount I should convert from my IRA or 401(k) to tax-free?” is the first and most critical of the three questions.
Remember, the goal of a Roth conversion isn’t to get your tax-deferred bucket to zero at all costs. It’s to get to the right amount of tax-deferred dollars shifted to tax-free, the amount that allows you to stay in the 0% tax bracket in retirement.
“How much should I convert each year?” is the second question and is about pacing your conversion so as to avoid unnecessary exposure to higher tax brackets.
The goal is to convert to Roth slowly enough that you don’t rise into a tax bracket that gives you heartburn.
“Over what time frame should I complete my Roth conversions?” is the third question you should address before executing a Roth conversion.
Addressing each of the three questions helps you shift from Roth conversion guesswork to Roth conversion strategy.
Be careful. Most financial gurus will say “Roth conversions are great, just pay the tax and move on!”
Mentioned in this episode:
David’s new book, available now for pre-order: The Secret Order of Millionaires
David’s national bestselling book: The Guru Gap: How America’s Financial Gurus Are Leading You Astray, and How to Get Back on Track
Tax-Free Income for Life: A Step-by-Step Plan for a Secure Retirement by David McKnight
PowerOfZero.com (free video series)
@mcknightandco on Twitter
@davidcmcknight on Instagram
David McKnight on YouTube
Get David's Tax-free Tool Kit at taxfreetoolkit.com