The Rundown is built for front-line reps and serious DIY investors who need to understand the rules and apply them to real situations: excess contributions, rollover math, RMD estimates, and more.
Everything here is education-only. It does not provide individualized tax, investment, or legal advice. Use these as a starting point, not a final answer.
Built by an 8-year retirement specialist from Charles Schwab and TD Ameritrade. Every tool uses real IRS formulas, not simplified approximations.
Free calculators and paid planning tools, all built around real IRS formulas. More in development. Subscribers get notified when new tools ship.
Want to see what each tool costs and how All-Access works? See What's Included →
Calculate your Required Minimum Distribution for any year. Uses the official IRS Uniform Lifetime Table and Joint Life Expectancy Table from Publication 590-B. Handles SECURE 2.0 age rules, spouse beneficiary scenarios, and shows the full calculation breakdown.
Open the Tool →Answer a few questions about your income, tax bracket, and retirement plans. Get a personalized side-by-side comparison with a Net After-Tax Wealth breakdown, state tax impact, and a plain-English recommendation.
Open the Tool →Answer a few questions about your business, income, and contribution goals. Get a personalized recommendation across SEP IRA, SIMPLE IRA, Solo 401(k), Safe Harbor 401(k), and Cash Balance plans. Plus the next-best alternative and the trap to avoid.
Open the Tool →Determines which post-SECURE Act distribution rule applies to an inherited IRA and outputs a year-by-year distribution schedule. Handles the 10-year rule, eligible designated beneficiary categories, and pre- and post-2020 death scenarios.
Open the Tool →Find out exactly how much you need to withdraw to fix an excess IRA or Roth IRA contribution. Calculates your net income attributable (NIA) using the IRS formula, tells you the corrected withdrawal amount to the penny, and shows what your custodian reports on Form 1099-R. Built for the correction call you are about to make.
Open the Tool →Calculate the exact dollar amount that must transfer when recharacterizing an IRA contribution from Traditional to Roth or vice versa. Handles proportional earnings, partial recharacterizations, and generates the written statement your custodian requires to process it.
Open the Tool →See exactly how much of your Roth conversion is taxable before you convert. Pulls in every Traditional, SEP, and SIMPLE IRA balance, calculates your pro-rata ratio the way Form 8606 does, shows the bracket impact on your tax return, and flags whether the 401(k) rollover strategy could make the conversion tax-free.
Open the Tool →For business owners
Correction plan for excess contributions to a SIMPLE IRA, SEP IRA, or owner-only Solo 401(k). Identifies the right pathway (corrective distribution, self-correction, or VCP referral), calculates net income attributable under Treas. Reg. 1.408-11, and generates a personalized PDF with deadlines, IRS form references, and step-by-step correction procedures.
Open the Tool →Map your complete RMD and Roth conversion strategy across 10+ years. See exactly how much you owe in RMDs each year, what converting to Roth saves you in lifetime taxes, where IRMAA surcharges hit your Medicare premiums, and how Qualified Charitable Distributions can offset them. Generates a personalized 7-page PDF report you can share with your advisor or accountant.
Open the Tool →Map out whether a specific account-to-account move is allowed, what type of transaction it is (rollover vs. transfer), whether the one-per-year rule applies, and what to watch out for.
The Retirement News Rundown, its Substack newsletter, and all tools on this page are for general education and information only. They do not provide individualized investment, tax, or legal advice, and they do not establish a client relationship with any firm or individual.
Always consult your own tax professional, financial advisor, or legal counsel before making decisions about your accounts, investments, or retirement strategy.