What's New in RetireSmartIRA

Quarterly tax payment tracking: the Quarterly screen now answers whether you are on track for each IRS due date, estimated payments became a dated ledger for federal and state, and withholding is credited across the year the way the IRS actually counts it.

• The Quarterly screen answers whether you are on track

  A status card shows your projected position against the next IRS due date and your annual safe-harbor target, with buttons to record a payment or update withholding right there.

• Estimated payments are now a ledger

  Payments carry dates and amounts, federal and state, in place of the four Paid switches. Your existing entries carry over automatically, and a payment saved as one combined amount asks to be split between federal and state.

• Withholding counts toward every due date

  Withholding is credited evenly across the four due dates, following the IRS rule, so withholding late in the year counts toward earlier installments.

• Withholding that started partway through the year can say so

  It is counted from that date, which can move projected coverage in either direction.

• Coverage prints in the PDF report

  Coverage at each due date, the payment ledger, and your safe-harbor target now appear in the printed report.

• What the screen does not calculate is stated plainly

  Self-employment tax and the under-$1,000 exception are not computed, and the screen says so beside the figures rather than leaving it to fine print.

• Editing and display fixes

  Tapping a saved income source or deduction now opens it filled in on the first tap, and the required-distribution age reads 70½ for birthdays before July 1949.

403(b)/457 state selection and accuracy improvements: government retirement plans can now record their state, several federal thresholds were refined, and the inherited IRA rules for a surviving spouse follow the IRS schedule from the first year.

• Government 403(b) and 457 plans can name their state

  Government-employer 403(b) and 457 plans can now record which state's government they are from, on both income sources and accounts, using the same selector government pensions already have. Existing entries are invited to add their state; nothing changes until you answer.

• Federal deduction and surcharge thresholds refined

  The age-65+ senior deduction, IRMAA, the net investment income tax, the medical expense floor, and the SALT cap were refined, which can move projections in either direction.

• Inherited IRA guidance for a surviving spouse updated

  Distributions now start in the year the IRS rules specify when the owner died before their required beginning date, and the life-expectancy divisor follows the IRS greater-of rule.

• Inherited IRA entries ask for what the rules require

  Inherited IRA entries now ask for the details the beneficiary rules require, so the projection can apply the right distribution schedule from the start.

• Clearer local-tax descriptions and repaired links

  Local-tax descriptions were clarified and reference links repaired throughout the app's sources and guidance.

Most of the work in this release went into one thing: making the state tax numbers checkable. Every state now carries the date its figures were verified and the published sources behind them, nine states moved to their final 2026 amounts, and credits that were being applied without appearing now show up in the math. Alongside that, you can enter future income year by year rather than as a single figure that never changes.

• Enter your income year by year

  Wages and pension income can be entered for any future year, for either spouse, as an ongoing amount from that year forward or as a one-time amount. A pension that starts in 2029 no longer has to be folded into today's figures.

• See when each state was last verified

  Every state shows the date its figures were checked against that state's own published forms and schedules, along with the sources used. The date appears on the state's comparison sheet as well as its accuracy page.

• Nine states updated to their published 2026 amounts

  Brackets, deductions and exemptions for Arkansas, Delaware, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Vermont and Wisconsin now match what those states published for 2026. Depending on the state and your income, a projection can move up or down.

• Credits that were already applied are now shown

  Connecticut, Nebraska, Oregon and Utah grant personal and retirement credits that were being subtracted from the total without appearing in the calculation. They now have their own line, so the arithmetic on screen adds up to the number at the bottom.

• Exemption caps that belong to each spouse

  Twelve states cap retirement income exemptions per taxpayer rather than per household. Those caps now apply to each spouse's own income instead of being pooled across the return.

• What the projection assumes about future tax law

  The assumptions and limitations list now states plainly that one year of tax law is applied to every projected year: brackets, the standard deduction, and the Medicare and ACA thresholds stay flat while Social Security and expenses keep compounding, which can overstate tax in later years. The same note appears in the CPA briefing.

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See how the tax data is verified →

Paying the tax on a Roth conversion is a decision in its own right, and this release makes it one you control. Choose whether the tax is withheld from the conversion, paid from your other accounts, or paid from money outside the plan, and see what each choice leaves in the Roth. Every year of the plan now carries a funding check, and Social Security and Medicare calculations are refined alongside it.

• Choose how you pay the conversion tax

  Three ways to fund a Roth conversion's tax bill: have it withheld from the conversion itself, pay it from your other accounts, or pay it from money outside the plan. Each choice changes what actually lands in the Roth, and existing plans keep the behavior they already had.

• Withholding covers federal tax only

  Electing withholding applies it against federal income tax. State tax, Medicare IRMAA, the net investment income tax, and ACA amounts are funded separately rather than netted against a federal overpayment. In Pennsylvania, the withheld share of a conversion is treated as PA-taxable under state guidance.

• A funding check on every year

  A year whose tax your taxable and IRA balances cannot cover is now marked, with the reason on the row and a count at the top of the plan. This is a new check rather than a change to the math, so some existing plans will start showing it.

• Social Security taxation refined

  Refined how benefits become taxable at lower provisional income, where only part of a benefit is taxed. A withdrawal taken to pay your tax bill is ordinary income, so it now counts toward that calculation as it does in practice.

• IRMAA income follows Medicare's own definition

  Medicare measures income for the premium surcharge as adjusted gross income plus tax-exempt interest. It does not add back the untaxed portion of your Social Security benefits, and neither do we.

• Required withdrawals read spouse and joint accounts correctly

  Spouse-owned and jointly held retirement accounts are now attributed to the right owner when calculating required minimum distributions. Projection chart year labels are easier to read at a glance.

A planning release. The new Multi-Year Plan builds a year-by-year Roth conversion strategy across your full retirement horizon and compares it against doing nothing, with lifetime tax impact, RMD reduction, and heir-tax modeling.

• Build a year-by-year Roth conversion plan

  The new Multi-Year Plan tab builds a suggested Roth conversion amount for every year of your retirement horizon, not just this one, and compares your plan against a no-conversion baseline: lifetime tax, ending account balances, and your largest forced RMD, side by side.

• See what you keep, and what your heirs may owe

  Choose whether to optimize purely for your own lifetime taxes, or weigh in what your heirs will owe on an inherited IRA under the SECURE Act 10-year rule.

• Every year adjustable, a CPA-ready briefing one tap away

  Override any year's conversion and watch the whole plan recalculate. Every assumption behind the charts is visible and editable, and you can export a full briefing for your tax professional whenever you want a second set of eyes.

• Backed by 1,164 automated tests

  The Multi-Year Plan engine, including the heir-tax comparison and the OBBBA senior deduction phaseout, is pinned by automated regression tests checked against IRS publications, so the math stays correct in future releases.

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Learn more about Multi-Year Planning →

A data-accuracy release. ACA subsidy thresholds, IRA and 401(k) contribution limits, and Medicare IRMAA premium tiers corrected to the figures the IRS and CMS will use for the 2026 tax year.

• ACA subsidy thresholds updated for 2026

  Federal poverty level figures updated to the 2025 HHS guidelines ($15,650 single / $21,150 couple), and applicable percentage figures corrected to Rev. Proc. 2025-25 (2.10%–9.96%). The ACA cliff math now reflects what the IRS will actually use at tax time.

• IRA and 401(k) limits updated for 2026

  IRA limit updated to $7,500 with a $1,100 catch-up for age 50+. 401(k) limit updated to $24,500 with tiered catch-ups: $8,000 for ages 50–59 and $11,250 for ages 60–63 (SECURE 2.0 super catch-up).

• IRMAA tiers corrected to 2026 CMS values

  Medicare IRMAA Part B and Part D surcharges for tiers 2–4 corrected to the 2026 values published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Tier 4 Part B was the most significant change ($608.40 → $649.20/month).

• Backed by 1,271 automated tests

  Every calculation change is pinned by automated regression tests verified against IRS publications, HHS guidelines, and CMS schedules — so corrections stay correct in future releases.

Our most accurate and most readable release yet — every IRS limit, HHS poverty guideline, and ACA cliff threshold reflects 2026 values. Plus dozens of fixes from beta-tester feedback.

• 2026 IRS limits applied across the board

  HSA contribution limits (Rev. Proc. 2025-19), HHS poverty guidelines, ACA cliff thresholds, and every contribution cap reflect 2026 values. Your numbers match what your CPA will use.

• ACA cliff warnings tell the truth

  Crossing the ACA subsidy cliff at year-end doesn't just cost you next year's help — you have to repay the advance credits you've already received. RetireSmartIRA now makes that consequence crystal clear, with dollar-specific repayment estimates.

• Scenario Builder reorganized

  Sections now flow the way a tax pro thinks: pre-tax contributions and charitable gifts (reduce AGI) → withdrawals → Roth conversions (strategic AGI increase). Step numbers renumber dynamically based on what's visible to you.

• See your math

  A new "How is Total Taxable computed?" disclosure shows every line: income − deductions − pre-tax contributions + Roth conversions = taxable. No more guessing what moved the number.

• Total Taxable now responds to pre-tax contributions

  Adjusting 401(k), Traditional IRA, or HSA contributions in the Scenario Builder now correctly reduces the Total Taxable header. Previously, only Roth conversions updated it — leading to confusing partial recalculation.

• Refined Silver plan inputs and labels

  The Silver plan benchmark now includes a caveat about household-specific costs, with a direct link to the KFF calculator for an exact estimate. "Extra Withdrawal" became "Additional Withdrawal." Duplicate Silver plan rows removed from Settings.