For retirees and near-retirees with $1 million or more saved for retirement in all accounts combined, often mostly in pre-tax accounts such as traditional IRAs, 401(k)s and 403(b)s.
A million dollars in an IRA is not a million dollars in your pocket.
Every pre-tax dollar in it gets taxed eventually.
Pinnacle Tax Associates is a tax preparation and planning firm in Whitehall, PA. We start with a household's tax return. We read it, ask questions, and project what every future return will look like if the household stays on its current path. Then we test strategies until we find the strongest one we can find, and we test what happens if one spouse dies first, to build a backup plan.
If you are on your own now, after the death of your husband or wife, the work starts the same way: with your own tax return, and every future return projected for you as one person. Your plan is built on that return as it stands, and it still has a backup plan: the same plan run over fewer years than the projection assumes, in case the focus moves to the next generation. You can work with us at any balance, starting with the quiz and the free 30-minute call.
One of the strategies we test is the Roth conversion: moving money from a pre-tax account, such as a traditional IRA, into a Roth account and paying the tax on it that year, so that later withdrawals from the Roth are generally not taxed.
There are two ways to work with us: The Blueprint and The Relationship. Both are explained below.
The 60-second quiz says, from your answers, whether a free 30-minute call makes sense. If it does, you pick a time on the next page; if not, a free guide arrives by email.
Who does the work
Both partners work with retired families on their tax preparation and tax planning.
Dan Fratantoro, CPA, CFP®
Managing Partner and co-founder
Over two decades of tax experience. A CPA since 2008.
Jake Ruggles, EA, CFP®
Partner and co-founder
An Enrolled Agent, an IRS-credentialed tax professional.
What the testing found for one hypothetical couple
Projected federal income tax for Harold and Diane, a hypothetical couple
Harold 66 and Diane 64 in 2026; $1,400,000 in traditional IRAs; projected 2026–2057.
Their own lifetime tax: about $1.05 million → about $463,000, about $590,000 less.
Their heirs' estimated tax: about $1.2 million → about $100,000, about $1.1 million less.
Projected for this hypothetical couple: about $1.7 million less, including the heirs' tax. Every household's numbers come out differently.
Only three tax choices changed: Roth conversions · withdrawal order · which account holds the growth.
Harold and Diane are a hypothetical couple; the figures are projections in future dollars, not today's dollars, compared with their current plan with no changes. Pennsylvania does not tax Roth conversions, so the projection is federal income tax.
Every Tax Return, Planned: two ways to work with us
- The Blueprint: the strategy, the backup plan, and every strategy we tested to get there. We start from the household's tax return, project every return ahead, and test until we have the strongest strategy we can find, plus a backup plan for what happens if one spouse dies first. It stands on its own: a finished strategy the household can take to the professional who helps with its taxes.
- The Relationship: everything in The Blueprint, plus the tax work each year brings. We calculate each year's conversion from the year's real income and prepare the tax return. Each spring, we put the finished tax return beside the strategy and check whether the year's income and tax came out where the strategy said they would. That comparison is how we grade ourselves, year after year.
The Blueprint arrives as a PDF report, and we walk through it together when it is delivered. It sets the strategy for every year ahead; the check-ins through the year and the December work are part of The Relationship.
What the work includes, and how the year runs
1 · Your plan (both ways of working with us)
Built on the household's own numbers when it starts: the long-term strategy, a backup plan for what happens if one spouse dies first (for someone on their own, the same plan run over fewer years than the projection assumes, in case the focus moves to the next generation), and the strategies we tested and what each one did.
2 · Through the year (The Relationship)
We stay on the plan as income, spending or the household changes, and a fall review sets this year's conversion.
3 · The December work (The Relationship)
A year's income isn't known until the year is nearly over. So this year's conversion amount is calculated from the year's real income, once it is known, not from an estimate.
4 · Your return, prepared and checked (The Relationship)
We prepare the tax return and check it against the plan: that comparison is how we grade our own work. The next year starts from what really happened.
Why this is decided year by year
For most households, the lowest-bracket years come after retirement and before required minimum distributions (RMDs) begin: the yearly amounts the law requires to come out of pre-tax accounts such as a traditional IRA. In those years, more of the IRA can be converted to a Roth at a low tax rate.
Those low-bracket years don't end all at once. Income rises in steps: when Social Security starts, when RMDs start, and when a joint return becomes a single one. Each step fills more of the low brackets, so less of the IRA can be converted at a low rate.
Illustrative, for most households. The size of each step differs from one household to the next.
So the decision comes every year, before the next step: how much to convert, and at what rate.
Common questions
What does it cost?
The cost is quoted on the first call, for the household. The first call is free.
I'm on my own now. Is this for me?
Yes. We start from your own tax return and project every future return for you as one person. If your RMDs have not started, the years before they do are planned the same way as for anyone. If you inherited an IRA from someone other than your husband or wife, you must generally empty it within 10 years (for deaths after 2019), so its tax falls inside those years, and how much comes out in each of them changes that tax. You can work with us at any balance, starting with the quiz and the free 30-minute call.
Do you prepare the tax return too?
Yes, with The Relationship: we prepare the return each year and compare it with the strategy. The Blueprint is the strategy, the backup plan and what we tested; it does not include preparing the return.
Can I keep working with the people who help me now?
With The Blueprint, you keep working with whoever helps you now, and the finished strategy goes with you as a report. With The Relationship, we calculate each year's conversion, prepare the return, compare the return to the strategy, and start next year from what happened.
How is each year's conversion worked out?
The Blueprint sets the strategy for every year ahead. Working out each year's conversion from the year's real income is the December work, and with The Relationship it is ours: we calculate it once the year's income is known.
How does it start?
1 · The 60-second quiz. It says, from your answers, whether a free 30-minute call makes sense. If it does, you pick a time on the next page; if not, a free guide arrives by email.
2 · The first call. A free 30-minute Microsoft Teams call with Dan Fratantoro, CPA, CFP®. He goes through which retirement tax questions apply to the household, how we approach each one, and what the work looked like for Harold and Diane, the hypothetical couple above, and he quotes the cost for the household. Last year's tax return in front of you is optional; it makes the questions more specific.
3 · What happens next is agreed on the call.
Do I need to come to the office?
No. The first call is always on Microsoft Teams. If you are in the Lehigh Valley, we meet with clients in person at our office in Whitehall, PA. We also serve retirees nationwide and work completely virtually, so you never have to come in. That is no issue for us; you just need to be comfortable working with us virtually.
Start with the 60-second quiz
The 60-second quiz says, from your answers, whether a free 30-minute call makes sense. If it does, you pick a time on the next page; if not, a free guide arrives by email.