Dave Ramsey Just Gave You Two Hidden Reasons to Move Everything to a Roth. No RMDs and No Inherited-IRA Forced Withdrawal Dave Ramsey Just Gave You Two Hidden Reasons to Move Everything to a Roth. No RMDs and No Inherited-IRA Forced Withdrawal 24/7 Wall St. Danielle Liverance Mon, June 29, 2026 at 7:01 AM PDT 5 min read Dave Ramsey just gave away the two reasons most people convert to a Roth too late, if they convert at all. I've been studying retirement account mechanics for over a decade, and the part of his pitch that lands hardest is what happens after you die. Here is the math behind both of his claims, and the one variable that decides whether converting is brilliant or expensive. The quote that reframes the Roth debate On the April 10, 2026 episode of The Ramsey Show titled Start Telling Your Money Where To Go , Dave Ramsey said: "moving everything to Roth people, that ain't bad or overtime, that's the move. It gives you two things I had not considered early on. And that's no RMDs and no inherited IRA forced withdrawal." He then walked through the kicker: "think about the what if they held, let's take a million dollars and they hold that seven years, years after you die because they don't have to withdraw it under the Biden rule, it's going to double. It's going to be another million dollars. The million will be 2 million." If your retirement savings sit in a traditional 401(k) or IRA, the IRS will eventually force money out of the account, first while you are alive, then again from your heirs. Every forced dollar is taxed as ordinary income in the year it leaves. Roth dollars do not get that treatment. Ramsey is right on the mechanics The two rules he is pointing at are real. At 73, traditional 401(k) and IRA holders must begin required minimum distributions whether they want the cash or not. The SECURE Act then forces non-spouse heirs of traditional accounts to drain the inherited balance within 10 years. Roth IRAs sidestep both. Are you ahead, or behind on retirement? SmartAsset's free tool can match you with a financial advisor in minutes to help you answer that today. Each advisor has been carefully vetted, and must act in your best interests. Don't waste another minute; learn more here. Run the numbers on a 72-year-old with $1 million in a traditional IRA. The first RMD lands around 3.8% of the balance, roughly $38,000, stacked on top of Social Security and any pension. For a married couple, that pushes income into the 22% federal bracket, which in 2026 starts at $24,800 of taxable income for joint filers. Call it $8,000 to $9,000 of federal tax on a withdrawal you did not need. RMDs also rise with age as the divisor shrinks, so the tax bill grows even if the market is flat. Now the inheritance side. Leave that same $1 million traditional IRA to...
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