Introduction

By the time many retirees see what a Roth IRA could have done for them, it's hard to undo. It isn't usually about how much they saved or earned. It comes down to the costs of skipping the Roth — costs that show up later, quieter, and in places that have nothing to  do with that year's tax return. They rarely reduce to a single number, and by the time the full bill arrives it's often being paid by the surviving spouse or the heirs.
The good news is that these costs are predictable, which means they're plannable. Below are the ones most often overlooked.

The Surviving Spouse Tax Trap

This is the cost almost no one plans for, and it can erode retirement security more than households expect. When a married couple files jointly, their brackets are roughly twice as wide as a single filer's. When one spouse dies, the survivor's status collapses to single — but the income from pensions, Social Security, and traditional IRA distributions doesn't change much. Dollars that sat comfortably in, say, the 22 percent bracket filing jointly can be taxed at 32 percent or higher the year the survivor files single. (Brackets here are illustrative.)

Planners call this the widow's penalty, and it can cost tens of thousands of dollars a year for the rest of the survivor's life. Roth withdrawals don't count against the survivors taxable income, and the pretax dollars that would have pushed them into a higher bracket simply aren't there.

The IRMAA Surcharge

Once Medicare begins at 65, your income from two years prior sets your Part B and Part D premiums. Cross a threshold and those premiums jump. For 2026, a married couple filing jointly pays the standard premium up to a modified adjusted gross income of $218,000; one dollar above it triggers the first surcharge tier — it's a cliff, not a ramp. A traditional IRA distribution counts toward that figure; a Roth distribution does not.

For a couple drawing meaningful income from pretax accounts, that single line can mean several thousand dollars of extra Medicare cost per year, per person. Across a long retirement, that can compound into six figures of surcharge — much of it avoidable with a properly funded Roth.

The Silent Bet

Every dollar in a traditional account carries an implicit bet: that your future tax rate will be lower than today's. For some households that bet pays off — those who will genuinely be in a lower 1 Draft — pending compliance review. Not for distribution until approved. bracket later. For many, it's far from certain. Congress changes rates regularly, states change theirs, and your own income shifts — especially after a business sale, an inheritance, or the death of a spouse. A Roth removes the bet entirely: once the tax is paid, future rates can't touch those dollars.

The Unrecoverable Compounding

Every year money sits outside a Roth is a year of tax-free growth you don't get back. A dollar that could have compounded for thirty years tax-free, but instead lived in a taxable or pretax account, simply isn't the same dollar at the end. The longer the wait, the more of that growth has already been taxed away.

The Estate Drain

Under current rules, most non-spouse heirs who inherit a traditional IRA must drain it within ten years — at their tax rates, often during their own peak earning years. A million-dollar inherited traditional IRA can lose a substantial share to federal and state tax across that window. A Roth inherited the same way must also be drained, but every dollar comes out tax-free.

Conclusion

The cost of skipping the Roth surfaces in several ways: surviving spouses paying more than they should, Medicare surcharges that didn't have to exist, heirs writing checks to the IRS that could have stayed in the family. Layered across decades, for households with meaningful balances, these can run to six or seven figures. What the households who get this right have in common is simple — they modeled it before retirement, not after. It's almost always cheaper to plan it now than to fix it later. Have you seen your own numbers run both ways?

Disclosures:

This material is for educational purposes only and reflects the views of the author. It is not tax, legal, investment, or accounting advice, nor a recommendation or solicitation to buy, sell, or hold any security or to adopt any investment or tax strategy. Roth strategies are not suitable for everyone and should be implemented in coordination with qualified tax and legal counsel based on your individual circumstances.

Tax-bracket and surcharge examples are illustrative and may not reflect your situation. IRMAA thresholds, tax brackets, and related figures are based on 2026 amounts and are subject to change. Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal.

Johnny Borrelli is a Registered Representative of Realta Equities, Inc., Member FINRA/SIPC, and an Investment Adviser Representative of Realta Investment Advisors, Inc. Neither Realta Equities, Inc., nor Realta Investment Advisors, Inc., is affiliated with Tax Alpha Companies, including Tax Alpha Title and Tax Alpha Solutions. Realta Wealth is a trade name for the Realta Companies, co-located at 1201 N. Orange Street, Suite 729, Wilmington, DE 19801. Realta Equities and Realta Investment Advisors are trade names for the Realta Companies. The Realta Companies are Realta Equities, Inc., Realta Investment Advisors, Inc., and Realta Insurance Services, which consist of several affiliated insurance agencies.