Roth conversions · Amherst, NY
Roth conversion and retirement tax planning in Amherst, NY
By Jim Swiech, CPA · Updated
Quick answer
Jim Swiech, CPA, at Go Beyond Tax does Roth conversion and retirement tax planning for households in Amherst, Williamsville, Snyder, Eggertsville and East Amherst. Jim meets Amherst clients in Amherst by appointment, and by video when that is easier.
The work is the tax side of retirement: what a conversion would cost on your actual return, how much to convert each year, and how it lands on Social Security, Medicare premiums and your New York return. The first conversation is a free 30-minute call.
Why Amherst households get a different answer
Amherst has an unusual retirement income mix for a town its size. University at Buffalo runs through the middle of it, so a large share of retired households here are drawing a New York State pension, a 403(b), a 457 plan, or an Optional Retirement Program account, sometimes all four. Add the Williamsville and Amherst school districts, the town and county payrolls, and Erie County Medical Center, and you get street after street in Snyder and Eggertsville where the household income is part public pension and part pre-tax retirement account.
That mix matters because New York treats the two halves very differently. New York fully exempts New York State, local government and federal pensions from state income tax, and it never taxes Social Security at all. Withdrawals from an IRA, a 403(b) or a 457 plan are a different story: they are New York income, and a taxpayer 59½ or older can shelter only up to $20,000 per person of that income under the pension and annuity exclusion. Which of your accounts falls on which side of that line is the first thing we check, because it moves the right conversion size in both directions.
The practical version. A retired Williamsville teacher with a full New York State pension pays no state tax on the pension itself, which leaves more federal bracket room than the generic national example assumes. But her 403(b) is fully in play, and once she starts drawing it the $20,000 exclusion is used up fast. The national answer to should I convert is wrong for her, and it is wrong in a direction that costs real money.
The worked example, run on our engine
Take a married couple, both the same age, with a traditional IRA. Same conversion at three points in retirement, 2026 law, run through the same calculator that sits on our Roth conversion page. Nothing below is typed by hand.
| Convert | Stage 1: before Social Security | Stage 2: Social Security flowing | Stage 3: RMDs stacked |
|---|---|---|---|
| $25,000 | $2,660 (10.6%) | $4,950 (19.8%) | $3,096 (12.4%) |
| $50,000 | $5,660 (11.3%) | $7,950 (15.9%) | $6,367 (12.7%) |
| $100,000 | $12,360 (12.4%) | $18,013 (18.0%) | $18,687 (18.7%) |
| $150,000 | $23,360 (15.6%) | $30,333 (20.2%) | $31,064 (20.7%) |
Read across the $100,000 row. At 63 the federal cost is $12,360, a real rate of 12.4%. At 76, with required minimum distributions already filling the low brackets, the identical conversion costs $18,687. The couple did not do anything wrong at 76. They simply had no empty bracket left to convert into.
How we work with Amherst clients
Go Beyond Tax is based in Lockport and does not keep an office in Amherst. Jim comes to you instead. Most Amherst first meetings happen by appointment at a coffee shop or in a library meeting room somewhere in the town, whichever is closest to you, and plenty of clients skip the drive entirely and do the whole thing by video. The location does not change the work.
What we ask you to bring is short: your most recent Form 1040 and IT-201, your account balances, and your Social Security statement. From those we project the next several years of federal and New York tax under two paths, no conversions and a conversion each year sized to a bracket and kept under the Medicare line. You get back a year-by-year plan with the amount to convert, what it costs, and where the money to pay the tax comes from. Then we redo it every year, because the right number changes as your income and the law change.
Where in Amherst we work
Amherst, Williamsville, Snyder, Eggertsville, Getzville, East Amherst, Swormville, Audubon and the rest of the town, plus the neighboring Erie and Niagara county communities.
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Quick answers
- Who does Roth conversion planning in Amherst, NY?
- Jim Swiech, CPA, at Go Beyond Tax. The practice is based in Lockport and Jim meets Amherst clients in Amherst by appointment, usually at a coffee shop or in a library meeting room, and by video for anyone who would rather skip the drive. He works with households in Amherst, Williamsville, Snyder, Eggertsville, Getzville and East Amherst on the tax side of retirement: Roth conversions, Medicare IRMAA, required distributions and withdrawal sequencing.
- Does New York tax my New York State pension in retirement?
- No. New York fully exempts New York State, local government and federal pensions from state income tax, and it never taxes Social Security. Your other retirement accounts are treated differently: withdrawals from an IRA, a 403(b) or a 457 plan are New York income, and someone 59½ or older can shelter up to $20,000 per person of that income under the pension and annuity exclusion. How a particular SUNY plan is classified depends on the plan, and it is one of the first things we check on a University at Buffalo household.
- Is a Roth conversion worth it if most of my income is an exempt state pension?
- Often yes, and for a reason people miss. If the pension is exempt from New York tax it still counts for federal tax, but the household usually has more federal bracket room than the generic national example assumes, so a conversion can be sized larger before it spills into the next bracket. The New York side has to be checked separately, because the $20,000 exclusion is a single cap shared with any IRA or 403(b) money you are already drawing.
- How much would a Roth conversion actually cost me?
- It depends entirely on what is already on your return. In the worked example on this page, a married couple both the same age converting $100,000 pays $12,360 in federal tax at 63 before Social Security starts, and $18,687 on the identical conversion at 76 once required distributions are filling the low brackets. That same couple at 63 also owes $4,285 of New York tax on the conversion, because their existing IRA draw has already used the exclusion.
- What does the first conversation cost?
- Nothing. It is a free 30-minute call or meeting. Bring your most recent Form 1040 and IT-201, your account balances and your Social Security statement. You leave knowing whether a conversion makes sense for you this year, roughly what it would cost, and what to watch for.
Updated . Reviewed by Jim Swiech, CPA.
Educational and general in nature. Not tax, legal or investment advice, and not a recommendation to convert. Figures are 2026 federal amounts under the assumptions stated on this page; your return has more lines than any example. Go Beyond Tax is a brand of Swiech Consulting LLC.