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Q3 Advisors restates 39 years of the U.S. 401(k) contribution limit in constant 2026 dollars: the $24,500 cap sits $3,922 above its inflation-tracked 1987 value.

Q3 Advisors ranks the most tax-friendly states for retirees on a 2026 Roth-conversion score covering income tax, retirement-income exclusion, Social Security, and estate tax. A $100,000 conversion costs $0 in nine states.

Q3 Advisors’ 10-Year Rule Timing Penalty Index quantifies the extra 2026 federal tax a non-spouse heir pays by mistiming inherited IRA withdrawals: up to 10.5% of the account, roughly $42,900 on $500,000.

In 2026 a surviving spouse pays about 45% more federal income tax on the same $100,000 of taxable income after filing shifts from joint to single. Q3 Advisors quantifies the widow’s penalty across brackets and Medicare IRMAA.

Q3 Advisors’ Roth Delay Penalty puts a dollar figure on delaying a Roth conversion: about $1,774 of extra first-year RMD per year of delay on a $1M pre-tax balance (US, 2026 federal rules), from the IRS Uniform Lifetime divisor 26.5 and a conservative 4.7% growth anchor.

The RMD tax bomb threshold for a single filer is about $1.98 million in 2026: the pre-tax IRA/401(k) balance where a first-year required minimum distribution first reaches the 22% federal bracket, after the OBBBA senior deduction.

A 2026 index of state income tax on a standardized $100,000 Roth conversion across all 51 US jurisdictions: $0 in nine states, up to $13,300 in California, plus the federal, NIIT, and IRMAA stack and the residency-timing rule.