When I ask pre-retirees with large 401(k)s how they plan to handle the taxes on those accounts, I usually hear some version of the same answer: "We'll wait until we retire. Our income will drop, and we'll be in a lower bracket ."

However, "What will my tax rate be the year after I stop working?" is the wrong focus for a household with $2 million or more in pre-tax savings.

It's far more useful to consider what you and your spouse, and eventually your children, may pay in taxes across all the years that money will be withdrawn.

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