Episode summary
Ed Slott on the 2026 Retirement Tax Playbook for Advisors
Summary
Ed Slott argues that the 2026 retirement tax playbook starts now because advisers should plan around a changing tax landscape, not wait for the calendar to flip. He says the One Big Beautiful Bill Act preserved low tax rates and added deductions, but he stresses that “permanent” in tax law can still change when Congress acts. His view is that advisers should use the next few years of low rates for lifetime tax planning before rates rise again.
A major focus is the SECURE Act’s 10-year rule, which replaced the old stretch IRA and forces most non-spouse beneficiaries to empty inherited IRAs by the end of the 10th year after death. Slott says that creates a potentially huge tax bill, especially when clients have large IRA balances and heirs are already in their highest earning years. He recommends managing those balances now through Roth conversions, life insurance, and charitable planning.
He also says advisers can add real value by mastering the new deduction framework, starting with 2025 tax returns and identifying clients with large IRAs. In his view, tax planning is a way to deepen relationships, retain families across generations, and move clients from the “government plan” to their own plan.
Key takeaways
- Ed Slott says the 2026 playbook starts now because advisers should use the next few years of low tax rates before rules change again.
- He says the SECURE Act’s 10-year rule has made inherited IRA tax management a central planning issue for children and grandchildren.
- Slott argues advisers should reduce oversized IRAs now through Roth conversions, life insurance, and charitable planning while brackets are low.
- He says advisers need stronger tax education because the new deductions and income thresholds are complicated and layered across 2025, 2026, and later years.
- Slott believes tax planning creates measurable value for advisers because it can lower lifetime taxes for clients and their beneficiaries.
Notable quotes
“the playbook starts now because the rules have changed. We had a new law, the ABBA law”
“In tax law, it means until a future Congress changes the rules”
“all of the buildup in these IAS, these tax deferred account, has to come out by the end of the 10th year after death”
“you never want to waste a low bracket and you want to use them every year”
How the episode opens
Are your clients plans ready for the new tax reality? I'm joined by Ed Slaugh to break it all down for us. Ed, thanks so much for joining me. — Great to be here with you. Thanks. — Absolutely. So, you have a session here uh at the Horizon's event and it's all about the 2026 retirement tax playbook. What's the biggest change advisers need to understand right now? Well, it's not all about the 2026 law. When I talk about 2026, the playbook starts now because the rules have changed. We had a new law, the ABBA law. One big beautiful bill act. Not ABBA the group.
No dancing queens.
Right. Right. Actually, in our programs, we play the ABBA music to introduce One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which we also call ABBA.
But it was the permanent uh continuation of the low tax rates. But let's stop there a minute. The word permanent in the dictionary means a whole different thing than permanent in tax law.
In the dictionary, permanent means what you think it means, unchangeable, e etched in stone, irrevocable, permanent. In tax law, it means until a future Congress changes the rules. As CPAs, we have this old saying, tax laws are written in pencil.
But we have these rules now. So, what I'm talking about, which is what I always talk about, is a lifetime of tax planning. And we start now by taking advantage of these low rates for hopefully 2, three, four, five years while they're here before things change.
I'm worried about rates going up. I see the debt and deficit levels. At some point, this is going to have to be paid for.
Absolutely. So, Secure Act, you know, Secure 2.0. — Well, Secure Act was the game changer.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- 2026 retirement taxes
- ira tax exposure
- roth conversions
- secure act 10-year rule
- beneficiary tax planning
Watch the episode
Watch “Ed Slott on the 2026 Retirement Tax Playbook for Advisors” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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