Planning Tools

Tools that tell you
something you didn’t know

Free, no cost, no obligation. Each one takes a few minutes and gives you a real answer — not a brochure.

Tax planning

For people carrying a large pre-tax balance into retirement.

Roth Conversion Calculator
2 minutes

Most Roth calculators show you federal tax and stop. This one also models the state — Illinois doesn’t tax conversions at all, which is worth 4.95% that nobody mentions — plus the Medicare IRMAA cliff two years out and the senior deduction phase-out. Tells you how much room you have left before the next threshold.

Run the numbers →

Business owners

For owners thinking about an exit, whenever that is.

Exit Readiness Assessment
3 minutes

Twelve questions across the three things that decide how a sale goes: is the business ready, are the finances ready, and are you ready. Scored separately, because an average hides the leg that’s about to break.

Score your readiness →

Your whole picture

A broad read across the areas that most often go unattended.

Executive Wealth Brief
2 minutes

Ten questions covering tax, income, risk and estate. A quick diagnostic of where things stand and which area is furthest behind.

Take the brief →

Every tool here is educational and uses simplified assumptions — they are a starting point for a conversation, not a plan. Each one emails you your results so you have them, and tells you what it does not account for.

Further reading

The thinking behind the tools.

Roth conversions: the window, and the Illinois advantage — why the years between retiring and RMDs are the cheapest you will get, and what actually limits the size of a conversion.

Exit planning: the three years before the deal — the three questions that decide how a sale goes.

Selling your business: what you actually keep — deal structure, the Illinois replacement tax, and QSBS after the 2025 rules.

Cash balance plans — the largest deduction most owners never use.

Rather just talk it through?

The tools are a starting point. The conversation is where the actual answer is.

Schedule a Conversation

30 minutes with Ara Bayindiryan — no obligation