You spent thirty years funding a Roth IRA. You paid the tax up front every single time. You watched the balance grow and told yourself the hard part was over.
Then you retired.
And now the account just sits there, and nobody ever explained what it is supposed to do next.
Here is the strange thing about Roth IRAs. Every article on earth tells you how to fill one. Almost nothing tells you how to use one.
Which is a problem, because the Roth IRA is the only retirement account that gets more useful the longer you leave it alone, and most retirees drain it first.
That instinct is understandable. It is also usually backwards.
Let's fix that.