How to Avoid the Medicare
IRMAA Surcharge:
Advanced MAGI Reduction Strategies
Municipal bonds are not tax-free for Medicare. A single poorly timed Roth conversion adds a two-year premium penalty that costs more than the conversion saves in some brackets. A $105,000 Qualified Charitable Distribution eliminates a Required Minimum Distribution from MAGI entirely. This is the forensic income engineering guide that CPAs, wealth advisors, and high-net-worth retirees use to manage MAGI below the IRMAA cliff thresholds — dollar by dollar, two years in advance.
1. How Medicare Calculates MAGI: The Formula Most Retirees Get Wrong
The term “Modified Adjusted Gross Income” is used across multiple areas of federal tax and benefit law, but each program applies its own modification rules to the same underlying AGI figure. The MAGI used for IRMAA purposes is specifically defined by the Social Security Administration as the sum of the beneficiary’s Adjusted Gross Income from Form 1040 Line 11 plus tax-exempt interest income from Form 1040 Line 2a. This is a deliberately narrow definition that includes exactly one item not found in the standard AGI: tax-exempt interest. Every other common AGI modification — the Roth conversion income inclusion, IRA deduction addback used in other MAGI calculations, foreign earned income exclusion — does not apply. What applies is only those two lines, and the presence of tax-exempt interest in the formula is the mechanism that makes municipal bond portfolios a hidden IRMAA liability for retirees who believe they are managing their income tax exposure effectively.
AGI (Form 1040, Line 11)
+ Tax-Exempt Interest Income (Form 1040, Line 2a)
= MAGI Reported to SSA by IRS for IRMAA Bracket Determination
Note: This MAGI definition is narrower than the MAGI used for Roth IRA eligibility (which adds back IRA deductions, student loan interest, and other items) and broader than taxable income (which subtracts the standard or itemized deduction). The IRMAA MAGI is an intermediate figure that does not appear as a labeled line on any federal tax form — it must be calculated separately by adding Line 2a to Line 11.
2. The 2026 IRMAA Cliff Architecture: Where Every Dollar Costs the Most
The IRMAA bracket system does not impose a smooth, proportional surcharge that increases gradually with income. It imposes discrete step-function increases at five specific MAGI threshold points. Each threshold is a cliff: a single dollar below the threshold costs nothing in surcharge terms, and a single dollar above it triggers the full premium increase for that tier. Understanding the exact dollar value of each cliff crossing — not just the bracket premium but the annualized premium penalty per dollar of income that crosses the threshold — is the foundation of precision MAGI engineering.
3. The Municipal Bond MAGI Trap: Why “Tax-Free” Is Not “Medicare-Free”
Municipal bonds occupy a specific and widely misunderstood position in the IRMAA MAGI calculation. For federal income tax purposes, the interest income from municipal bonds is entirely excluded from taxable income — it does not appear in gross income, is not subject to ordinary income tax rates, and reduces the retiree’s effective federal tax rate. A high-income retiree who allocates a significant portion of their fixed income portfolio to municipal bonds is making a rational tax efficiency decision for income tax purposes. For Medicare IRMAA purposes, however, that same municipal bond interest is added back to AGI to produce the MAGI figure the SSA uses for the bracket determination — making the “tax-free” income fully visible to Medicare while remaining invisible to the IRS for income tax calculation.
What to Use Instead of Municipal Bonds for MAGI-Sensitive Retirees
A retiree managing MAGI near an IRMAA cliff threshold who wants tax-advantaged fixed income returns without triggering the municipal bond MAGI add-back has several structural alternatives. The optimal choice depends on the retiree’s specific income profile, estate planning goals, and liquidity needs.
| Instrument | IRMAA MAGI Impact | Income Tax Treatment | Best Use Case | Key Limitation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I-Bonds (Series I Savings Bonds) | Deferred — income reported only at redemption or maturity, not annually | Federal taxable at redemption; state tax-exempt; can be fully excluded from income if used for qualifying education expenses | Retirees who want inflation protection and do not need current income — I-bond interest accumulates and is not added to MAGI until the bond is redeemed, deferring the MAGI impact to a year when the retiree may be in a lower bracket or below the IRMAA threshold | Annual purchase limit of $10,000 per person ($20,000 per couple). Cannot be redeemed in the first 12 months. 3-month interest penalty if redeemed before 5 years. |
| Deferred Fixed Annuity (Non-Qualified) | Deferred — interest accumulates tax-deferred inside the annuity and is not reported as income until distributions begin | Interest earnings are taxable as ordinary income when distributed — no tax-exempt treatment, but income is controlled by the retiree’s distribution timing | Retirees with excess cash who want fixed income returns without current MAGI impact — the annuity’s internal accumulation does not enter MAGI during the accumulation phase, allowing MAGI management flexibility | Surrender charges during the initial contract period (typically 5 to 10 years). Ordinary income treatment on gains when distributed. Not suitable as a sole liquidity source. |
| Cash Value Life Insurance (Properly Structured) | Zero — policy loans and withdrawals up to basis from a properly structured life insurance policy do not enter MAGI | Policy loans are not taxable income; withdrawals up to basis are return of premium; gains above basis are taxable if the policy lapses | High-net-worth retirees who used overfunded permanent life insurance during working years as a tax-advantaged accumulation vehicle — the ability to access cash value via policy loans without MAGI impact makes this structure useful for IRMAA cliff management in specific circumstances | Must be properly structured to avoid MEC (Modified Endowment Contract) status. Ongoing premium obligations. Not appropriate as a standalone retirement income vehicle for most retirees. |
| EE Bonds (Series EE Savings Bonds) | Deferred — same as I-bonds, income reported only at redemption | Federal taxable at redemption; state tax-exempt; education exclusion available under same rules as I-bonds | Retirees who want to defer MAGI impact of fixed income returns to a future year — the guaranteed doubling of EE bonds in 20 years produces an effective 3.53% annualized return, competitive with short-term municipal bond yields, with MAGI deferred until redemption | Same $10,000 annual purchase limit as I-bonds. Fixed return in a potentially rising rate environment. Optimal return requires holding for exactly 20 years. |
| Roth IRA (Established Roth Account, Not Conversion Year) | Zero — qualified distributions from an established Roth IRA are completely excluded from AGI and do not appear on any MAGI-relevant tax form line | Qualified distributions are entirely tax-free — no income tax, no MAGI impact, no IRMAA impact | The gold standard for IRMAA-invisible income: Roth IRA distributions from accounts that have been open for at least 5 years by a beneficiary aged 59.5 or older produce income that is completely invisible to both the income tax system and the IRMAA calculation. Each dollar shifted from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA (through properly timed conversions) becomes a future IRMAA-free income dollar. | The conversion itself creates MAGI in the conversion year — requires two-year forward IRMAA modeling to ensure conversion-year MAGI does not cross a cliff threshold. Conversions must be completed before age 73 and before IRMAA surcharges eliminate the net benefit. |
Calculate Your IRMAA MAGI Including the Municipal Bond Add-Back
The Medicare Part B Premium Surcharge Calculator computes your IRMAA MAGI correctly — AGI plus tax-exempt interest — and shows you exactly how far below each cliff threshold your current income projection sits. Enter your income sources including municipal bond interest to see your true bracket.
4. Roth IRA Conversions and the Two-Year IRMAA Penalty Window
Roth IRA conversions are one of the most powerful tools in a retiree’s tax optimization arsenal. Converting traditional IRA assets to a Roth IRA eliminates future RMD obligations from the converted balance, removes future growth from the RMD calculation permanently, and creates a pool of IRMAA-invisible income that beneficiaries can access without MAGI consequences. However, every dollar converted in a given year increases that year’s AGI and therefore that year’s MAGI — which becomes the IRMAA determination basis two years later. A Roth conversion strategy that is optimized purely for income tax bracket management may produce significant IRMAA exposure if the conversion amount is not also evaluated against the IRMAA bracket architecture in the two-year forward window.
The Roth Conversion Timing Matrix: When to Convert and When to Wait
| Situation | Convert Now? | IRMAA Penalty Analysis | Optimal Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current MAGI well below Tier 0 threshold ($109K single / $218K MFJ) with large traditional IRA | Convert to cliff | Conversion that fills MAGI to just below $109,000 adds zero IRMAA cost while eliminating future RMD growth from the converted balance permanently | Convert annually to fill the Tier 0 space completely. This is the highest-return Roth conversion scenario: maximum tax deferral elimination at zero IRMAA penalty. Model both the income tax bracket impact and the IRMAA headroom simultaneously. |
| Year with a one-time large income event (RSU vesting, property sale, NQDC distribution) that already places MAGI in Tier 3 or above | Do not convert | When MAGI is already in Tier 3 or Tier 4 due to a one-time event, adding Roth conversion income adds only income tax cost without changing the IRMAA bracket (until the Tier 5 cliff at $500,001 is approached). However, the conversion year’s elevated MAGI will drive an elevated IRMAA determination two years forward — the conversion itself is not the problem, but the combination of the event income and conversion income in the same year produces an IRMAA determination that will be applied to a year when the event income is gone | Pause Roth conversions in years with large non-recurring income events. Use the SSA-44 appeal process (covered in Post 1 of this cluster) to address the elevated IRMAA in the two forward years. Resume conversions in the following year when MAGI returns to the normal retirement income level. |
| Early retirement window before Medicare enrollment at age 65 — ages 60 to 64 | Maximize conversions | Conversions in the age 60 to 64 window do not yet produce Medicare IRMAA consequences — the converted income adds to income tax liability but there is no IRMAA determination until Medicare enrollment. Conversions completed before age 65 reduce the traditional IRA balance that will drive future RMDs and IRMAA exposure throughout Medicare coverage years | Aggressively convert during the pre-Medicare window. Each dollar converted before age 65 eliminates a future dollar of RMD that would have been counted in MAGI during Medicare years. A retiree who converts $400,000 at ages 60 to 64 in cliff-fill annual tranches reduces their Medicare-years MAGI by the RMD that would have been generated by that $400,000 — potentially worth $15,000 to $30,000 per year in MAGI reduction when the retiree is 75 and above and facing larger mandatory RMDs. |
| Spouse death creates filing status change from MFJ to single — upcoming year | Convert carefully | The year after a spouse’s death, the surviving spouse files as a single filer (unless a qualifying dependent allows MFJ for one additional year). The IRMAA thresholds for single filers are exactly half the MFJ thresholds — the Tier 0 single ceiling is $109,000 versus $218,000 for MFJ. The surviving spouse’s MAGI that fit comfortably in Tier 0 under MFJ rules may now cross two or three cliff thresholds on a single-filer return | Model the post-death filing status change two years in advance. If the survivor’s MAGI will cross from $218,000 (MFJ Tier 0) to a single-filer Tier 2 or Tier 3 position with no income change, plan Roth conversions and QCDs in the transition year to reduce the MAGI that will determine the first post-transition IRMAA years. File SSA-44 if the filing status change qualifies as a life-changing event and produces a materially lower MAGI in the qualifying year. |
| Age 72 approaching — first RMD year with large traditional IRA balance | Convert pre-RMD with cliff modeling | In the year before RMDs begin (age 72 for those born 1951 to 1959; age 73 for those born 1960 and later), the retiree has the last opportunity to reduce the traditional IRA balance through conversions without the RMD being already mandated. Converting in the pre-RMD year reduces both the first RMD amount and all future RMDs for the life of the account | Convert the maximum amount that keeps conversion-year MAGI below the next IRMAA cliff threshold. Simultaneously model whether a QCD strategy in the first RMD year can be combined with a conversion in the pre-RMD year to produce the optimal two-year MAGI trajectory: lower IRA balance through conversion, then reduced RMD obligation addressed through QCDs. |
5. Qualified Charitable Distributions: The Most Underused IRMAA Reduction Tool
A Qualified Charitable Distribution is a direct transfer from a traditional IRA to a qualified 501(c)(3) charitable organization, authorized for IRA owners aged 70.5 and older, that is excluded from AGI entirely. Unlike a charitable deduction, which reduces taxable income but does not affect AGI or MAGI, a QCD prevents the IRA distribution from ever entering the income calculation. The distribution satisfies the RMD obligation for the year up to the amount transferred, and the $105,000 per-person annual limit in 2026 means that a retiree with an RMD below $105,000 can direct the entire RMD to charity and report zero IRA income for MAGI purposes — eliminating the RMD’s IRMAA impact completely while also eliminating its income tax impact.
Single Filer, Age 76, Medicare-Enrolled — 2026 MAGI Without QCD Strategy
Same Retiree, Same Income Sources — QCD Strategy Applied for 2026
6. Tax-Loss Harvesting as an IRMAA Management Tool: Reducing Capital Gains MAGI Impact
Capital gains from investment portfolios are one of the most controllable components of MAGI for retirees with significant taxable accounts. Unlike RMDs, Social Security income, and pension payments — which arrive on fixed schedules with limited flexibility — capital gains can be realized on a schedule chosen by the investor. Tax-loss harvesting is the practice of selling securities that have declined in value to generate realized losses that offset realized gains in the same tax year, reducing the net capital gain that enters AGI and therefore MAGI. For a retiree managing MAGI near an IRMAA cliff threshold, a single tax-loss harvesting transaction that generates $25,000 in realized losses to offset $25,000 in otherwise unavoidable capital gains preserves $25,000 of MAGI headroom that can determine whether a cliff threshold is crossed.
| Scenario | Realized Gains | Harvested Losses | Net Capital Gain in MAGI | IRMAA Cliff Impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No tax-loss harvesting — retiree rebalances by selling appreciated positions | $38,000 from equity rebalancing | $0 | $38,000 added to AGI and MAGI | Potential cliff crossing — for a retiree with $88,000 base MAGI, adds $38,000 to produce $126,000 MAGI — crossing the Tier 1 cliff at $109,001 by $17,000 and adding $974.40/year in surcharges for the next two benefit years |
| Partial tax-loss harvesting — identifies $15,000 in portfolio losses | $38,000 from rebalancing | $15,000 harvested from underwater positions | $23,000 net capital gain in MAGI | Cliff partially managed — MAGI reduced to $111,000 — still crosses the Tier 1 cliff but by a smaller margin. Surcharge still triggered for two benefit years ($1,948.80 total). Demonstrates that partial harvesting reduces but does not eliminate the IRMAA exposure when the remaining net gain still crosses the threshold. |
| Complete cliff-management harvesting — matches losses to gains | $38,000 from rebalancing | $21,000 harvested — sufficient to keep net gain at $17,000 and MAGI at $105,000 | $17,000 net capital gain in MAGI | Cliff avoided — MAGI of $105,000 stays below $109,000 Tier 0 threshold. Zero IRMAA surcharge triggered. Two-year forward IRMAA benefit: $1,948.80 saved. The harvesting transaction that generated the $21,000 in losses simultaneously preserves portfolio positions through substitute securities (respecting the wash-sale rule 30-day window) and prevents the IRMAA surcharge entirely. |
| $3,000 annual carry-forward from prior years’ excess losses | $12,000 from scheduled rebalancing | $3,000 from carry-forward applied | $9,000 net capital gain in MAGI | Carry-forward as MAGI buffer — prior-year harvested losses carried forward to the current year offset current-year gains dollar for dollar above the $3,000 ordinary income deduction limit. A retiree with $30,000 in accumulated loss carry-forwards has a significant MAGI management reserve that can be applied strategically across multiple years. |
7. The IRMAA Headroom Worksheet: Calculating Available Space Before Each Cliff
MAGI engineering requires a real-time understanding of exactly how much income can be added to the current year’s MAGI before the next cliff threshold is crossed. The IRMAA Headroom Worksheet calculates this number for each income category — identifying the exact dollar amount available for Roth conversions, capital gain realizations, and discretionary distributions before the cliff is reached and the two-year forward IRMAA penalty is triggered. Complete this worksheet in January of each year using projected income figures, and update it at each major income event.
8. The Six-Strategy MAGI Reduction Toolkit: Ranked by Implementation Priority
The six strategies below collectively address every controllable MAGI component for a high-net-worth retiree managing Medicare IRMAA exposure. They are ranked by implementation priority — the order in which a CPA or wealth advisor should evaluate and deploy each tool for a client whose projected MAGI is approaching or exceeding an IRMAA cliff threshold.
9. The Five-Year MAGI Engineering Model: What a Full Optimization Sequence Looks Like
Individual MAGI reduction strategies are most powerful when deployed in a coordinated multi-year sequence that accounts for the two-year IRMAA lookback at each step. The model below illustrates a complete five-year MAGI engineering plan for a 70-year-old retiree entering Medicare with a $1.2 million traditional IRA, significant municipal bond holdings, charitable intent, and an initial MAGI that places them in Tier 2. Each year’s actions build on the prior year’s results, progressively reducing MAGI, RMD obligations, and IRMAA exposure across the five-year window.
Year-by-Year MAGI and IRMAA Trajectory
Calculate Your IRMAA MAGI, Cliff Headroom, and Optimization Savings
Enter your income sources including municipal bond interest, RMD amount, and planned Roth conversion. The Medicare Part B Premium Surcharge Calculator shows your true IRMAA MAGI, your position relative to each cliff threshold, and the dollar savings available from QCD, Roth conversion, and tax-loss harvesting strategies applied to your specific income profile.
Calculate My MAGI Optimization Savings →Frequently Asked Questions
How can I reduce my MAGI to avoid the Medicare IRMAA surcharge?
The six most effective MAGI reduction strategies for avoiding or minimizing Medicare IRMAA surcharges are: (1) Qualified Charitable Distributions from an IRA — up to $105,000 per person in 2026 excluded from MAGI entirely while satisfying RMDs; (2) Roth IRA conversions timed to bracket-fill the space below the next IRMAA cliff threshold in a two-year lead window before Medicare enrollment; (3) Tax-loss harvesting to offset realized capital gains that would otherwise push MAGI above an IRMAA threshold; (4) Shifting taxable bond income from municipal bonds to instruments whose income does not enter the SSA’s MAGI calculation; (5) Deferring IRA distributions and Roth conversions in years where one-time income events have already elevated MAGI above a threshold; and (6) HSA contributions in the final working years before Medicare enrollment to reduce AGI and establish a tax-free healthcare spending reserve.
Does municipal bond interest count toward Medicare IRMAA?
Yes. Municipal bond interest is excluded from federal taxable income and does not appear as taxable interest on Form 1040. However, for Medicare IRMAA purposes, the SSA calculates Modified Adjusted Gross Income as AGI plus tax-exempt interest income from Form 1040 Line 2a — which is precisely where municipal bond interest is reported. A retiree with a $1 million municipal bond portfolio earning 4% generates $40,000 in tax-exempt interest that is fully invisible for federal income tax purposes but is added directly to AGI to produce the MAGI used for the IRMAA determination. This municipal bond add-back is the single most common reason a retiree whose income tax return appears to show MAGI below an IRMAA threshold receives an IRMAA notice from the SSA.
Can a Roth conversion trigger Medicare IRMAA?
Yes. A Roth IRA conversion adds the converted amount to ordinary income in the year of conversion, directly increasing AGI and therefore MAGI for IRMAA purposes. A large one-year Roth conversion that pushes MAGI above an IRMAA threshold in year Y will trigger an IRMAA surcharge in year Y+2, because IRMAA is calculated using a two-year lookback. A $200,000 Roth conversion in 2024 by a retiree with otherwise $90,000 in annual income produces a 2024 MAGI of $290,000, which triggers IRMAA at Tier 2 for the 2026 benefit year — adding $2,884.80 per year in Medicare surcharges for a single filer. Roth conversions must be modeled over a multi-year horizon with explicit attention to both the income tax bracket impact in the conversion year and the IRMAA bracket impact two years later.
What is the IRMAA cliff and how do I avoid it?
The IRMAA cliff refers to the bracket thresholds at which a single dollar of additional MAGI triggers a jump to the next surcharge tier, adding hundreds of dollars per month in Medicare premiums. In 2026, for a single filer, the cliffs occur at $109,001, $137,001, $171,001, $205,001, and $500,001. Crossing the $109,000 cliff as a single filer costs $81.20 per month, or $974.40 per year. The strategy for avoiding the IRMAA cliff is to calculate the MAGI headroom below the next threshold and ensure that all income events for the year — including Roth conversions, capital gains, RMDs, and the municipal bond add-back — collectively remain below that headroom figure. When a single year contains an unavoidable income event that will cross a cliff, model whether a larger conversion or income realization in the same year produces better long-term after-tax outcomes than stopping just below the cliff.
Does a QCD reduce MAGI for Medicare IRMAA purposes?
Yes. A Qualified Charitable Distribution is excluded from AGI entirely — it does not appear on any line of Form 1040 that is included in the IRMAA MAGI calculation. Because IRMAA MAGI equals AGI plus tax-exempt interest, and a QCD reduces AGI by the full distribution amount, each dollar transferred via QCD reduces IRMAA MAGI by exactly one dollar. This makes the QCD the most direct and highest-certainty MAGI reduction tool available to charitably inclined retirees aged 70.5 and above. A $40,000 QCD by a retiree whose MAGI would otherwise be $149,000 (Tier 2) reduces MAGI to $109,000 — placing them exactly at the Tier 0 threshold and saving $2,884.80 per year in IRMAA surcharges compared to taking the same $40,000 as a taxable distribution and making a separate charitable gift.
How can I reduce my MAGI to avoid the Medicare IRMAA surcharge?
The six most effective MAGI reduction strategies for avoiding or minimizing Medicare IRMAA surcharges are: (1) Qualified Charitable Distributions from an IRA — up to $105,000 per person in 2026 excluded from MAGI entirely while satisfying Required Minimum Distributions; (2) Roth IRA conversions timed to bracket-fill the space below the next IRMAA cliff threshold in a two-year lead window before Medicare enrollment; (3) Tax-loss harvesting to offset realized capital gains that would otherwise push MAGI above an IRMAA threshold; (4) Shifting taxable bond income from municipal bonds (which add back to MAGI despite being tax-exempt for income tax purposes) to I-bonds, deferred annuities, or other structures whose income does not enter the SSA’s MAGI calculation; (5) Deferring IRA distributions and Roth conversions in years where one-time income events such as RSU vesting or property sales have already elevated MAGI above a threshold; and (6) HSA contributions in the final working years before Medicare enrollment to reduce AGI and establish a tax-free healthcare spending reserve for Medicare cost-sharing expenses.
Does municipal bond interest count toward Medicare IRMAA?
Yes. Municipal bond interest is excluded from federal taxable income and does not appear as taxable interest on Form 1040. However, for Medicare IRMAA purposes, the Social Security Administration calculates Modified Adjusted Gross Income as AGI plus tax-exempt interest income from Form 1040 Line 2a — which is precisely where municipal bond interest is reported. A retiree with a $1 million municipal bond portfolio earning 4% generates $40,000 in tax-exempt interest that is fully invisible for federal income tax purposes but is added directly to AGI to produce the MAGI used for the IRMAA determination. This municipal bond add-back is the single most common reason a retiree whose income tax return appears to show MAGI below an IRMAA threshold receives an IRMAA notice from the SSA.
Can a Roth conversion trigger Medicare IRMAA?
Yes. A Roth IRA conversion adds the converted amount to ordinary income in the year of conversion, directly increasing AGI and therefore MAGI for IRMAA purposes. A large one-year Roth conversion that pushes MAGI above an IRMAA threshold in year Y will trigger an IRMAA surcharge in year Y+2, because IRMAA is calculated using a two-year lookback. A $200,000 Roth conversion in 2024 by a retiree with otherwise $90,000 in annual income produces a 2024 MAGI of $290,000, which triggers IRMAA at Tier 2 for the 2026 benefit year — adding $2,884.80 per year in Medicare surcharges for a single filer. Roth conversions must be modeled over a multi-year horizon with explicit attention to both the income tax bracket impact in the conversion year and the IRMAA bracket impact two years later.
What is the IRMAA cliff and how do I avoid it?
The IRMAA cliff refers to the bracket thresholds at which a single dollar of additional MAGI triggers a jump to the next surcharge tier, adding hundreds of dollars per month in Medicare premiums. In 2026, for a single filer, the cliffs occur at $109,001 (Tier 0 to Tier 1), $137,001 (Tier 1 to Tier 2), $171,001 (Tier 2 to Tier 3), $205,001 (Tier 3 to Tier 4), and $500,001 (Tier 4 to Tier 5). Crossing the $109,000 cliff as a single filer costs $81.20 per month, or $974.40 per year. The strategy for avoiding the IRMAA cliff is to calculate the MAGI headroom below the next threshold — the number of dollars available before the cliff is crossed — and ensure that all income events for the year, including Roth conversions, capital gains realizations, RMDs, and the municipal bond add-back, collectively remain below that headroom figure. When a single year contains an unavoidable income event that will cross a cliff, the optimal response is to model whether a larger conversion or income realization in the same year produces better long-term after-tax outcomes than stopping just below the cliff.
