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re: Switch to 100% post tax retirement contributions into a Roth at midpoint of career?

Posted on 7/26/18 at 5:35 pm to
Posted by nctiger71
North Carolina
Member since Oct 2017
1402 posts
Posted on 7/26/18 at 5:35 pm to
It seems you are assuming the OP can not max out his Roth contribution because the has to use some of what he would put into a traditional 401K/IRA to pay his taxes.

I think he has the $ to fully fund either the Roth or the traditional AND pay his taxes if he goes with the Roth.

If that is correct, then it is a question of the opportunity cost for $ he would use to pay the income tax on the Roth contribution.
And that is not really a math question. That's a personal question of what would he do with those $ if he did not pay them to the IRS now. Who knows; maybe his wife wants jewelry, or a family vacation, or he has a better investment opportunity. Only he/they can answer that.

If he does not have the $ to pay the income tax on the funds he puts into a Roth then he should try to max out his traditional contribution, IMO.
Posted by GoCrazyAuburn
Member since Feb 2010
37594 posts
Posted on 7/26/18 at 6:20 pm to
Well the biggest issue is even if you are investing a higher $ amount in the traditional account, that doesn’t mean it’s the better option. If you aren’t taking tax liability into account, you’re not doing a true analysis.
Posted by nctiger71
North Carolina
Member since Oct 2017
1402 posts
Posted on 7/26/18 at 8:00 pm to
Maybe.
What are the federal tax brackets & rates going to be in 2038?
Posted by lynxcat
Member since Jan 2008
24749 posts
Posted on 7/26/18 at 8:11 pm to
No one knows which is why investing in multiple types of accounts provides optionality and hedges that uncertainty.
This post was edited on 7/26/18 at 8:14 pm
Posted by GoCrazyAuburn
Member since Feb 2010
37594 posts
Posted on 7/26/18 at 8:28 pm to
quote:

What are the federal tax brackets & rates going to be in 2038?


That’s why you have tax diversification. My point to him though was that this is an awfully large assumption to make.
quote:

The fact is you can put 20% more into a pre tax account than you can a post tax amount, and end up with the same amount of money post tax. Let that compound over time, run some calculations.


If any advisor actually told you that they tell every client to put money in pre-tax accounts because they can invest more and will most likely end up with the same amount of money post tax, I’d laugh my arse off. If you’re in the lower tax brackets, that is almost assuredly going to be wrong.

Then secondly, the OP is contributing the max. So, the investment amount is the same in both scenarios. Unless the retirement tax rate is significantly less, tax free earnings will win vs taxable earnings.
This post was edited on 7/26/18 at 8:43 pm
Posted by BamaAlum02
Huntsville, AL
Member since Nov 2005
1078 posts
Posted on 7/26/18 at 9:37 pm to
quote:

exceed Roth limits


No such thing if you do a backdoor Roth. Only gets complicated if you have traditional IRAs.

When I started my career I put enough in 401k to get match and then contributed what I could to a Roth. Over the years I increased Roth until it maxed out then increased 401k until it maxed.

I’m over Roth limits so now I just max traditional IRA and get no deduction because of phase out and then immediately convert to Roth. At least that is what I did last year but I don’t think tax changes closed backdoor Roth loophole.
Posted by nctiger71
North Carolina
Member since Oct 2017
1402 posts
Posted on 7/26/18 at 9:50 pm to
I think we’re making the same point.

Invest in the Roth if you can afford to pay the taxes now; unless you have a better opportunity for the $ the IRS will get paid.

If you don’t have $ to pay taxes invest as much as you can afford in a pre tax account.

I have not read all 5 pages of the topic so I probably missed some important points. I was responding to a fairly narrow comment from the first page where someone said people over thought this issue.
And that may be true in one sense but it can get complicated and requires several assumptions to project potential outcomes.
Posted by baldona
Florida
Member since Feb 2016
22516 posts
Posted on 7/27/18 at 6:20 am to
quote:

Invest in the Roth if you can afford to pay the taxes now; unless you have a better opportunity for the $ the IRS will get paid.


quote:

I was responding to a fairly narrow comment from the first page where someone said people over thought this issue.


Lol. See this is my whole point and you are the one being ignorant. The IRS is being paid no matter what, you assuming its better to pay the IRS now than in 25+ years is the one being narrow minded. Explain to me why that makes sense at all? Why should anyone pay a bill now instead of in 25 years?

The answer is simple, you ASSUME taxes will go up.

So your recommendation is to over complicate something because of a huge assumption. But yet I'm the one overcomplicating an issue.

The OP never asked the question: "Should I max a roth 401k or a trad 401k?" The answer to that is undoubtedly the Roth, its more money.

There is absolutely no tangible data that proves a Roth is better, its all an assumption. Again I have a Roth IRA.

There is tangible data a trad 401k is better, you have the ability to save more money dollar for dollar and you delay paying the IRS until you distribute funds out of the account. 2 damn good reasons btw.

Posted by GoCrazyAuburn
Member since Feb 2010
37594 posts
Posted on 7/27/18 at 8:23 am to
quote:

Lol. See this is my whole point and you are the one being ignorant. The IRS is being paid no matter what, you assuming its better to pay the IRS now than in 25+ years is the one being narrow minded. Explain to me why that makes sense at all? Why should anyone pay a bill now instead of in 25 years?

The answer is simple, you ASSUME taxes will go up.

So your recommendation is to over complicate something because of a huge assumption. But yet I'm the one overcomplicating an issue.


You really are though. He said multiple times his 401k is maxed and limited to 8k, he will also be maxing out a Roth IRA. So, the contribution amounts would be the exact same if pre or post tax into the 401k, which blows your entire point out of the water. So, with that understanding, you still ask why I'd pay my taxes now instead of later? Because if I pay later, I have to pay on the growth as well. In order to have the same amount in retirement, my tax rate would have to go down significantly.


quote:

The OP never asked the question: "Should I max a roth 401k or a trad 401k?" The answer to that is undoubtedly the Roth, its more money.


Uh, he asked should he contribute all post tax to his 401k or pre-tax. He also never asked anything close to the arguments you have been making. What you've been arguing were over-complicating it based on the argument that if you could invest $6667 into a traditional 401k, that is always better than being able to invest $5000 into a roth 401k. That in and of itself is a gross oversimplification to the point of being wrong.. At face value, neither of those options is better or worse.

quote:

There is absolutely no tangible data that proves a Roth is better, its all an assumption. Again I have a Roth IRA.

There is tangible data a trad 401k is better, you have the ability to save more money dollar for dollar and you delay paying the IRS until you distribute funds out of the account. 2 damn good reasons btw.


What the hell are you talking about here? What does this have to do with the OP's question? We aren't debating whether or not you should do a 401k or a Roth IRA. He is doing both. We are debating doing pre-tax or post tax contributions to his 401k. He would then roll them over into the IRA, leaving the employer match and all pre-tax contributions in the 401k to grow.
This post was edited on 7/27/18 at 8:30 am
Posted by nctiger71
North Carolina
Member since Oct 2017
1402 posts
Posted on 7/27/18 at 7:34 pm to
Well this is amusing.

I don’t think I said anyone was ignorant or over complicating the question. Maybe you thought my use of the phrase “narrow comment” was a negative characterization of your point. It wasn’t. I simply meant that I was responding to a limited portion of all the comments in this thread because I have not read the ENTIRE 5 pages.

My purpose in joining the discussion was to give the OP a perspective of my experience with moving $ into a Roth from a traditional 401k, and to offer thoughts about the opportunity cost of choosing a Roth.

I would never say with certainty that one option is better than the other; too many variables and uncertainty involved to do that.
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