I have this image in my mind of pb4 drooling on his keyboard while reading post #20. Anywho...
Similar story here, though not quite as good. We deferred at 28-33%; now converting at a mix of 12% and 22%, pre SS/RMD. At 52, we were 60/40 tax-deferred/taxable. At 70ish, it should be one giant Roth... plus it's shiny little cousin, the HSA.
I think it's a bit more difficult for early-30-somethings in the 22% and 24% brackets. Historically, those are great rates that cover a ton of territory in the MFJ brackets. And that would favor the Roth. Both my kids are in that scenario. They do tax-deferred only for the match and then all Roth.
Plus if you want a blank stare, tell an early-30-something it depends on their tax rate in retirement. You might as well have said, it depends on whether or not the universe is infinite. It's like an unknowable concept at that age. So they go with what they know and love, and that's the Roth.
For us, with the exception of a couple of (relatively) low late-career income years that we took advantage of, roths made no sense when we were working. (And were not even available to us for most of our work years)
Once we retired, converting aggressively has made sense--so far. (Working was 39.6 marginal, now converting to top of 24)...
Similar story here, though not quite as good. We deferred at 28-33%; now converting at a mix of 12% and 22%, pre SS/RMD. At 52, we were 60/40 tax-deferred/taxable. At 70ish, it should be one giant Roth... plus it's shiny little cousin, the HSA.
I think it's a bit more difficult for early-30-somethings in the 22% and 24% brackets. Historically, those are great rates that cover a ton of territory in the MFJ brackets. And that would favor the Roth. Both my kids are in that scenario. They do tax-deferred only for the match and then all Roth.
Plus if you want a blank stare, tell an early-30-something it depends on their tax rate in retirement. You might as well have said, it depends on whether or not the universe is infinite. It's like an unknowable concept at that age. So they go with what they know and love, and that's the Roth.