[USER]

How do you balance the investment amount between Roth and Traditional in 401k? It feels like lots of income taxes for now if I put everything in Roth.

I’m trying to optimize my retirement savings and I’m curious about the best way to split my 401(k) contributions between Roth and Traditional accounts.

I understand the basic differences: Roth 401(k) contributions are made with after-tax money but grow tax-free, while Traditional 401(k) contributions are pre-tax but taxed in retirement.

However, I’m not sure how to decide the right mix for my situation.

Some factors I’ve heard to consider include my current tax bracket, expected retirement income, and future tax rates, but it still feels overwhelming to figure out a balance.

Are there general guidelines or strategies that people follow to determine what percentage of contributions should go into each type of account?

Does anyone have a rule of thumb or specific factors they use to make this decision?

I’d love to hear advice, experiences, or insights from others who’ve faced this choice.

How do you decide how much to contribute to Roth vs. Traditional?

[Kathy]

My daughter was advised 75/25 Ira vs Roth to try to get her into the zero tax bracket.

She doesn’t make crap but is taking some capital gains on her brokerage account

[Tweetie]

The ideal behind contributing to roth is to pay the taxes now so you don’t have to worry about them in retirement.

[John]

you take your taxable income – the standard deduction. If you can be in a lower tax bracket with contributions use traditional.

If not go Roth. It’s very clear cut to me.

I made my income very low for 5 years by using traditional at about a 50% savings rate

[Ben]

I honestly only contribute to Roth 401k and my match is automatically put in a traditional 401k pool so worse case 50/50 split but if your investing enough and contribute to your Roth IRA you should have more Roth money.

Honestly I just prefer Roth but I’m in the 24% tax bracket so it might differ for you.

[Author]

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