Retirement 101: Roth vs Traditional — Decision Tree by Age

In this episode, we cover Roth decision. The conversation opens with: Welcome to Retirement Planning : Let's Make Sense Of This Sh*t. Many listeners hit their mid forties or fifties and still face the same fork in the road with every 401k or IRA contribution. Should the money go into a traditional account that cuts your taxes now or a Roth that shifts the tax bill later. Listen for the key context, practical takeaways, and the most important points to carry forward.Welcome to Retirement Planning : Let's Make Sense Of This Shit. Many listeners hit their mid forties or fifties and still face the same fork in the road with every 401k or IRA contribution. Should the money go into a traditional account that cuts your taxes now or a Roth that shifts the tax bill later. The thing is age changes the math in clear ways. A decision tree helps sort it out with dollar examples instead of guesswork. Take someone age forty eight earning eighty thousand dollars. Putting four thousand dollars into a traditional account saves nine hundred sixty dollars in taxes this year at a twenty four percent rate. That same amount in a Roth means paying the tax now but keeping every withdrawal free of tax after age seventy two. By age fifty eight this point shifts because required minimum distributions start later and Medicare premiums enter the equation. We walk through each bSubscribe for weekly explainers — no guru fluff, just tactics you can apply this week.