Compare the after-tax retirement value of a Roth IRA versus a Traditional IRA based on your current tax bracket now and your expected tax bracket in retirement.
Enter Your IRA Details
Fill in your contribution and tax brackets to compare Roth and Traditional after-tax outcomes.
A Roth IRA calculator — really a side-by-side Roth vs Traditional IRA calculator — compares the after-tax value you'll actually get to spend in retirement from each type of Individual Retirement Account, given identical contributions and investment growth. It's built for anyone deciding which type of IRA to fund, splitting contributions between both, or simply trying to understand why the Roth-vs-Traditional decision is a tax-timing question rather than a pure investment-return question.
Both accounts receive the same annual contribution and compound at the same expected return, monthly, from your current age to retirement age — so the pre-tax balance is identical for both. The difference happens at withdrawal: a Roth IRA was funded with after-tax money, so its balance is never taxed again. A Traditional IRA was funded with pre-tax money, so its balance is taxed as ordinary income at your expected retirement tax bracket when withdrawn. To make the comparison fair, this calculator also credits the Traditional side with the immediate tax deduction your contribution generates today (Contribution × Current Bracket), reinvested at the same growth rate — this is what makes the two accounts genuinely equivalent when your current and retirement tax brackets are the same.
Anyone opening their first IRA and choosing between Roth and Traditional, savers deciding how to split contributions between both account types, workers expecting a career change or a shift in tax bracket, and anyone weighing this decision alongside a workplace 401(k) election or future Social Security income.
This is the single most important idea behind choosing between Roth and Traditional: if your current tax bracket is higher than your expected retirement tax bracket, a Traditional IRA tends to come out ahead (you get a valuable deduction now, at a high rate, and pay tax later at a lower rate). If your retirement bracket will be higher than your current bracket, a Roth IRA tends to win (you pay a small amount of tax now and grow the rest completely tax-free). If the two rates are equal, the accounts are mathematically equivalent in this model — the tax you save now and the tax you pay later cancel out. Since nobody knows their exact future tax bracket with certainty, many savers hedge by contributing to both.
Both accounts share an identical pre-tax growth curve; the tax treatment is applied only at the end
From contribution amount to a clear after-tax winner in under a minute
Input your current age and the age you plan to start withdrawing — the gap between them is how many years the calculator simulates.
Enter how much you plan to contribute to the IRA each year, up to the applicable IRS limit for your age.
Enter your assumed average annual investment return — this growth rate applies identically to both the Roth and Traditional side.
Enter your current marginal tax bracket and the tax bracket you expect to be in during retirement — this comparison is the core of the Roth vs Traditional decision.
See the after-tax value of each account type at retirement, the dollar difference and which one nets more given your inputs, plus a bar chart comparing final values and a line chart of the shared pre-tax growth curve.
A 35-year comparison using this calculator's own defaults
Suppose a 30-year-old contributes $7,000 a year to an IRA, expects a 7% annual return, is currently in the 22% marginal tax bracket, and expects to be in the 15% bracket in retirement at age 65.
| Retirement Bracket Assumption | Traditional After-Tax | Roth After-Tax | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15% (below current 22%) | ≈ $1,124,150 | ≈ $1,050,600 | Traditional |
| 22% (equal to current) | ≈ $1,050,600 | ≈ $1,050,600 | Roughly equivalent |
| 28% (above current 22%) | ≈ $987,564 | ≈ $1,050,600 | Roth |
Explanation: the same $1,050,600 pre-tax balance produces three different after-tax outcomes depending purely on the assumed retirement tax bracket — this is the entire point of the comparison. Notice that at an equal 22% bracket both sides land on exactly the same figure, confirming the formula's built-in symmetry: the upfront Traditional deduction and the later Traditional tax bill are mathematically the same size when rates don't change.
Sensitivity note: since nobody can predict their exact future tax bracket decades in advance, it's worth re-running this comparison at a range of plausible retirement brackets rather than a single point estimate — if the answer flips between "Traditional wins" and "Roth wins" within a realistic range, that's a signal to hedge by contributing to both account types.
Reading the gap between your current and expected retirement tax bracket
The size of the dollar difference this calculator reports scales directly with the gap between your Current Bracket and Retirement Bracket inputs. A useful way to read the result is by that gap, not just the dollar figure alone, since the dollar amount also depends heavily on your contribution size and time horizon.
| Bracket Gap (Current − Retirement) | General Read | Typical Context |
|---|---|---|
| Current bracket clearly higher (5+ points) | Traditional tends to net meaningfully more | High earners now, expecting a lower-income retirement |
| Roughly equal brackets (within ~2–3 points) | Close to a genuine tie | Uncertain future income — a reasonable case to split contributions |
| Retirement bracket clearly higher (5+ points) | Roth tends to net meaningfully more | Early-career savers expecting significant future income growth |
For early-career savers: if you're in a low tax bracket now and expect meaningfully higher earnings later, a Roth IRA often makes sense — you lock in today's low tax rate on contributions rather than risking a higher rate later.
For peak-earning-years savers: if you're currently in a high bracket and expect a lower-spending, lower-income retirement, a Traditional IRA's upfront deduction is usually more valuable, since you're deferring tax from a high rate today to a lower rate later.
Risk considerations: this calculator assumes your tax brackets stay constant as entered. Real tax law changes with legislation, income can fluctuate unpredictably, and Roth income limits can restrict direct contributions at higher incomes — treat the result as a planning signal, not a guarantee, and revisit the comparison periodically as your circumstances change.
This tool provides general estimates for educational purposes only and does not constitute personalized financial or tax advice. IRS contribution limits, income phase-out ranges, and tax brackets can change — consult a licensed tax professional or financial advisor before making IRA contribution decisions.
Where this calculator earns its keep
Compare Roth and Traditional before making your very first IRA contribution.
See how sensitive the outcome is to your tax-bracket assumption, to decide how to split contributions between both types.
Model how an expected income change — a promotion, career switch, or move to self-employment — shifts the Roth vs. Traditional math.
Compare this IRA decision against a Roth vs. Traditional 401(k) election at work for a consistent strategy.
Re-run the comparison at a range of plausible future tax brackets to see how much the outcome could swing.
Combine this projection with expected Social Security income for a fuller picture of retirement tax exposure.
Adjust the Age 50+ IRA limit field to model higher contributions later in your career.
Illustrate the tax-timing concept behind Roth vs. Traditional accounts for someone new to retirement planning.
Model how a future tax-law change to your bracket would shift which account type comes out ahead.
What this comparison does well, and where it can't replace a licensed tax advisor
Quick-reference comparison of three core US retirement accounts
| Feature | Roth IRA | Traditional IRA | 401(k) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who offers it | Opened independently at a brokerage | Opened independently at a brokerage | Employer-sponsored plan |
| Tax treatment | After-tax contributions, tax-free qualified withdrawals | Pre-tax (if deductible), taxed on withdrawal | Pre-tax (Traditional) or after-tax (Roth) options |
| 2025 contribution limit | $7,000 (+$1,000 catch-up 50+), income limits apply | $7,000 (+$1,000 catch-up 50+) | $23,500 (+catch-up 50+) |
| Employer match | None | None | Common, varies by employer |
| Required Minimum Distributions | None for original owner | Required at IRS-specified age | Required for Traditional; Roth 401(k) exempt |
Common questions about Roth and Traditional IRAs
Official guidance to complement this calculator — not a substitute for licensed tax advice
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