--- title: Which Is Better for Me — Roth or Regular? description: Try to gauge whether the upfront tax break on the traditional plan is likely to outweigh the back-end benefit of the Roth. authors: - name: timestaff url: https://money.com/author/timestaff/ articles: 459 covers: - Retirement - Banking - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Shopping - Taxes former_staff: true published: '2014-05-29T13:53:06.000Z' modified: '2024-04-14T08:50:35.000Z' section: Retirement tags: - 401(k) - 401(k)s - Retirement - retirement accounts - retirement investments - retirement planning - retirement savings - Roth 401(k) - Roth 401ks - Rth 401k - saving for retirement - traditional 401k vs Roth 401k canonical: https://money.com/collection-post/roth-401k-vs-traditional-401k/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Which Is Better for Me — Roth or Regular?](https://money.com/img/logo-social.png) If your firm lets you choose between a [traditional 401(k)](https://money.com/collection-post/why-401ks-are-a-good-deal/) and a [Roth 401(k)](https://money.com/collection-post/whats-a-roth-401k/), try to gauge whether the upfront tax break on the traditional plan is likely to outweigh the back-end benefit of the Roth. For example, if you're on the young side or aren't a high earner, opting for a Roth can be a smart move. Yes, you give up the initial tax break on your contributions - but if you're not in a high tax bracket, the tax break wouldn't have been that huge anyway. The Roth option will let you avoid taxes when you're retired, which is a great thing. By contrast, if you're in a high tax bracket today, a traditional 401(k)'s immediate tax break may be more appealing than the Roth's deferred gratification - especially if you expect to be in a lower tax bracket when you begin to make withdrawals from your account. It's always a good idea to make sure your retirement money is "tax-diversified," meaning split up among accounts that are tax-deferred until retirement, and accounts that are already settled up with Uncle Sam. One way to do that is to use your 401(k) plan as a supplement to your IRA, if you have one. If you have a Roth IRA, you might want to opt for the traditional 401(k) at work. Likewise, a Roth 401(k) might be a good choice for you if you already have a traditional IRA. If your employer offers [both types of 401(k)s](https://money.com/what-is-a-401k-rollover/), you can divide your savings among them. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/collection-post/roth-401k-vs-traditional-401k/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Retirement", "item": "https://money.com/retirement/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "401(k)", "item": "https://money.com/401k/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Which Is Better for Me — Roth or Regular?" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/collection-post/roth-401k-vs-traditional-401k/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/collection-post/roth-401k-vs-traditional-401k/", "name": "Which Is Better for Me — Roth or Regular?", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2014-05-29T13:53:06.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/collection-post/roth-401k-vs-traditional-401k/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/collection-post/roth-401k-vs-traditional-401k/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-04-14T08:50:35.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "Which Is Better for Me — Roth or Regular?", "articleSection": "Retirement", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://money.com/img/logo-social.png", "width": 300, "height": 300 } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "timestaff", "url": "https://money.com/author/timestaff/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/timestaff/#author" } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2014-05-29T13:53:06.000Z", "description": "Try to gauge whether the upfront tax break on the traditional plan is likely to outweigh the back-end benefit of the Roth.", "abstract": "Try to gauge whether the upfront tax break on the traditional plan is likely to outweigh the back-end benefit of the Roth.", "@id": "https://money.com/collection-post/roth-401k-vs-traditional-401k/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-04-14T08:50:35.000Z", "keywords": [ "401(k)", "401(k)s", "Retirement", "retirement accounts", "retirement investments", "retirement planning", "retirement savings", "Roth 401(k)", "Roth 401ks", "Rth 401k", "saving for retirement", "traditional 401k vs Roth 401k" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Retirement", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retirement" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "401(k)", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/401(k)" ] } ] } ] } ```