Are you being penny wise & pound foolish with your tax strategy?

THE BACKDROP

Conventional financial advice says we should reduce our current tax bill as much as possible (within the rules of the IRS code, of course), and then defer paying the tax for as long as possible. The theory is that doing so allows us to keep more of our money longer so we can use it to generate a return. Generally speaking, this holds true, particularly when you’re a high-income earner who’s in a high marginal tax bracket. However, I’m going to lay out why it might make sense for high-income earners to shun this approach and intentionally pay more in taxes today by making Roth 401k contributions – instead of Traditional contributions – to their employer-sponsored qualified plans.

EMPLOYER-SPONSORED RETIREMENT PLANS

The most common employer-sponsored qualified plans are 401k plans for private-sector employees and 403b plans for public sector employees. These are similar in a number of ways and are popular because they allow employees to easily and cost-effectively save and invest for their future through automatic contributions from their paycheck. Additionally, Traditional contributions provide an upfront tax break. Regardless of whether you itemize or use the standard deduction, anyone with access to an employer-sponsored plan can contribute up to $23,000 in 2024 and reduce his or her federally taxable income by the amount they contribute. Easy to set up – check. Automated contributions – check. Major upfront tax benefit – check. With all of the benefits associated with Traditional contributions, it begs the question: Is there any reason why a high-income earner would choose not to make Traditional contributions? Yes. Continue reading.

ENTER THE ROTH 401k/403b

Almost 80% of these qualified plans now offer a Roth option for employee contributions. The main difference between Roth 401k contributions and Traditional 401k contributions is when you owe federal income tax on the money. When making Traditional contributions, you get an upfront tax benefit because your taxable income is reduced by the amount you contribute. For example, if you’re in the 32% marginal tax bracket and you contribute the maximum $23,000 contribution for 2024, you would reduce your 2024 income tax bill by $7,360 ($23,000 x 32%) which is significant savings to be sure. It isn’t until you begin withdrawing your money (after 59.5 years old to avoid a 10% penalty) that your withdrawals are taxed as regular income at whatever your marginal tax rate is for that year.

When you contribute to a Roth 401k/403b the money is taxed in reverse. You’ll owe federal income tax on the amount you contribute for the year the contribution was made. However, assuming some basic conditions are met, you’ll won’t owe any taxes on that money when its withdrawn. If you’re in the 32% marginal tax bracket and you contribute $23,000 to your Roth account in 2024, you’ll owe $7,360 in federal income tax; however, the IRS will never be able to tax that money, or the decades of compounded growth that it generates over the years, again! This benefit cannot be overstated!

ARE ROTH 401k CONTRIBUTIONS RIGHT FOR YOU?

The question you need to ask before deciding whether you should make Roth or Traditional contributions is this: Is it more important to minimize how much I pay in taxes this year OR minimize how much I pay in taxes over my lifetime? As a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional and overall finance nerd, I’ll emphatically tell you that you should focus on minimizing your lifetime taxes. The easiest way to do that is to ask yourself which you think is going to be higher: your marginal federal income tax rate this year, or your marginal federal income tax rate when you withdraw your money in retirement? Most people can figure out the rate they’re going to pay this year pretty easily. Unfortunately, it’s not as easy to know what rate you’ll be paying in the future. That will depend on a number of factors including your income in retirement, the sources of your income, the value of your Traditional IRAs & 401k/403b accounts, and perhaps most importantly, the tax rates and respective brackets that exist in those years.

6 REASONS HIGH-INCOME EARNERS SHOULD CONSIDER ROTH CONTRIBUTIONS

1. Tax rates are going to go up. Consider the following: historically speaking, we’re currently in a very low income tax rate environment – particularly those in the highest tax brackets. Our national Debt continues to skyrocket to all-time highs with no signs of slowing down despite our economy doing very well. As a society, we’re warming up to expensive policy issues like subsidizing college tuition, cancelling student loan debt and offering universal healthcare, among many others. We also already have entitlement programs like Social Security that are quite underfunded and in desperate need of an overhaul in order to remain viable, particularly as baby boomers increasingly leave the workforce and begin to take their benefit payments. For these reasons and others, the current, low-tax environment simply can’t continue indefinitely. Tax rates are going to go up. It’s not a matter of if. It’s a matter of when, and when is looking increasingly nearer.

2. The current TCJA tax cuts are scheduled to go away in 2026. Putting aside my thoughts/expectations for future tax rates, if the current administration (or the next) cannot overhaul the existing tax code and replace it with their own tax rates and brackets by 2026, AND your income remains the same or similar in 2026 as it did in 2025, the majority of Americans will pay a significantly higher tax bill beginning in 2026 when tax rates revert back up to those higher 2017 rates. I’m not holding my breath, but I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see.

3. You expect your income to grow throughout your career. Despite the fact that you may be earning a lot this year, and it’s painful to pay 32%, or more, in federal taxes on your next dollar of earnings, if you’re successful, and you expect continued income growth over your career, it’s very possible that you should realistically expect to graduate into even higher tax brackets in future years. And again, see the previous two points regarding rates going up across the board.

4. You already have a large balance in your Traditional IRAs & 401k/403b accounts. If this is the case and you’re on the younger side (born in 1960 or later), by the time you reach age 75 the magic of compounding will most likely have resulted in your balance being considerably higher! Age 75 is when the IRS will begin forcing these younger savers to take out Required Minimum Distributions from their Traditional IRA account so the IRS can finally tax that money. The higher your Traditional account balance at 75, the more you’ll be forced to withdraw every year for your RMDs. With high dollar value Traditional IRAs, these RMDs very often push your taxable income into even higher tax brackets. Accordingly, the sooner you can divert investment dollars into Roth accounts to let the compound growth occur there, instead of in your Traditional accounts, the lower your taxable RMDs will be, which will hopefully allow you to remain in the lower marginal tax brackets.

5. Your RMDs & other taxable income will determine the taxability of your Social Security benefits and the cost of your Medicare. You might think your Social Security benefits will be tax-free since they’re paid to you by the government, but unfortunately, you’d be wrong. If you’re married and file jointly with taxable income over $44,000, you’re looking at up to 85% of your Social Security benefits being taxable. Taxable income between $32,000 & $44,000 means up to 50% of your S.S. benefits are taxable. Any income you receive from Pensions, RMD’s from Traditional retirement accounts (IRAs, 401ks…etc.), income from taxable brokerage accounts, and any other sources of taxable income all count towards these income thresholds. Money taken from your Roth accounts, however, is not included when calculating your income level since the money is not taxable. Thus, utilizing Roth accounts can help you reduce how much of your Social Security benefits are subject to taxation by the IRS. Those couples who anticipate higher levels of MAGI in retirement should also consider Medicare’s Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount (IRMAA) which is an amount you pay in addition to your Part B or part D premium if your income is above certain thresholds. These premiums are essentially just another layer of taxation. When used strategically, Roth accounts can be a very powerful tool to avoid or minimize these additional Social Security taxes and/or Medicare premium surcharges.

6. You want greater control of your taxes in retirement. If most of your retirement investments are held in tax-deferred accounts that are fully taxable upon withdrawal, you can benefit tremendously by diversifying and building a pot of tax-free retirement assets as a complement. Having access to both, Traditional and Roth assets in retirement gives you much greater control over your taxable income each year in retirement since you can, for the most part, choose which account to withdraw from to meet your spending needs in those years. As such, if you have diversified your assets properly between your Roth & Traditional accounts, it is often the case that you’ll be able to control your marginal tax rate and how much you pay Uncle Sam each year in retirement, which, as any retiree who has planned ahead and put themselves in such a scenario will tell you, is the absolute best feeling!

If you’re a high-income earner, it’s tempting to want to reduce your taxable income today by making Traditional contributions to your employer 401k or 403b. However, if any of the reasons above resonate with you and your financial situation, you should think carefully about whether making Roth contributions might actually be the better long-term decision to minimize your lifetime taxes, maximize your wealth, and plan for a stress-free retirement.

If you would like to learn more, please get in touch.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for general information and illustration purposes only. Nothing contained in the material constitutes tax advice, a recommendation for purchase or sale of any security, or investment advisory services. I encourage you to consult a financial planner, accountant, and/or legal counsel for advice specific to your situation. Reproduction of this material is prohibited without written permission from Robert Stromberg, and all rights are reserved. Read the full Disclaimer