So my job offers both a traditional 401k and a Roth 401(k) option. I am unsure how to decide which to contribute to. I also have the option to split between them if I want to. There is up to a 4% match, which all goes into a pretax traditional pool. I've looked up info all over the place on this question, but it seems to come down to my expected future tax rate in retirement, and I have absolutely no idea how to even estimate what that might be. It occurred to me that people here might have a better idea. Here is (what I believe is) the pertinent info:
- I am currently 35 years old but have no retirement savings - a personal disaster wiped everything out
- I own my own house and have no debt though with about $20k in cash
- I am making about 55k pretax
- This is probably the lowest my income will ever be during my active career
- I contributed the max of $6k to a Roth IRA this year
- If I go with the traditional over the Roth I'll just increase my contribution amount by 22% (my current tax bracket)
- I live in a high tax state and am not certain I will stay there forever
- *EDIT: Single - no dependents