Traditional vs Roth IRA Break‑Even Calculator

Model contributions growth and taxes for traditional and roth accounts See break even age and year Evaluate returns with optional reinvested tax savings Visualize both paths Export results as CSV or PDF Friendly for advisors investors and students Adjust contribution initial balance expected return current rate retirement rate and horizon with chart and outputs

Inputs

Current Age

Retirement Age

Expected Return (%)

Contribution Growth (%)

Annual Contribution

Contribution Type

Current Marginal Tax (%)

Retirement Marginal Tax (%)

Initial Traditional Balance

Initial Roth Balance

Reinvest Traditional tax savings (applies to pre‑tax budget mode)

Assumptions: annual end‑of‑year contributions. If pre‑tax budget mode is selected, Roth contributions are reduced by current tax, and any tax savings from Traditional may be invested at the same return without tax drag.

Example Presets

Scenario	Now Tax	Retire Tax	Return	Contrib
Same tax later	24%	24%	7%	$6,000
Lower tax later	24%	18%	6%	$6,000
Higher tax later	22%	32%	8%	$6,000

Years —

Roth at horizon —

Traditional after‑tax —

Break‑even tax rate —

Year‑by‑Year Projection

Year	Age	Roth Balance	Traditional Pre‑Tax	Tax Savings Account	Traditional After‑Tax	Difference (Roth − TradAfter)

Break‑even year is the earliest year where the sign of the difference changes. If none occurs before retirement, one option dominates across the horizon.

Inputs

Example Presets

Year‑by‑Year Projection

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