Roth vs. traditional IRAs: Tax breaks
Roth vs. traditional IRAs: Tax breaks
Traditional IRAs provide tax savings in the year you make the contributions to the account, but you pay taxes when you withdraw the money. If you contribute $1,000 to a traditional IRA in 2023, you will reduce your taxable income by $1,000. If you're in the 22% tax bracket, the contribution saves you $220 in taxes because you don't have to pay taxes on the $1,000.
Roth IRAs do not provide any tax benefits in the year you contribute. If you make a $1,000 contribution to your Roth IRA in 2023, your taxable income won't be affected at all. You won't reduce your tax bill this year.
Eligibility for the accounts differs
Eligibility for the accounts differs
You're not allowed to contribute to a Roth IRA if you make more than the income limits. While you can use a backdoor Roth IRA to get money into this account, you cannot directly make a contribution to one.
The rules are different for a traditional IRA. If neither you nor your spouse is eligible for a workplace retirement plan, you can make tax-deductible contributions to a traditional IRA no matter what you earn.
If either you or your spouse does have a workplace plan, you lose eligibility to make deductible IRA contributions at a certain income threshold. You can still make non-deductible contributions and benefit from tax-deferred gains, but you are not allowed to take a deduction for your contribution in the year it is made.
Withdrawal rules differ
Withdrawal rules differ
If you take an IRA distribution from a traditional IRA before age 59 1/2, you'll be subject to a 10% tax penalty for early withdrawal unless you qualify for an exemption. This penalty applies regardless of whether you're withdrawing contributions or investment gains.
The rules for Roth IRA distributions before 59 1/2 are different. You can take out the contributions you made at any time without owing this penalty. However, if you withdraw gains, then you're subject to it.
Once you reach 59 1/2, you can take money out of your traditional IRA anytime you want without consequences. If you have a Roth IRA, however, there's an additional rule to be aware of called the five-year rule. While this rule can be complicated, the basic gist is that you must wait at least five years from the tax year in which you first contributed to a Roth IRA in order to make tax-free withdrawals.
Finally, there's one more key difference. You must take required minimum distributions (RMDs) from a traditional IRA after age 72. These are withdrawals you must take annually, determining the amount using tables developed by the IRS. Failure to take out at least your RMD results in a 50% penalty on the amount you should have withdrawn. You aren't required to take RMDs from a Roth IRA.
Is a Roth or a traditional IRA better?
Is a Roth or a traditional IRA better?
A Roth IRA is a better choice if:- You expect to be in a higher tax bracket as a retiree and you want to defer your tax savings.
- You don't want to be mandated by the government to take required minimum distributions from your retirement account.
- You want the flexibility to withdraw your contributions at any time.
- You expect to be in a lower tax bracket as a retiree, so you want to claim your tax break in the year you contribute to your retirement account.
- You earn too much to be eligible to contribute to a Roth IRA.
In 2022, you can contribute $6,000, or $7,000 if you're 50 or older and eligible for catch-up contributions. The limits increase to $6,500, or $7,500 if you're 50 or older, in 2023. You can put this entire amount into a Roth or a traditional IRA, or you can split it however you'd like between the accounts. However, the IRA contribution limit is the total amount you can contribute between the two accounts. You cannot contribute $6,500 to a traditional IRA and another $6,500 to a Roth IRA.
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