Roth IRA Comparison Calculator

Which is better, a regular IRA or a Roth IRA? In order to properly consider the impact of taxes on your investment, you must enter the tax bracket you are in now and the tax bracket you expect to be in when you retire. You must also indicate how long it will be until you retire, what estimated rate you would earn on your investments, and how much you would like to save each year. If you already have funds in a traditional IRA, you can also calculate the impact of converting those funds to a Roth IRA.

Current IRA amount: $
Current tax bracket: %
Retirement tax bracket: %
Estimated investment rate of return: %
How much do you plan to save each year: $
Amount saved is:
Maximum IRA sheltered contribution:^* $
How many years until you retire:

	Regular IRA	Roth IRA
Sheltered	0.00	0.00
Non Sheltered	0.00	0.00
Total Before Taxes	0.00	0.00
Total After Taxes	0.00	0.00

Assumptions:

When you invest money in a Roth IRA account, you pay taxes on your investment today, but you do not pay taxes when you withdraw the funds. If you convert your regular IRA account to a Roth IRA account today, you would pay $0.00 in taxes. To keep the comparison fair, the non conversion figure assumes you take the same amount and place it in a non-sheltered account until you retire.

Details:

Regular IRA Roth IRA
From annual contributions
Total contribution before taxes 0.00 0.00
Sheltered IRA contribution, before taxes 0.00 0.00
Sheltered IRA contribution, after taxes 0.00 0.00
Non sheltered contribution, before taxes 0.00 0.00
Non sheltered contribution, after taxes 0.00 0.00
Totals (at retirement)
Tax sheltered IRA 0.00 0.00
Non sheltered 0.00 0.00

From IRA conversion
Total amount to convert 0.00 0.00
Tax due on conversion 0.00 0.00
Totals (at retirement)
Tax sheltered IRA 0.00 0.00
Non sheltered 0.00 0.00

Qualifying contributions are usually limited as follows:

Year	Annual Contribution Limit
2002 through 2004	$3,000 per individual
2005 through 2007	$4,000 per individual
2008 onward*	$5,000 per individual

* Beginning in 2009, the contribution limit will adjust annually for inflation in $500 increments

If you are age 50 or over, you may qualify for an additional catch-up contribution as follows:

Year Additional Catch-Up Contribution

2002 through 2005 $500 per individual

2006 onward $1,000 per individual

Your actual qualifying contribution may differ significantly from the amounts listed above (for reasons such as income, filing status, employer benefits, and more). We strongly recommend that you consult your tax advisor before contributing to a retirement program.

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The information provided by these calculators are estimates based on the information entered and may vary from your actual loan, mortgage, investment or savings results. The calculated results are not guaranteed to be accurate and are in no way endorsed, offered or guaranteed by Financial Strategies Online.