Should I Save Pre-Tax or Roth?
The whole decision comes down to one honest guess: will your tax bracket in retirement be higher, lower, or about the same as it is right now?
💬 GLP Retirement MinuteThe Two Options
Pre-Tax
Contributions reduce your taxable income now — you don't pay tax on this money today.
You pay ordinary income tax when you withdraw it in retirement, including on any growth.
Tends to favor people who expect a lower tax bracket in retirement than they're in now.
Roth
Contributions are made with money you've already paid tax on — no upfront deduction.
Qualified withdrawals in retirement, including all growth, are completely tax-free.
Tends to favor people who expect an equal or higher tax bracket in retirement, or who simply value certainty.
Starting in 2026, a federal rule (part of SECURE 2.0) requires anyone age 50 or older whose prior-year wages from their district exceeded $150,000 to make all catch-up contributions as Roth — no choice involved. This only affects the catch-up portion above the standard limit, and only applies based on wages from your specific employer, not household income. If this doesn't describe you, the pre-tax-vs-Roth choice is still entirely yours.
Your retirement tax bracket depends on your total income then — pension, Social Security, any savings withdrawals, and whatever tax law looks like decades from now. Nobody can predict this with certainty, which is exactly why some people choose to split contributions between both types rather than picking just one.
A tax professional or financial advisor who can see your full picture — current bracket, expected retirement income, other savings — is better positioned to help you decide than a generic rule of thumb.
Neither option is objectively "better" — they're bets on different futures. What matters most is that you're actually contributing something, in either form, rather than staying undecided and contributing nothing.