Roth 401(k) vs. Roth

Could anyone tell me the pros and cons of Roth 401(k) vs. Roth? I have someone whose employee will match 3% if they put in 3% on their 401(k).



They will get the match whether their own contributions are made to the pre tax or the Roth option. But the match itself always is made to the pre tax account, not to the Roth.

  • While a Roth IRA has more favorable tax rules than a Roth 401k,  an exception is that the 401k has no income limits to contribute whereas modified AGI might be too high to contribute to a Roth IRA.
  • Distributions from a Roth IRA come from contributions first and earnings last, but from a Roth 401k earnings are pro rated with contributions until the Roth 401k is qualified.
  • Roth 401k has RMDs, Roth IRA does not.
  • When rolled over to a Roth IRA, the 5 year holding period is that of the Roth IRA, meaning that the holding period in the Roth 401k does not count, at least not until 59.5 and 5 years are attained.  

 



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