Roth or Traditional Contributions: What’s Best for High-Income Earners? (Updated 2025)

If you’re a high-income professional, you’ve probably heard conflicting advice about whether to contribute to a Roth or Traditional retirement account. It’s one of the most common—and misunderstood—decisions in financial planning.

The truth is: there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. But there is a framework that helps you make an informed choice based on your current tax situation and future goals.

At Memento Financial Planning, I work with dual-income households in their 30s and 40s navigating equity compensation, rising income, and competing priorities like student loans, child care, and saving for the future. This decision comes up a lot.

Here’s how I walk clients through it.

1. Understand the Core Tradeoff

  • Traditional contributions give you a tax deduction now, lowering your current taxable income. But you’ll pay taxes later in retirement.

  • Roth contributions are made with after-tax dollars, meaning no deduction now—but your withdrawals in retirement are tax-free (if qualified).

Think of it as: Pay taxes now (Roth) or later (Traditional).

2. When Roth Usually Wins for High Earners

Roth contributions often make sense if:

  • You’re early in your high-income trajectory and expect your income to rise further

  • You’re maxing out your 401(k) and looking to build tax-free flexibility

  • You expect tax rates to increase in the future

  • You have stock options or RSUs that will create future taxable income, and you want to hedge against higher retirement taxes

Roth is also valuable for:

  • Building a tax-diversified retirement portfolio

  • Avoiding Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) if converted to Roth IRA later

  • Leaving tax-free assets to heirs

3. When Traditional May Still Be a Better Fit

Traditional contributions might be better if:

  • You’re solidly in the 37% federal tax bracket with little expectation of retiring in a similarly high bracket

  • You want to maximize current-year tax savings to invest elsewhere

  • You’re also doing backdoor Roth contributions and want to avoid additional after-tax burden

4. What About Backdoor Roth IRAs?

If your income is too high to contribute directly to a Roth IRA, a backdoor Roth strategy can be a great workaround—but be careful with the pro-rata rule if you have pre-tax money in traditional IRAs.

This strategy can pair well with either 401(k) contribution type, depending on your tax plan.

5. My Framework for Clients

I guide clients through a Roth vs. Traditional analysis that considers:

  • Current and projected marginal tax rates

  • Stock compensation and future liquidity events

  • Existing tax diversification across accounts

  • Long-term income goals and lifestyle planning

It’s not about timing the market or tax rates—it’s about building flexibility and peace of mind.

Editor’s Note: Originally published in 2022. Updated in 2025 to reflect new tax planning strategies and common use cases for high-income households.

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Understanding Tax Withholding and Safe Harbor Rules: A Guide for High-Income Earners