This may be a little wordy so feel free to move on with your lives but this question has to do with maxing, which is a variable that confuses the life out of me. Some quick background…I max my HSA, max my normal Roth, and throw some cash into a brokerage account daily. I also max out my employer’s 401k, including the catch up. I am 53 and have around $800k in my employer's 401k and maybe $35k of this is Roth, since it was just offered in 2025. So for the sake of argument, let’s just say all my 401k holdings are traditional.
So finally, my question…For the first paycheck of 2026, I am 100% Roth in my 401k and just some quick math shows that taxes account for 26% of my pay. Out of curiosity I went back to the first check of 2025 when I was 100% Traditional 401k and taxes were around 18% of my pay. 8% is a huge difference but am I looking at things wrong? If I can swing 100% in the Roth, it seems like a no brainer, even though the argument is always traditional over Roth. Maxing out is around 27% of my salary, which is a f’ing struggle each month and honestly, not sure if it is worth the pain. But my brain tells me that maxing both, you are getting more bang for your buck with the Roth.