Are you in a high tax bracket now, but you expect to still potentially be in a high tax bracket after you retire?

If so, you're probably wondering whether to prioritize pre-tax retirement accounts or Roth retirement accounts.

Trying to plan out the most tax-advantageous retirement strategy is overwhelming for even the most financially astute,

but in today's episode of Ready for Retirement, I'm going to walk you through how you should think about what account type is best for you.

This is another episode of Ready for Retirement.

I'm your host, James Cannell, and I'm here to teach you how to get the most of the

life with your money.

And now, on to the episode.

Today's episode is based on a listener question.

This question comes from Karen, and Karen says the following.

She says, do you think someone who is in the 24% federal tax bracket who is planning to retire

in two years should max out their 401k instead of contributing to an after-tax brokerage account?

And if the 401k has a Roth option, should we take it?

I'm the money person in our household, and I feel like I've everything figured out as far as our

retirement income and expenses, but I'm out of loss when it comes to taxes and arm-dies, and it's

freaking me out. My husband plans to retire in December of 2024, at the age of 64, and I plan to remain working an additional two to four years

part-time, just enough to give me full health benefits, as I'm four years younger. We have a lot of

our portfolio in pre-tax accounts. We have $1.8 million in 401ks, $550,000 in my traditional IRA. We also

have $20,000 in Roth IRAs, and my husband maxes his out every year with the backdoor

Roth. He will also be getting a pension, which we plan to take as an annuity when he is eligible,

and this will be approximately $3,370 per month. I plan to take Social Security when I'm 65,

and that will be approximately $2,680 per month, and we will wait until he is 67 for him to take Social Security,

...