Free Traditional vs. Roth IRA Calculator (2026 IRS Rules)

The calculator runs a year‑by‑year projection for both a Traditional IRA and a Roth IRA using the same contribution schedule and investment return assumptions.

At retirement, it converts the Traditional IRA balance into its after‑tax value using your chosen retirement federal + state tax rate, then compares that against the Roth’s tax‑free balance to show which gives you more real spending power.

For 2026, the combined contribution limit across all your IRAs is $7,500 if you are under age 50, and $8,600 if you are age 50 or older (including the catch‑up contribution).

This single limit applies to the total you put into both Traditional and Roth IRAs — for example, $3,000 in Roth + $4,500 in Traditional still equals the $7,500 cap for someone under 50.

Traditional IRA contributions are not automatically deductible. Deductibility depends on two key factors: whether you (or your spouse) are covered by a workplace retirement plan and your Modified Adjusted Gross Income.

If you have no workplace plan (401(k), 403(b), etc.), your Traditional IRA contribution is generally fully deductible regardless of income. If you do have a plan, the deduction starts phasing out once your income crosses the IRS thresholds for your filing status.

Roth IRAs have income‑based phaseouts: if your Modified Adjusted Gross Income is below the lower threshold, you can contribute the full amount; within the phaseout range, your contribution limit shrinks; above the upper threshold, you can’t contribute directly to a Roth at all.

The calculator checks your income and filing status against the latest IRS Roth phaseout ranges and will flag when you are in the phaseout zone or over the limit, so you can see how much you can still contribute (and when a Backdoor Roth might be relevant).

For “current tax rate,” use your marginal federal bracket plus your state income tax rate where you are working today. This approximates the tax value of a Traditional IRA deduction right now.

For “retirement tax rate,” enter a realistic combined federal + state rate based on where you expect to live and your expected income in retirement. The calculator uses this future rate to convert your Traditional IRA’s pre‑tax balance into an after‑tax number for a fair comparison to Roth.

RMDs are mandatory withdrawals the IRS forces you to take from Traditional IRAs starting at age 73. Each year you divide your account balance by a life expectancy factor from the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table to get the minimum you must withdraw.

The calculator can project RMDs by continuing your Traditional IRA balance beyond retirement, applying a conservative growth rate, then calculating RMDs from 73 onward and estimating the total tax you’ll owe on those distributions over time.

No. Roth IRAs do not have Required Minimum Distributions during the original owner’s lifetime. You can leave the money invested as long as you want without being forced to withdraw it.

This gives Roth IRAs a major advantage for late retirement and estate planning; the calculator accounts for this by not modeling any forced withdrawals from the Roth side of the comparison.

State income tax affects both the value of a Traditional IRA deduction and the tax hit on withdrawals in retirement. Living or retiring in a high‑tax state makes Roth more attractive; moving from a high‑tax to a low‑tax state can favor Traditional.

In this calculator, your state tax settings are included in both your current and retirement tax rates, so you can model scenarios like “work in California, retire in Texas” or “work in New York, retire in a lower‑tax state” and see how much it changes the outcome.

A Backdoor Roth IRA is a two‑step strategy where a high‑income earner makes a non‑deductible Traditional IRA contribution and then converts it to a Roth IRA, bypassing the direct Roth income limits.

When your income exceeds the Roth contribution threshold, this calculator treats your Roth contributions as Backdoor Roth flows and evaluates the Roth side assuming the conversion is completed promptly so that future growth happens tax‑free inside the Roth.

A Spousal IRA allows a non‑working or lower‑earning spouse to contribute to an IRA using the working spouse’s income, as long as you file a joint tax return and meet the income limits.

The calculator’s Spousal IRA toggle adds your spouse’s annual contribution on top of your own and compounds both accounts together, so you can see the combined retirement impact of funding two IRAs instead of one.

A common default for a long‑term, diversified stock portfolio is around 6–8% per year before inflation, but you can choose a more conservative number if you prefer.

Because both Traditional and Roth IRAs can hold the same investments, the calculator applies the same return to each side; the difference in results comes from tax treatment and contribution rules, not from assuming higher returns in one account than the other.

Yes. In general, you can withdraw your direct Roth IRA contributions (the money you put in) at any time, tax‑ and penalty‑free, because you already paid income tax on those dollars.

However, withdrawing Roth earnings before age 59½ — or before your five‑year clock has run — can trigger taxes and a 10% early‑withdrawal penalty. The calculator focuses on retirement‑age outcomes but assumes you leave contributions and growth invested until your chosen retirement age.

Early withdrawals from a Traditional IRA are generally subject to both income tax and a 10% penalty on the amount withdrawn, unless you qualify for a specific exception (first‑time home purchase, certain medical expenses, etc.).

Because of this, the calculator is designed around a retirement‑focused strategy — it assumes you are not draining your IRA early, so you can see the full benefit of decades of tax‑advantaged compounding.

By default the growth projections operate in nominal dollars, so you can see the raw balances your accounts could reach at retirement.

At the same time, the tool can calculate inflation‑adjusted (real) values using your chosen inflation rate, translating your future balance into today’s purchasing power so you understand what that retirement number really means in practical terms.

Under current rules, many non‑spouse beneficiaries must fully withdraw an inherited Traditional IRA within 10 years, which can create large taxable income spikes during their own working years.

This calculator’s estate view assumes your heirs pay income tax on those forced withdrawals for a Traditional IRA, while an inherited Roth IRA can be withdrawn by heirs tax‑free over the same 10‑year window, highlighting how much more inheritance‑friendly Roth balances can be.

Yes. You choose your IRA type each tax year, based on your income, tax bracket, and planning goals. You are not locked into the same choice forever.

A common expert approach is to prioritize Roth in low‑income, early‑career years and shift toward Traditional in peak‑earnings years when your current tax rate is much higher than your expected retirement rate; this calculator is designed to help you quantify that shift.

You can split your annual contribution between a Roth and a Traditional IRA any way you like, as long as the combined total does not exceed the annual limit for your age.

For example, with a $7,500 limit, you could contribute $3,750 to a Roth and $3,750 to a Traditional in the same year. The calculator can illustrate how a “split strategy” performs compared to going all‑in on one type based on your tax assumptions.

Contributing to a workplace plan doesn’t reduce your IRA contribution limit, but it can affect whether your Traditional IRA contribution is deductible and might influence whether Roth or Traditional IRA makes more sense overall.

If you are already maxing a pre‑tax 401(k), adding a Roth IRA can diversify your tax exposure; the calculator assumes your IRA contributions are on top of any workplace plan and focuses specifically on the Roth vs. Traditional IRA trade‑off.

When you contribute to a Traditional IRA and get a tax deduction, you effectively have extra cash in your pocket that you wouldn’t have with a Roth contribution of the same size.

The “Reinvest Tax Savings” option assumes you invest those tax savings in a separate taxable account each year and lets that side account grow alongside your Traditional IRA, giving Traditional a fairer comparison if you actually invest, rather than spend, the tax break.

No. This tool is designed for education and scenario analysis; it doesn’t know your full tax situation, all of your accounts, or future law changes.

Use it to understand the trade‑offs between Traditional and Roth IRAs, then discuss your results with a qualified tax professional or financial planner before making large contribution or conversion decisions.

Your ideal IRA type can change as your income, family situation, or state of residence changes. A good habit is to re‑run this calculator every year when you file taxes or when you experience big life events.

Job changes, moving states, marriage or divorce, starting or ending a business, or approaching retirement are all triggers to revisit your assumptions and confirm whether Roth, Traditional, or a split still makes the most sense.