This week, we’re talking about the most googled personal finance topics by state. I’ve plucked topics from search trend results by state that are relevant for your retirement.

Today’s most googled personal finance topic by state is Delaware, which ranked highest of all 50 states in searching for the Roth IRA.

The Roth IRA and it’s cousin, the Roth 401k are worthy of an entire week’s worth of tips, but today I want to clear up the paralyzing confusion of deciding between a Roth and a Traditional IRA or 401k.

A Roth is a retirement account where you don’t get a tax break on money going in, but from that point on it grows tax-free, and money going out isn’t taxed either. It’s a pretty sweet deal to not pay taxes on that money you pull out of a Roth in retirement.

If you research Roth IRAs at all, a lot of the advice you’ll find is wishy-washy. And that’s because no one knows what tax rates will be in the future. And since a traditional IRA is taxed later and a Roth IRA isn’t, it’s anyone’s guess how tax rates in retirement will impact the taxation of the money coming out of your retirement accounts. So don’t try to predict the future and base your Roth vs Traditional choice on what you think tax rates will be in your retirement years. That’s a fool’s errand.

Consider one other selling point for the Roth: No mandatory withdrawals at age 70 ½. Withdrawals are required from traditional IRA accounts at age 70 ½, but Roth IRAs don’t have mandatory withdrawals in retirement, which will give you more control over how your income is taxed in retirement.

In case you couldn’t tell, I love the Roth. 90% of my personal IRA and 401k accounts are in Roth.

I think the best piece of advice I could give you about the Roth is that no matter what your age, income, or prediction about future tax rates, investing at least a portion of your 401k or IRA dollars into Roth makes sense. And if you make too much money to contribute to a Roth IRA, a Roth 401k is still available to you since there is no income cap. Plus, you can sock away as much as $25,000 into a Roth 401k this year if you’re 50 or older.

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening.

Tomorrow I’m going to tell you which animal lover state ranks the highest on google for pet insurance, and I’ll tell you if buying pet insurance is a dumb idea. You’ll have to come back tomorrow to see what I think.

My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip.

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Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance, Roth IRA, Roth vs traditional IRA, roth vs traditional 401k