Roth IRA Calculator

A Roth IRA is a US individual retirement account funded with after-tax dollars. Because you pay tax on contributions now, all future growth and qualified withdrawals are completely tax-free, including investment gains compounded over decades. For most people, that tax-free compounding is far more valuable than the upfront deduction of a Traditional IRA.

The 2026 contribution limit is $7,500 per year ($8,600 if aged 50 or over). The allowance tapers across a MAGI phase-out range rather than stopping at one number: $153,000 to $168,000 for single filers, $242,000 to $252,000 for married filing jointly, and direct contributions are barred entirely above the top of that range (though a backdoor Roth conversion is available). This calculator projects your Roth balance based on contributions, existing balance and expected return, and applies both the dollar cap and the income phase-out automatically.

The two account types are mirror images. A traditional account takes the contribution off your taxable income now and taxes the withdrawal later, while a Roth taxes the contribution now and takes nothing later. If the tax rate were the same at both ends, the two would leave you exactly the same amount after tax.

So the whole decision comes down to one question: is your marginal tax rate higher now, or will it be higher when you take the money out? A Roth wins if the later rate is higher, a traditional wins if it's lower, and neither wins if they match.

• Early career, low bracket, decades of growth ahead: the case for a Roth is strongest here, because the rate paid on the contribution is at its lowest.
• Peak earning years in a high bracket: the deduction from a traditional contribution is worth more now than the tax-free withdrawal may be later.
• Not knowing what future rates will be is itself a reason to hold some of each, since nobody can forecast them.

What isn't the same is the growth. On $7,500 a year at 8% for 30 years, the projection above reaches about $938,000 on $225,000 of contributions, roughly $713,000 of it investment growth, more than three times what was paid in. In a Roth that growth is never taxed, and it's the part that keeps compounding.

A Roth holds two kinds of money, and they're treated differently when they come out. Your contributions have already been taxed, so you can take them out at any age, at any time, without tax or penalty. Your earnings can't be treated that way.

To take earnings out tax-free, you need to meet two conditions together: you must be at least 59½, and the account must have been open for at least five tax years. Meeting one without the other isn't enough, and the five-year clock starts from your first contribution to any Roth IRA rather than from the account the money currently sits in.

• You're allowed to take contributions out early, but you lose for good the growth that money would have earned, and the projection above assumes it stays invested for the full term.
• Limited exceptions to the earnings penalty exist, including a first home purchase up to a lifetime cap, and certain disability and education cases.
• Contribution limits and the income levels where eligibility phases out are set each year and do change, so check the current year's figures before relying on the default in this calculator.