<prompt> Human: Ok, I understand the basic differences between Roth and traditional IRAs401Ks but Im having trouble deciding which is best for me, which got me thinking uh ohh. Since traditional IRAs are taxed when you take a withdrawal, for long term holdings retirement wouldnt that always result in paying more in taxes in the end?I know the theory is that you wont be making as much when you withdraw, thus a lower tax bracket. But the value of the account is significantly higher than what you contributed. So whether youre paying 15 or 23 seems pretty trivial when youre deciding to go tax deferred vs. Roth. Id much rather pay 23 of 100k vs 15 of 1 million!Hope this makes sense, maybe Im thinking about this all wrong.  <response>: If you pay taxes up front, that money that you paid isnt gaining interest, so it doesnt matter when you pay taxes.Example: if you put in 100 now and let it gain interest for 30 years at 7 compounded annually, you end up with 761.23. Then, after paying 20 in taxes, you have 608.98. But if you pay the same tax rate up front, you put in 80, which, with the same compounding ends up at...608.98.I used this compound interest calculator 