<prompt> Human: Because there is such a thing as minimum required distribution MRD. Im 35 years away from my MRD and using a very conservative growth projection of 4 my MRD will be way over what I think I will need.If I continue investing at a minimum to get employer match, my 401K balance is projected to be at around 3M and an annual MRD of around 130K at 70 years of age. Combined with social security for myself and my spouse, that will be way too much.At age 90 the MRD will grow to 230K! Combined with social security, and dividend and interest income, this will be very costly come tax time.Im pretty sure I need to cut my 401K contributions to minimum to get employer match.Assistant: You gotta keep in mind that tax policy might change, and that 230k might not go as far as you think. You can always re-invest that money and keep growing it. I guess your fear is that all these MRDs will push you into a HIGHER bracket than you are in now, and therefore should be using a Roth 401k to pay the taxes today? Personally Im hoping for about 5 to 10m in my 401k at retirement so I can live a very comfortable life at that point. 3M by no means sounds like too much to me. Human: If you accumulate 5M to 10M in your 401K your RMD will be 500,000 annually.Why would you want to pay close to 40 tax on it as it will count as regular income?If you keep that money as long term gains and long term dividends you will pay 15.  <response>: uh, after you pay income tax equal to your full marginal rate on it first.again, there are numerous ways to manage the tax impact of a high 401k balance. 