text:  And it can be staggering at some points. And the better your rate of return, the more money that you're going to pay in taxes. So I tell people all the time, when you have a pre-tax retirement account, such as an IRA, a 401k, a TSP, a 457, whatever you have, you actually have a partner in that relationship. And that partner is Uncle Sam. And guess who gets to control how much money they get? I give you a hint, it's not you. Because Uncle Sam controls the tax rates at that point.