[snoringbear]

"better to pay tax on the seed than the harvest" Depends; assuming I understand your seed / harvest analogy; let's say you're tax rate is 35% during your prime earning years. And, let's say it's 10% ~ 20% during your retirement years. Appears to me the latter would be preferable. Btw, this is not a hypothetical for me as I'm retired. And, it's my 401K and profit sharing investments, along with my brilliant personal investments 😉 That have enabled my wife and I to live a fairly comfortable retirement life.

[Alberta's Child]

The one basic problem with any analysis like yours is that you know your current income tax rates but can only speculate on your future tax rates. This is why some financial advisors will tend to prefer a current tax deduction (especially if you are in a high tax bracket) to a future benefit that may or may not materialize.

[morphing libertarian]

I don’t base my retirement on a smaller life style. i like to travel, live at the beach, by my family stuff, etc. . also a lower income for a longer life expectancy is a losing proposition. Retirees always think their taxes will be lower when they retire and if you did well in the build up that’s a fallacy. And some people want the option of retiring before they are 59.