This is a little something I like to do at the end of the year. I take my ending nest egg balance, I assume different rates of return, and I see how I am doing. In this first chart, I assume I contribute $3240 per year to my tax-deferred accounts (that's $1800 plus $1440 match) and $3000 per year to my Roth. That is what I am doing now, so I assume I simply continue.



I would like to retire at 65 with a minimum of 600k in traditional and 150k in my Roth. It is possible I will reach that with what I am doing right now, though it is far from certain. Looking at the chart, it seems to me that right now, if I have extra dollars to contribute, they should go into traditional. However, I also want to have no mortgage. If I hit age 65 with a mortgage, I will feel comfortable withdrawing any amount over 150k from my Roth to apply to the mortgage.

If I simply am too far from my goals at age 65, I will have to keep working, assuming I can find work. Working until age 67 won't be horrible, but I would rather not.

And if I completely stop contributing right now, this is how my nest egg might look down the road.



Traditional doesn't look too much worse, does it? The bulk of the growth in the future will come from what I have accumulated already. My Roth looks awful.

Conclusion: I have to keep contributing.