I think many people will get along on a lowered income in retirement and will be paying taxes in a lower bracket than they do as working people. You're right a

I think many people will get along on a lowered income in retirement and will be paying taxes in a lower bracket than they do as working people. You're right about that...most people will work for 40 years and then retire, cutting off their main source of income and dropping to a lower tax bracket. My parents, on the other hand, have made more money since retiring 5 years ago than they made in the 30 years prior (mainly through real estate investments). I think entrepreneurial types will likely fall into this category, where they continue to make more year after year, even into retirement, and so the Roth IRA makes sense at least for now. I'm predicting a VAT within the next 15 years, but hopefully there will be some grandfather (pun intended) clause that phases it gradually for IRAs opened now.