I just have to think this through because now I’ve heard both positions! ...if you put $1,000 in the 401k and it’s matched up to to $2,000 and then it grows to

I just have to think this through because now I’ve heard both positions! ...if you put $1,000 in the 401k and it’s matched up to to $2,000 and then it grows to $20,000 and you’re in a 25% tax bracket then you’ll pay $5,000 in taxes on the $20k, leaving you with $15k. ...in the Roth IRA you put $1,000 and it grows to $10,000. You only pay $250 in tax though, so you’re left with $9,750. But that’s far less than $15k. So, seems like if there’s a match you should take it! After the match is used up, the next $1,000 in the IRA grows to $10,000 and you pay $2,500 in taxes on that... 10x more than the Roth. So it sounds like the rule is use the Roth after the match is used up. (Although that will depend on your tax bracket both at the time of investment and up it expected bracket for retirement)