Mathematically you end up with the same capital whether your pay income taxes today and invest post-tax money No. ___ Put $100 in an IRA. [$100] Qu

Mathematically you end up with the same capital whether your pay income taxes today and invest post-tax money No. ___ Put $100 in an IRA. [$100] Quadruple your money by keeping it in an index fund for a couple decades. [$400] Pay 25% income tax on the money. [$300] Spend $300 in retirement. --- Or, ___ Earn $100. [$100] Pay 25% income tax on the money today. [$75] Quadruple your money by keeping it in an index fund for a couple decades. [$300] Pay 15% capital gains tax on the $225 gain. [$266.25] Spend $266.25 in retirement. --- But you could also tell this story: ___ Put $100 in an IRA. [$100] Double your money in some garbage high-fee actively managed fund your boss's boss picked out based on the quality of strippers the investment advisor hired when he sold your company the plan. Your awful 401k offered limited investment options and the rest were even worse. [$200] Pay 25% income tax on the money. [$150] Spend $150 in retirement. --- But lobbying your boss to get low-fee index funds into the 401k plan doesn't fit on a card. It's still the kind of thing a wise planner needs to do sometimes.