Should I do Pre tax or post tax 401k?

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If you think you’ll be in a higher tax bracket when you retire than you are now, then do post- tax. If you think you’re in higher tax bracket now, then do pre-tax.

Good rule of thumb is if you’re earlier on in your career, do post tax, later on transition to pre-tax.

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I do 100% to a pre tax 401k as I plan to do roth conversions as I get older.

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Yup, but you ladder when your income is low. The tax savings from the traditional 401k can be put to work in other accounts as well

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I split it 50/50. And max out back door Roth IRA plus HSA. Gives me tax diversity in retirement down the road, which I have ZERO idea what it will look like in 30 years. What I do know is that either (1) govt spending will have to go WAY down, or (2) taxes will have to go WAY up. Under the rules right now you could draw up to around 100k out of a traditional 401k/IRA in retirement anyways per year tax free if you’re married and had no other income for the year (marriage deduction plus 0% long term cap gains bracket...google how to never pay taxes in retirement). RMDs might impact the latter method though.

Pretax 401k, Roth IRA (backdoor if necessary), after tax 401k -> Roth IRA (mega backdoor)

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