Thanks for the pointer ,

Bear with me I'm trying to get to understand (apple to apple)how regular investment could be better than tax deferred investment .

Let's say , I have worked some place for several years , then that job is terminated . I can roll over my 401k into Roth IRA or Traditional IRA . If I'm not wrong, I can pay one time taxes to roll the money into Roth which is based on my tax bracket . Then, The money in the Roth can grow tax free with no taxes paid at retirement withraws .

My other options would have been to roll it into traditional IRA , this way I would not have to pay any taxes in front . Then my money would grow with all the compunding you mentioned with no taxes paid annualy either . Then at the retirement age, for withrawing, I would be paying taxes based on two factors . First, is my tax bracket , which if I'm not working should be on the low end . Second, is based on how much money I withraw . The less money I take out , the less taxes I pay because again that would keep me on the low end of the tax bracket .

I guess we need to have a calculator to compare apple to apple investing of tax sheltered investing Vs regular investing to see which one is better ?

mustangs100