Yo, Pixy,
<<... not a doubt in the world that at some point Social Security will be means tested for benefits above some minimum level and Medicare premiums will be increased for the "well-to-do." But that's not a reason to avoid the Roth for something else.>>

Agreed, in part. For new money, a Roth is a no-brainer. For virtually all of us, there's no doubt that it's the best of the available alternatives.

But for old money (i.e., converting an ordinary IRA to a Roth IRA), we have two choices. If you convert, you pay tax now, and hope that you won't _also_ pay tax in the future. If you don't convert, you surely will pay tax in the future, but you don't pay any tax now.

Hmmm, now I'm scaring myself! Maybe I won't be quite so anxious to convert after all.
Ray