Originally Posted by mispoken

That is true. If your plan is to never make a withdrawal from this I suppose you can assume for you it’s a 0% tax rate deferred to your heirs. Now, let’s talk about reality. It’s probably safe to assume that one will plan to use this money in retirement and make withdrawals, otherwise what would be the point? We have to take into account 401k, pension and other taxable withdrawals in order to get a clear picture based on our best guess. So, yes, you control your taxes to a point unless you’re subject to mandatory withdrawals or have some other stream of taxable income in retirement in which case you don’t control your taxes. On the MBCBP, perhaps you do as an option is to roll into a tax deferred annuity;

“At retirement, pilots can (1) elect to roll the accrued balance into an IRA, (2) take the balance as a taxable lump sum, or (3) take it as a tax-deferred annuity.”

2 of those options are taxable and not controlled by you. The IRS will figure that one out for you. Option 3 is further deferral if you choose.

so, back to my original question for an apples to apple comparison, what is the assumption for your taxable rate in retirement?