Confusion on 401k

[A-Aron1]

Hello everyone,

I'm contributing to my 401k. For the past couple years I've been contributing pre-tax dollars but this past January I changed it to after tax dollars (I thought it basically meant I was contributing to a ROTH 401k which I now know I wasn't).

When I retire 30+ years from now how am I suppose to know what portion is pre- tax and what portion is after tax?

In an effort to avoid later confusion is there a way I can take a tax deduction or something this year to make all the funds in the account the same (pre-tax).

Am I overthinking this?


Aaron

[cooliemae]

My 401k offers the same option and the payout schedule is based on the percentage of pre/post tax contributions. For example, if I retire with 25% of my contributions having been post-tax, then my distributions would be approximately 25% tax free, with the remaining about being taxable.

I don't know if that is an industry standard, so you should contact your 401k plan administrator and ask how it will be distributed in the future.

[A-Aron1]

My 401k offers the same option and the payout schedule is based on the percentage of pre/post tax contributions. For example, if I retire with 25% of my contributions having been post-tax, then my distributions would be approximately 25% tax free, with the remaining about being taxable.

I don't know if that is an industry standard, so you should contact your 401k plan administrator and ask how it will be distributed in the future.

I appreciate the information, Cooliemae!!! My company is going to offer a Roth401k in 2016 that I just enrolled in. Going for the trifecta- pretax, post tax, and roth!!!

[autoxer]

When I retire 30+ years from now how am I suppose to know what portion is pre- tax and what portion is after tax?

When I log into my account, I can see the source of contribution, so I know how much was pre-tax, how much was Roth and how much was employer matching.

If you moved everything into an IRA, you can re-characterize to move between pre-tax and roth, but that should only be done if it is part of your long term tax strategy. I wouldn't do it just to simplify.