Tools/Visa-holder finance/Roth or Traditional if You Might Leave the US✓ CHECKED AGAINST WORKED EXAMPLES · SEP 29, 2026

Should I use a Roth or a traditional 401(k) if I might leave the US?

Compare what a Roth and a traditional 401(k) keep after tax, across every tax rate a payout might face after you leave, and see where the two tie.

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Pre-tax dollars you would put in each year$The traditional amount; a Roth puts in less because you pay tax first, at the same cost to your pay. Prefilled from your Money Map. The 2026 limit on 401(k) contributions is $24,500 and this page does not check it.Your age nowyearsYears until you take it all outyearsPrefilled to reach age 60 from your Money Map age. Before age 59½ a 10% early-withdrawal tax applies.Investment return, before tax%A steady yearly return in ordinary (not inflation-adjusted) dollars. An assumption, not a forecast.State income tax rate today%An example: use your state’s rate, 0 if it has no income tax. Most states let a traditional contribution reduce it.Tax on a traditional payout after you leave%30% is the IRS default withholding on a payout to a nonresident alien. A tax treaty can lower it, part of it can come back on a U.S. return, and your new country may tax the payout too: enter the total you expect.Tax on a Roth payout after you leave%The U.S. does not tax a qualified Roth payout (age 59½ or older and five years since your first Roth contribution). Your new country might: enter its rate. Used only for a qualified payout.

Federal tax bracket today

Your top federal bracket on ordinary income. Prefilled from your Money Map (2026 single-filer brackets).

ROTH OR TRADITIONALROTH COMES OUT AHEAD

$2,987

Putting $4,350 a year, before tax, into a 401(k) for 26 years and taking it all out at 60: a traditional account keeps $209,120 after 30% tax on the payout, and a Roth keeps $212,107 with no tax on its payout, so the Roth is $2,987 ahead. They tie if a traditional payout is taxed at 29.0%; your combined tax rate today is 29%.

Traditional keeps

$209,120

Roth keeps

$212,107

Tie at payout tax

29.0%

Ahead, today’s $

$1,385

UNDERSTAND YOUR RESULT

LIBRARY CHAPTERRoth or Traditional When You Might LeaveHow your tax rate today compares with how a nonresident's withdrawals are taxed later, what treaties and your new country change, what a Roth does for someone who leaves, and patterns for choosing or splitting contributions.LIBRARY CHAPTER401(k), IRA and HSA When You Might LeaveWhich retirement and health accounts you can use on a visa, the 2026 limits, what the employer match is worth, and what withholding, the early-withdrawal tax and your home country do to the money if you leave.

Terms:401(k) withdrawals after leaving the US Roth versus traditional contributions Effectively connected income (ECI)

How far the Roth is ahead of the traditional account, by the tax on a traditional payout

Roth minus traditional (after-tax payout)

At 0% tax on a traditional payout the traditional account is $86,635 ahead; at 30%, the IRS default withholding on a payout to a nonresident alien, the Roth is $2,987 ahead. They tie at 29.0%. Above the tie the Roth wins; below it traditional does.

What each keeps at different taxes on a traditional payout

Payout tax	Traditional keeps	Roth keeps	Ahead
0%	$298,743	$212,107	Traditional by $86,635
10%	$268,868	$212,107	Traditional by $56,761
15%	$253,931	$212,107	Traditional by $41,824
20%	$238,994	$212,107	Traditional by $26,887
24%	$227,044	$212,107	Traditional by $14,937
30% (yours)	$209,120	$212,107	Roth by $2,987
35%	$194,183	$212,107	Roth by $17,925

Each row is the same $4,350 a year for 26 years at 7.0%, taken out at 60. The Roth column does not move with the payout tax, because a qualified Roth payout is not taxed by the U.S.; the traditional column falls as the payout tax rises.

From contribution to what you keep

	Traditional	Roth
Goes in each year	$4,350	$3,089
Total put in, 26 years	$113,100	$80,301
Balance at payout	$298,743	$212,107
Tax on the payout	$89,623	$0
You keep	$209,120	$212,107

Both cost you $3,089 a year out of pocket: the traditional account gets $4,350 and saves $1,262 of tax today, and the Roth gets $3,089 and is not deducted. The payout is qualified, so the Roth’s earnings are not taxed by the U.S.

What moves the needle

Each row re-runs the calculation with one change. Click to apply.

How it's computed

FORMULA

Growth factor for yearly end-of-year contributions: A = ((1 + r)^N − 1) ÷ r (A = N when r = 0)

Traditional: balance = contribution × A; keeps balance × (1 − payout tax − 10% if before 59½)

Roth: puts in contribution × (1 − tax today) a year, the same cost to your pay; balance = that × A

Roth, qualified payout: keeps balance × (1 − tax on a Roth payout); not qualified: earnings are taxed at the payout tax plus 10% if before 59½

Tie: for a qualified Roth, payout tax = 1 − (1 − tax today) × (1 − Roth payout tax)

The two routes cost your pay the same each year ($3,089); the traditional account gets the tax saved on top. Contributions are made at the end of each year and grow at a steady 7.0%, and everything comes out in one payout at age 60.
Your tax rate today is the federal bracket plus the state rate you entered, 29%. State tax is assumed to follow the same deduction rule as federal, and the future rates are yours: none of them is a forecast.
The 30% figure is the IRS default withholding on a payout to a nonresident alien. Whether it is the final tax depends on how the payout is classified and on any treaty (IRS Publication 519), so part of it can come back on a U.S. return, and your new country may tax the payout as well. Enter the total rate you expect.
A Roth payout is qualified if it is made at least five years after the year of your first Roth contribution and at age 59½ or later (or on disability or death). This page treats it as qualified only at 59½ or older after at least five years of contributions.
Before age 59½ a 10% additional tax applies to a traditional payout and to a Roth’s earnings. Exceptions, such as leaving your employer in or after the year you turn 55, are not modelled.
The employer match (which is usually pre-tax), required distributions, and any state tax on the payout are not modelled. The contribution limit is not checked.

WORKED EXAMPLE · SAMPLE NUMBERS

Cost: $4,350 pre-tax at 29% tax today is $3,089 out of pocket, which is what the Roth puts in. Growth: 26 years at 7.0% multiplies each year's deposit by 68.68 in total, so traditional reaches $298,743 and the Roth $212,107. Payout at 60: traditional pays $89,623 (30%) and keeps $209,120; the Roth pays $0 and keeps $212,107. The Roth is $2,987 ahead.

SOURCES

[1]Retirement topics: designated Roth account (qualified distributions)Internal Revenue Service [2]Retirement topics: tax on early distributions (10% before 59½; exceptions)Internal Revenue Service [3]NRA withholdingInternal Revenue Service [4]Publication 519, U.S. Tax Guide for AliensInternal Revenue Service [5]401(k) limit increases to $24,500 for 2026Internal Revenue Service

HSBuilt by Hussain Sehorewala · checked against worked examples · Sep 29, 2026

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Questions about this result

The choice comes down to the tax rate you pay today compared with the tax on the payout. A Roth wins when the payout would be taxed at more than your rate today, and traditional wins when it would be taxed at less. On the example on this page, 29% today, a 30% tax on a traditional payout and 26 years of saving, the Roth keeps $212,107 to the traditional $209,120, ahead by $2,987, and the two tie at a 29% payout tax.

The IRS default is 30% withholding on U.S.-source income paid to a nonresident alien, and a tax treaty can reduce it. Withholding is not always the final tax: how the payout is classified matters (IRS Publication 519), so part of it can come back on a U.S. return. Your new country may also tax the payout. That range is why this page asks for your own rate and shows every rate from 0% up.

The U.S. does not tax a qualified Roth payout, meaning one made at age 59½ or later, or on disability or death, at least five years after the year of your first Roth contribution. The country you live in might tax it, and if it does the Roth is worth less than it looks: on the example, a 10% tax there leaves the Roth $18,223 behind and moves the tie to a 36.1% traditional payout tax.

A 10% additional tax applies to a traditional payout, and to the earnings in a Roth that is not qualified; the Roth’s contributions come back untaxed. On the example with a payout at 50 instead of 60, the Roth is $1,342 behind and the tie moves to a 31.6% payout tax. Exceptions exist, for instance leaving your employer in or after the year you turn 55, and this page does not model them.

The 2026 limit on employee contributions is $24,500, traditional and Roth combined. This page lets you type any amount and does not check the limit.

It can. Matching contributions are usually pre-tax and taxed on the way out like a traditional balance, so they push your total toward the traditional side. This page compares only your own contributions.

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