[gnoway]

This doesn't make sense to me. The entire point of Roth is that you pay tax up front, and then the retirement proceeds are tax-free (assuming you withdraw after proper age, etc.). To then go and tax these withdrawals is basically neutering the entire Roth deal - I think there would be some pretty major political backlash on that.

[brewdad]

What is the percentage of Americans with assets in a Roth IRA compared to the number of Americans who would rather see someone else pay for a tax increase? Politically, altering the deal on Roth IRAs could work out quite well.

[gnoway]

I don't know the answer to that, or about Roth 401(k) plans, but I think there are a lot of people overall with one or the other. I think that threatening either would have an effect similar to threats on Social Security, without the justification of it being insolvent.

IMO, at worst, Roth plans could get phased out for new contributions with existing deposits and the tax-free withdrawals honored.