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Obviously, everyone’s situation is different and most people won’t choose to dive headlong into a 100% Roth retirement strategy in order to avoid taxes at retirement, but for most people, investing in a Roth account just makes sense. You know how all the financial whizzes tell you to diversify your investment portfolio to reduce risk? Well, a Roth account can provide some tax diversification for your retirement portfolio as well.

Here are some questions to ask yourself when considering investing in a Roth account:

• Will tax brackets likely be higher or lower when I retire? If you are decades from retirement, this may be a difficult question to answer. In my opinion, tax rates will likely be higher (perhaps much higher) in 20-30 years. Looking at the current political, social and demographic landscape, it is hard for me to imagine paying for wars, Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare, and other potential social programs like universal health care without significant tax hikes.
• Will I be in a higher or lower tax bracket when I retire? Regardless of how you answered the first question above, if you think your retirement income put you in a higher tax bracket at retirement, investing more heavily in a Roth account may serve as a hedge against your potential income tax situation. If, on the other hand, you don’t anticipate your retirement income placing you in a higher tax bracket at retirement, a lighter investment in a Roth account may be better for you.
• What if Congress takes away the tax benefits of Roth accounts? While it is true that there are no guarantees when it comes to tax policy, I don’t foresee Congress changing the rules related to Roth without offering some sort of “grandfathering” policy for those who have already taken advantage of the current rules. Perhaps another question to ask is this: “What if Congress ditches the current tax code altogether and moves to another form of taxation, like a flat tax on consumption?”