Retirement Account Optimization Workbook: Contribution Strategy and Account Selection

Knowing that retirement accounts offer tax advantages is not the same as knowing how to use them optimally. The right contribution strategy depends on your current income, expected future tax rates, employer match structure, and account availability — and the best answer changes as your career progresses. This course provides the structured exercises to find the right approach for your situation right now. By the end of this course you will be able to calculate your optimal contribution allocation across available accounts, decide whether pre-tax or Roth contributions are more advantageous given your current and projected tax rates, and build a contribution escalation plan tied to income milestones. What you will learn: - How to calculate the value of an employer match and confirm you are capturing it fully before directing funds elsewhere - The Roth versus traditional decision framework: a step-by-step worksheet for comparing the after-tax value of each approach given your current and expected future tax rate - Income phase-out worksheets for Roth IRA and traditional IRA deductibility: determining your eligibility and adjusted contribution limit - The backdoor Roth IRA: how it works for high earners above the direct contribution income limit - Contribution sequencing: the order in which to fill accounts when you cannot fully fund all available options - How to use a payroll calculator to model the net-take-home impact of increasing a 401(k) contribution, accounting for the tax savings that offset part of the increase - A contribution escalation template: linking automatic increases to annual raises so your savings rate grows without requiring a new decision each year The course uses six worksheets introduced sequentially, each with a worked example and a blank version for your own data. Short reading segments explain the logic behind each exercise. A final synthesis template asks you to produce a documented contribution plan for the current and following tax year. This course is designed for employed workers who have access to at least one workplace retirement plan and want to use it as effectively as possible. Suitable for those with no prior investment experience. This course is educational and does not substitute for advice from a licensed tax professional or financial advisor.