Okay, so I was curious is having the governments money compound for you is helpful to you? So I made some assumptions. I assumed a 20% tax rate in both scenarios.
#1) 100k invested in a 401k for 20 years at 8% annual gains= 466,095.71*.8= 372,876.57 after taxes.
#2) (in my mind this would be like a roth 401k) 100k*.8=80k 80k compounded 20 years at 8% = 372,876.57.
Now I understand there are tricks in the traditional to get it out without taxes, and I understand these accounts protect it from taxation while growing. This is more of a roth vs 401k question. We can not see into the future so how do you decide between the two unless you are in one of the extremes (super high or super low income?) My thinking is if you are limited to 17k/ year, roth would be best because is a traditional (again using a 20% tax rate) it seems to me you can only fit 13,600$ of YOUR money in while in a Roth, you get the full 17,000 of your money protected from taxation while growing.