Depends how much you make now, how much you will make (spend) in retirement and how you expect tax laws/ brackets to change. Most people in this crowd will do better with traditional accounts that Roth. If you only spend $29k in retirement, it will cost you $1k in taxes to convert $30k on a joint return (at today's rates). If you added that $30k to you're income today (because you made a Roth contribution rather than traditional), you'd pay $4,500 (15% bracket), $7,500 (25% bracket) etc.