I'm pursuing the path of a SWAMI and up until now I have put my savings into pre-tax retirement accounts (403(b), 457b) provided by my employer.
Last year it became increasingly obvious that when I finally retire the required minimum distributions I receive will exceed my needs and in fact, my current income. As such, starting this year I decided to put all of my future contributions either directly or indirectly into the Roth environment (using Roth IRA/Spousal Roth IRA and Roth 403(b)/Roth 457b respectively).
My question has to do with how to continue to keep track of my rate of savings from year to year in light of this transition. Up until now I've simply compared how much I've invested in pre-tax accounts from one year to the next (apples to apples). If I directly compare the amount I saved last year in pre-tax accounts to only the amount I'm saving in post tax accounts, I'm not giving myself credit for paying the taxes in advance. Should taxes paid in advance be regarded as a type of savings?