Investing in a Roth IRA allows you to pay tax today, instead of in the future when tax rates are uncertain. It also has a "what you see is what you get" amount, unlike pre-tax Traditional IRAs. If the tax situation makes it close, I'd favor the Roth IRA.
In retirement if you rebalance your portfolio, that often involves selling stocks to buy bonds. Besides the dividends RWD mentioned, you can pull a few percent out of your portfolio when you rebalance. You sell some for living expenses, and the rest helps reset your percentage of stocks and bonds.