Thanks for reading! Here are my thoughts.

1. Yes taxes are at historic lows so that’s a good reason to consider Roth IRAs. Regarding taxes and distributions, yes Traditional distributions are taxed as regular income. Investment income outside of IRA accounts is taxed at the lower capital gains rates. I used this information to generate the graphs seen in the post.
2. Yep, in my analysis I didn’t tax any of the distributions from the Roth IRA
3. You’re right, most people will continue to see their income increase over their careers and subsequently, their tax rates. I simulated this by have Tommy get a 2% increase each year (which raised her tax rates). She starts at a $60,000 salary and increases to $122,000 (before inflation). Even with her increase in taxes, it was better for her to go with the traditional IRA.
4. When writing this article, I did look at different costs in retirement. It turned out that increasing your annual costs didn’t make much of a difference in the outcome. The only difference was you ran out of money earlier and the traditional was still slightly better. Unless your income drastically increases in retirement, the incremental increase in taxes doesn’t have much effect on the outcome.
5. In general, I agree. RMDs aren’t my favorite regulation but I don’t think it’s the end of the world. I’m planning on having money in lots of different accounts so I’ll have the flexibility to handle the RMDs.
6. Yes, money can be withdrawn from Roth IRAs without penalty but I think you should avoid that all costs. In order to really be prepared for retirement, you need to have more than just an IRA. Therefore, you should have money in other accounts that you can access in an emergency or given an opportunity.