How many listicles have we seen outlining the differing wantsbetween millennials and their baby boomer parents?

For example, parents love watching prime time TV on their largescreen smart TVs. Millennials binge watch complete series fromstreaming services on their smart phones.

Baby boomers get their news from some nightly network newsanchor. Millennials just look at their social media feeds (usuallyGIFs on Buzzfeed because they don’t like to read).

That’s probably not going to change, much to the dismay ofABCCBCNBC and the cable carriers. Millennials, like everygeneration before them, forge new paths and don’t look back. Babyboomers can only remember when they did the same thing.

In much the same way, financial service professionals seem to bedeveloping a consensus that millennials are forever changing theretirement industry. For example, they point tothe popularity of using Roth retirement plans as opposed totax-deferred options for their preferred retirement savings vehicle(see “5 Reasons Why Roth Plans are More Popular withMillennials than Baby Boomers,” FiduciaryNews.com,August 2, 2017).

We seem to think this generational change is set in stone, muchlike how baby boomers talk on the phone while millennials silentlytype away all day snapchatting with their friends.

But, what if we’re miscalculating this Roth trend? What if theproclivity to use Roths has more to do with one’s age rather thanone’s age group?

The data tells us this: People below the age of 45 tend to savemore in Roth vehicles than in tax-deferred vehicles. The oppositeis true for people above the age of 45.

Now consider these facts. Salaries peak after age 45. At thesame time, those in their 50s are seeing their big-ticketdeductions (mortgage and children) “aging” out, leaving them with ahigher tax burden even though their salary has levelled out.

What does that mean? It means the value of the tax deduction hasgrown compared to their financial reality from just a decadeearlier.

There are many good reasons to use a Roth. There are just asmany good reasons to use a traditional tax-deferred vehicle.

Indeed, most financial planners will tell you having both givesyou greater flexibility to managing your tax liabilities and SocialSecurity claiming strategy in your post retirement years.

That being said, there is a fundamental mathematical process onecan use to determine whether it’s best to use a Roth or atax-deferred savings option.

And it’s all based on your current year’s tax situation.

None of the above has anything to do with one’s generationalstatus. It does, however, have much to do with one’s combinedcareer and lifestyle arc.

As you age, your salary creeps up, which means your marginal taxrate creeps up. At the same time, your available deductions trenddownward. The net result is you are more likely to want to save viaa Roth when you’re younger (while a lower salary and largerpercentage of deductions lowers your tax rate).

On the flipside, you are more likely to want to take advantageof the tax-deferred savings when you are older (when a highersalary and a lower percentage of available deductions pushes youinto a higher tax bracket).

Of course, if the real reason why someone finds Roths attractiveis because it means the IRS is forever out of their hair, that’ssomething else altogether. And that’s certainly something thatappeals to all generations!