IRA/SDIRA - How to Split up in Divorce - Taxes?

[Daniel Dietz]

Hello All,

This seemed like the most logical place in the forums to ask about this. Even though it is not real estate related, it IS SDIRA related.

I am almost done with figuring out my divorce settlement and wrap things up soon. We are doing as much as we can ourselves, although I am going to run the final paperwork past my lawyer. One thing we need to figure out is our retirement assets which consist of regular IRAs, ROTH IRAs, and a SDIRA. We have agreed to split these assets '50-50' as we are in a marital property state. 

What I am wondering is 'the future value' of the different kinds of accounts. Save I have a choice of taking 100K in ROTH accounts vs 100K in a Traditional IRA. If either one would grow to say 400K in 15 years (10% aprox. return), and then the ROTH would be *worth* 400K as no taxes are due. The traditional might be *worth* say 300K if in the 25% tax bracket.

Am I missing something in thinking that the ROTH is more valuable down the road on a 'dollar to dollar basis'?

The only 'extra value' that I would see in the Traditional IRA is that it could be converted into a Solo401K for the benefit of 'leveraged investing' and avoiding some of the potential tax liabilities of leveraging my ROTH within my SDIRA.

Thanks, Dan Dietz