This is something you have to decide for yourself and it will depend a lot on how long you have to go until you retire and start taking distributions so a talk with a financial planner and or a local tax pro so you can get personal suggestions for your individual situation.
Just some general info:
>contribute $100,000 to a traditional IRA get 22% tax savings now ... later the account may be worth $150,000 and every penny of the distribution is taxable at your current tax rate ... so 100K x 22% = 22,000 saved now but if the tax rates do not change and your income remains the same $150,000 x 22% = 33,000.
>contribute $100,000 to a ROTH and pay the 22% taxes now ... later the account may be worth $150,000 and all of the distributions are tax free. A difference of $11,000 if nothing changes.
If you contribute more over the years and the account does well and earns a lot then the tax savings could be much larger. Also the tax savings to your beneficiaries need to be considered if you don't spend it all yourself.
