✈️ Retire Pilots the Right Way!

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Southwest pilots were hit with a major retirement change and fast. With little advance notice, Southwest rolled out a new NEC Roth option that allows company contributions to flow into a Roth 401(k), creating a powerful opportunity for long-term tax-free growth. Today we’re reacting to this big retirement news with the help of pilot tax specialist Zach Smith and breaking down exactly what this change means.

This video explains why this option is so unique: for the first time, pilots can potentially have most of their 401(k) contributions—both employee and employer—go into Roth accounts. That’s a massive shift for pilots facing growing tax problems in retirement due to large tax-deferred balances. Ryan and Zach walk through how Secure Act 2.0 made this possible, where to find the election on the Schwab site, and why pilots should double-check their investment elections if they’ve never used Roth before.

We answer all the FAQs on this here: https://retirepilots.com/2026/01/southwests-new-nec-roth-option-what-pilots-must-know/

Here’s what we cover in this episode:

✈️ What the New NEC Roth Option Is

💸 Why This Is a Big Deal for Pilots

⚠️ The Biggest Gotcha: No Tax Withholding

🖥️ How to Actually Elect the Option

🧠 Roth vs. Deferred: Distribution-Phase Reality

Retire Pilots - https://retirepilots.com

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Pilot Tax - https://pilot-tax.com/

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