cash balance... Roth?

I am no cash balance (or DB in general) expert, so when a potential client asked that since they can do their PS as Roth (not that I'm recommending that!), why can't they do their cash balance as Roth... I didn't have a good answer.

I don't see anything about this anywhere, so I'm assuming it's just not a thing.  Is the logic that since it's not individual accounts, you can't tax it properly?

Thanks.

just not a thing.  The backdoor approach is via doing in-service distributions to their 401(k) and doing Roth conversions there.  Devil is in details.

I wouldn’t imagine a logic about why there is no Roth treatment for a defined-benefit pension plan’s benefit. Although there are plausible explanations, I wouldn’t ascribe to Congress a reason without evidence that Congress considered the reason. (I suspect the only Congressional evidence about why there is no Roth treatment for a defined-benefit pension plan’s benefit is that no Member of Congress filed a bill that proposed legislation for that idea.)

The short answer is that the statute provides what the statute provides.

I.R.C. (26 U.S.C.) § 402A http://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=(title:26 section:402A edition:prelim) OR (granuleid:USC-prelim-title26-section402A)&f=treesort&edition=prelim&num=0&jumpTo=true

SECURE 2022 § 604.

So it's something that simple: if you can't elect to defer Roth, then you can't do this.

Which implies that that same goes for PS-only participant-directed plans... but we don't need to sully a DB forum with DC stuff. LOL

Thanks!

Plus, DB plans aren't individual account plans even though in a one-man shop, it might feel obviously "allocable" to just the owner.