Roth vs Traditional for Gold IRA - What's the play?

• •Been chewing on this for a while and could use some insight from those who've navigated it.
• •I'm looking to roll over a significant chunk of my 401k into a Gold IRA, thinking somewhere in the neighborhood of $300k-$400k.
• •I'm 45, based here in Lexington, and my career in the bourbon industry is pretty solid – stable, good income, not expecting any wild dips.

Been chewing on this for a while and could use some insight from those who've navigated it. I'm looking to roll over a significant chunk of my 401k into a Gold IRA, thinking somewhere in the neighborhood of $300k-$400k. I'm 45, based here in Lexington, and my career in the bourbon industry is pretty solid – stable, good income, not expecting any wild dips. Because of that, I'm almost certainly going to be in a higher tax bracket in retirement than I am now. This makes the traditional vs. Roth argument particularly spicy for me.

My gut is screaming Roth. The idea of tax-free withdrawals on what I hope will be substantial gains from the physical gold just feels right, especially with inflationary pressures potentially making future tax rates even less forgiving. I'm a big believer in legacy assets, and gold fits that bill perfectly, much like a good barrel of aged bourbon increases in value over time. Holding that long-term appreciation in a tax-free wrapper is incredibly appealing. Plus, if history is any guide, Uncle Sam always finds a way to take a bigger bite, so locking in my tax rate now seems like a smart long play.

However, I also like the immediate tax deduction a traditional Gold IRA would offer. That's a good chunk of change back in my pocket right now that I could reinvest or use for other things. For those of you who've gone the Roth route, how painful was that initial tax hit? Did you regret giving up the immediate deduction? And for those who chose Traditional, what was the primary driver? Is there a scenario where someone in my position, with a healthy income and a long-term outlook, would legitimately favor the Traditional Gold IRA? Any thoughts on how future tax policy might specifically impact these different types of precious metal IRAs would be great too.