Need help roth 401k vs trad 401k?

[10x]

I am 24 years old, and my company will match 3% of my contribution to a 401k plan. Which would be better, a roth 401k or a traditional, and why?

[Ariaread]

There is NO such thing as a Roth 401k
A ROTH IRA is a personal retirement fund not related to your place of employment

[OOOOOOOOH]

You may be confusing a 401K with an IRA. A roth IRA is for retirement while a 401k is investment. Go with a Roth IRA if that's what you were asking.

[A Hunch]

There is no "better" they are just the same but different.
The difference is how the taxes are handled.

with a traditional 401K = this money is pulled out on pretax dollars. This reduces your federal taxable income and, for most states, states taxable income. It does not change FICA taxable wages (social security and medicare tax).
= so let's say you earn $100000 and contribute $15000 to the traditional 401K = you would only pay federal and state taxes on the $85000 instead of the full $100,000.
- the premise is when you pull the money out at retirement, you will be in a lower tax bracket than your current income level. But hopefully in the 40 years before retirement this $15000 has grown to $200,000, so when you pull it out you pay tax on the full $200,000

With a Roth 401K = the money is after tax money. You pay tax on 100% of your income.
= you earn $100,000 and you pay tax on $100,000 even though you contributed $15000 to the Roth 401K
- but when you pull the money out in retirement, the money is tax free. So you paid tax on $15000 in 2013 "dollars" and that money has grown to $200,000 in 2053 dollars and the entire $200,000 is tax free.

Which is better? Each situation is unique and you would need a crystal ball to be able to tell. In 2013, even when the expiration of the Bush Tax Cuts, taxes are very low compared to historical amounts, so we "believe" the Roth is better because taxes will most likely be higher in the future. However, as I said taxes are at a historical low, so if you have put your money in during the 1980s you would have wanted a traditional 401K because taxes are lower now (when you pull out the money) then they were when you put the money in.
- but are we guessing wrong that taxes will be higher in the future = only the crystal ball knows.

Can you split the money because the two options? I like my strategy (I don't know if other agree).
I know that in the mutual funds I'm going to have some risky options and some not as risky. I would have it this way under any circumstances. I'm able to split the money between the Roth and the traditional. So I put the Roth in the risky funds = if I'm going to have some that has the potential to really grow, I have that in the roth so I don't pay taxes at the end. The traditional 401K money is in the not as risky funds (they are medium risky) = I hope it increases a lot too, but it may not grow as big since there is more stability with these types of funds.

FYI - Roth 401K have only been around since about 2004 or so. Many companies do not offer them. That is why so many people say they don't exist. But you know they do = your employer offers them :-)
Here's the wikipedia page to prove it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roth_401%28k%29