If you've stashed most of your nest egg in your 401(k), the last thing you want is for taxes to blow up in your face when the time comes to start taking withdrawals.

Remember when you first started earning a decent salary, and it seemed as if everybody your parents, your boss, the nice lady in HR and, of course, your tax preparer all told you to put as much money as you could into your employers 401(k) plan?

Grab the employer match, they said. Get the growth that the market has to offer. And take advantage of the tax break, for crying out loud. Why not avoid paying taxes on that money now, while youre in a higher tax bracket, and worry about it later, when youre in retirement?

But what they didnt tell you then (because they probably didnt know) is that as you kept stuffing money into that tax-deferred account, you were chaining yourself to a ticking tax time bomb.

Because theres a good chance your tax rate wont be lower when you retire. And if you dont do something to help defuse the situation before you start withdrawing money from that 401(k) (or SEP IRA or 403(b)) for retirement income, you could be sending a sizable chunk of your nest egg to the IRS every year.

Dont think so? Here are just a few points to consider:

So, you basically have two choices. You can ignore the data, the trends and the experts, and see what happens. Or you can incorporate some tax strategies into your retirement plan now, bring some balance to your portfolio and maybe even get yourself to a tax rate of 0% with these steps:

As with most investment decisions, the right strategy for you will be based on your personal situation.

One option is to do a Roth IRA conversion moving money from a traditional IRA or 401(k), paying taxes on it at todays rates, then letting the funds grow inside the Roth knowing the principal and earnings will never be taxed again. You can do this all at once or, to keep the tax bite lower as you go, convert the funds over a period of years.

Another option is to take the money out of your tax-deferred account and put it into a cash value life insurance policy from which you can take policy loans tax-free. (This is a more complex strategy, however, with some risks, so its best done with the help of an experienced financial professional.)

No matter which strategy you choose, if youre concerned about the money thats piling up in your tax-deferred accounts, dont delay. Help defuse the ticking tax bomb before it can blow up your retirement plan.

Investing involves risk, including the potential loss of principal. Insurance and annuity product guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims-paying ability of the issuing insurance company. Policy loans and withdrawals will reduce available cash values and death benefits and may cause the policy to lapse or affect guarantees against lapse. In the event of a lapse, outstanding policy loans in excess of unrecovered cost basis will be subject to ordinary income tax. Tax laws are subject to change and you should consult a tax professional. All withdrawals from qualified accounts are subject to ordinary income tax and, if taken prior to age 59, may be subject to a 10% federal additional tax.

Kim Franke-Folstad contributed to this article.

John Creekmur is the senior wealth adviser and co-founder of Creekmur Wealth Advisors (www.creekmurwealth.com). He is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER professional (CFP).

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Are Your Taxes Set to Explode in Retirement? (Strategies to Help Defuse the Problem) - Kiplinger's Personal Finance