Retirement Planning

Retirement is a long compounding game, and small moves early beat big moves late. Project your nest egg, compare Roth against Traditional, find your FIRE number, and plan the withdrawals — including required minimum distributions and Social Security timing.

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Where things actually stand

Plain-English how-to

Retirement

Inherited IRA Rules: The 10-Year Rule Explained

If you inherited an IRA, the rules changed under the SECURE Act and again with recent IRS guidance. Here is a plain-spoken, IRS-grounded walkthrough of the 10-year rule, the spouse advantage, and the mistakes that cost beneficiaries the most.

Retirement

403(b) Plans Explained for Teachers and Nonprofit Workers

A 403(b) is the retirement plan most teachers and nonprofit workers are handed, and it can be excellent or quietly terrible depending on what you buy inside it. Here is how the plan works, the high-fee annuity trap to avoid, and exactly how to fix yours.

Retirement

How Retirement Income Is Taxed in 2026

Your retirement paycheck comes from several buckets, and the IRS treats each one differently. Here is a plain-English map of how 401(k) withdrawals, Roth money, Social Security, pensions, and investment income are taxed, plus the withdrawal order that can quietly save you years of tax.

Retirement

FIRE Explained: The Early Retirement Movement Guide

A grounded look at Financial Independence, Retire Early: the savings-rate math, the 25x rule and its critics, the four FIRE flavors, and how to bridge to age 59 and a half without penalties.

Retirement

Roth 401(k) vs Traditional 401(k): How to Choose

Both live inside your workplace plan and share one contribution limit. The difference comes down to when you pay the tax, and that choice is more winnable than it looks.

Retirement

The Backdoor Roth IRA Explained Step by Step

High earners are technically locked out of contributing to a Roth IRA, yet many fund one anyway through a perfectly legal two step move. Here is exactly how the backdoor Roth works, including the one rule that can wreck it.