Learn
Understand it before you decide it
Ten-minute reads on the rules and tradeoffs behind retirement's big decisions — each one linked to the calculator that lets you try the math yourself.
Social Security
Claiming Social Security at 62, 67, or 70: How to Actually Decide
The claiming-age rules are fixed math. The right answer for you isn't. Here's how to think it through without a spreadsheet headache.
7 min read
Retirement accounts
Four Things You Can Do With an Old 401(k) — and How to Not Botch the Move
Leave it, move it to the new plan, roll it to an IRA, or cash out. A calm comparison, plus the direct-rollover rule that avoids the classic mistake.
7 min read
Medicare
IRMAA, Explained: Medicare's Two-Year Lookback and Its All-or-Nothing Cliffs
Higher income means higher Medicare premiums — based on your tax return from two years ago, with thresholds where a single dollar matters.
6 min read
Retirement accounts
RMDs in Plain English: When They Start, How They're Figured, and Why They Sneak Up
Required minimum distributions begin at 73 or 75 depending on your birth year. The math is simple division — the planning is where it gets interesting.
6 min read
Lifestyle planning
The First Year of Retirement: What Actually Surprises People
It's rarely the money math that catches new retirees off guard. It's the paycheck rhythm, the tax plumbing, and the Tuesday-morning question.
6 min read
Taxes
The Roth Conversion Window Most People Don't Notice Until It's Closing
Between your last paycheck and your first RMD sits a stretch of low-tax years. Here's why those years are valuable and how bracket-filling works.
7 min read
Retirement income
What the 4% Rule Actually Says — and What It Never Promised
The most quoted number in retirement planning is a historical finding, not a law. Here's what it means, where it bends, and how to use it well.
6 min read
Retirement income
Yes, Retirees Still Need an Emergency Fund — Arguably a Bigger One
The paycheck is gone but the surprises aren't. How cash cushions protect retirement portfolios from bad timing, and how big yours should be.
5 min read