tag / Taxes
When major downturns hit—real ones, not the everyday noise—I don’t panic. I don’t freeze. And I don’t pretend I can predict the exact bottom. I prepare for 30–40% market drawdowns, because history says they will happen. The question isn’t if—it’s how you react when they do. When pre-tax, tax-deferred accounts...
What in the World Is a QPLO? A Qualified Plan Loan Offset (QPLO) is one of the most misunderstood mechanics in retirement planning, largely because it sits at the intersection of 401(k) loan rules, job transitions, and tax reporting, and most people only ever learned the old version of how this worked....
Liquidity, Control, and the Emotional Safety of Accessible Capital As one of my readers, I know you already know this about me: I am a big fan of investing heavily in pre-tax accounts early and then methodically converting those dollars into Roth accounts over time. That framework has served me...
FIT & WHEALTHY Convert. Don’t Sell. Use the Dip. A practical post on using market drawdowns to make strategic Roth conversions, while still preserving the option to direct-contribute to a Roth IRA when you’re near the income limits. Market resilience MAGI mechanics In-plan & IRA conversions Pre-tax saturation gauge The...
The Pre-Tax 401(k) as a “Staging Area” → Roth as the Destination (with Calculators) Educational model (not tax/legal advice). Roth IRA eligibility uses IRS Pub 590-A Worksheet 2-1 mechanics (conversion income is subtracted back out when computing “MAGI for Roth IRA purposes”). This widget does not assume in-plan Roth 401(k)...
Most people think Roth conversions are something you worry about later in life—your 40s, your 50s, maybe even early retirement. That mindset is backwards. If Trump Accounts roll out the way they’re being discussed, the most powerful Roth conversion window may actually be ages 18 through 30—long before most people even...
Politics Aside. Let’s talk about Trump Accounts for a second—because if these accounts roll out the way they’re being discussed, they could quietly become one of the most powerful long-term wealth-building tools we’ve ever seen for children. Not flashy. Not speculative. Just math, time, and discipline. And those three things have always...
The Great Conundrum Traditional Accounts allow you to save on taxes as the contributions are deposited prior to any deductions being taken from your paycheck. Pre-tax contributions reduce your taxable income by the amount you contribute, in example if you make 40k and contribute 19k to your pre-tax retirement account,...
