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Choosing to convert to Roth could be one of the most impactful moves you make in your retirement income strategy. But like any powerful tool, a Roth conversion can become costly, or even counterproduc...

When one spouse passes away, the surviving spouse often faces a painful financial surprise. Income may drop, but taxes and Medicare premiums can increase. 

This is known as the widow’s tax penalty, a...

The QCD is a big deal. If you’re over 70½ or planning for the day you will be, don’t wait another day to understand how this strategy can work for you.

A Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) allow...

What if the very thing you trust most to protect your retirement is secretly setting you up for a crushing tax bill?

We’ve all been taught to use conservative assumptions when planning for retirement...

More people than ever are looking for one-time flat fee financial advice. But finding this type of service can still be surprisingly difficult. Most of the financial industry is built around long-term...

Is Social Security taxable? It is a question almost every retiree asks at some point. The answer is not a simple yes or no. It depends on how much other income you have coming in.

In this guide, I wi...

When you're building a retirement income plan in Boldin, or any other financial planning software, getting your budget right is arguably the most important step. Your budget forms the foundation for a...

Many of my readers know I’m a big fan of Boldin. For those unfamiliar, Boldin (formerly known as NewRetirement) is a retirement planning software that helps individuals build and test their own retire...

It takes a lot for market volatility to shake me. Over the past two decades, I’ve watched the market react to everything from housing bubbles to pandemics to flash crashes. Through it all, one truth h...

What happens when you’ve spent decades saving, planning, and dreaming about retirement, only to watch the market tumble just as you’re ready to step away from work?

It’s frustrating. It’s nerve-wrack...

When most people think about when to file for Social Security, they usually don’t factor in what’s happening in the stock market. But they should.

Your Social Security filing strategy plays a critica...

When choosing how to invest in the stock market, the debate on index funds vs. actively managed funds is still very much alive. Many investors are pitched the idea that actively managed funds — guided...