The market seemed to like inflation report issued Wednesday. Core inflation – the measure closest to the one the Fed prefers (PCE less food and energy) that gets updated at the end of this month – was lower than the previous four months. The last

I wrote in this post that it was obvious to me that one should take Social Security (SS) early. I’ve changed my mind. I recommend that you wait to take Social Security later. Wait to age 70 to get the maximum benefit.

Happiness in

I like arranging the most recent calendar year returns in the 3 by 3 matrix of the Investment Style Box. I get a snapshot of what outperformed and what underperformed the US stock market as a whole. This post shows ~20% real return for

Investopedia, Vanguard, and Schwab state that you lose after-tax earning power if you pay the taxes on a conversion from your traditional or Roth account. You can find similar advice elsewhere. I assert they are flat-out INCORRECT. When you pay the taxes from your Roth,

I am on the track to convert some traditional to Roth EVERY YEAR. I want to lessen the bad tax effects of RMD from our traditional IRA. This post provides a spreadsheet you can use to judge how much you should convert this year: one

Last week I recalculated to a real increase in our Safe Spending Amount (SSA) for the upcoming calendar year (see Chapters 2 and 9, [NEC]). My post included a pdf of a detailed spreadsheet that shows ten years of recalculation of our SSA.

I revised the spreadsheets for tax planning that I included in this post two weeks ago. I corrected the math that calculates the taxable gain on sale of taxable securities. My taxable gain is much less than I previously calculated. These are the corrected sheets

Wow! Patti and I calculate to a real increase for our Safe Spending Amount for next year (SSA; Chapter 2, Nest Egg Care [NEC]. It’s small – 3% – but we’ll take it. After the steep decline in 2022, I thought it would

I finalized my tax plan for 2024. I altered the templates I provided in August for our situation. Patti and I know we have “more than enough” (Chapter 10, Nest Egg Care [NEC]); our Safe Spending Amount (SSA, Chapter 2, NEC) is

The inflation report issued Wednesday showed another month of low inflation; the seasonally adjusted measure for October was a bit greater than any of the five prior months, but the rate over the last six months point to 1.4% inflation. The 12-month inflation rate was