If you are in the Save and Invest phase of life, how much should you be contributing to your retirement plan? Are you on track for a successful retirement? I’ve looked at several retirement calculators and they’ve confused me. I built a spreadsheet that says

Wow. I am shocked and pleased. I may be able to calculate to a real increase in my Safe Spending Amount (SSA, Chapter 2, Nest Egg Care) at the end of November! I would have thought this was impossible last year at this time.

The inflation report issued Wednesday showed a fourth month of low inflation. The 12-month inflation rate was 2.6% for the most widely reported seasonally-adjusted measure; that’s a decline from 2.9% last month. And 12-month inflation will likely decline again with next month’s report: inflation in

Patti and I are off to Europe for a couple of weeks. We are taking this trip with friends; we generally just travel by ourselves, but I’m sure this will be fun. We stay in three places all within two hours or less from each

I generally think of STOCKS ONLY for holding periods longer than seven years if I were in the Save and Invest phase of life. The conventional advice might be 60% stocks and 40% bonds. A popular Target Date fund for 2030 (VTHRX) –

The inflation report issued Wednesday showed a third month of low inflation. Core inflation for the last three months is at an annual rate of 1.6%. These are the lowest three months in more than four years, before the start of sharp monthly increases in

I complete my first draft of my tax plan for 2024 this time of year. This post provides a spreadsheet for your tax plan. You want an estimate of your 2024 tax return for three reasons:

1) You want to know how much taxes

Nope, not in the long run. If are on Medicare and have a relatively large traditional IRA, you are going to get closer and closer to income that results in your crossing a tripwire for a Medicare premium surcharge. IRMAA surcharges cost single filers ~$1,000

Roughly 10% of those on Medicare have high enough income that triggers a surcharge of Medicare premiums that are deducted from monthly Social Security benefits. If your income is near or at this point, you want to plan your 2024 tax return to see if