One of the great things about running a personal finance blog like mine is that sometimes you think you’re right about something. So you publish it. And then you find out very quickly from your audience that you could have done a much better job! Just before Halloween, I published what started out as my valiant attempt to challenge the belief that investing in a 401k plan is the better of the retirement income strategies when you compare it to a regular taxable stock-based account. In case you haven’t read it yet, please feel free to check it out here. While I thought I had put forth a good effort, I was humbly delighted to receive a number of comments that pointed out several flaws with several of the assumptions I used to reach … [Read more...] about Tax Deferred vs Taxable Retirement Income Strategies, Take 2 – A Much More Substantial Difference!
retirement income strategies
Tax Deferred vs Taxable Retirement Income Strategies – How Big Are the Differences Really?
Pop quiz: If you could choose to save $10,000 using one of two retirement income strategies, either a 401k or a regular taxable stock brokerage account, which one would you choose? If you said “401k” (or really any other tax deferred savings account), then that’s what I would have expected you to say. Why? Because that’s what conventional financial planning advice teaches us. We all know that if we want to have a solid retirement income, then we need to max out our tax-deferred savings, let it grow, and then worry about paying the taxes later. And why not? Things like 401k’s and IRA’s are perfectly valid strategies for saving as much as you can and building up your nest egg. So you can imagine my hesitation and apprehension as … [Read more...] about Tax Deferred vs Taxable Retirement Income Strategies – How Big Are the Differences Really?
My Money Design for How to Achieve Financial Freedom – November 2012 Update
I was very pleased with the level of interest and positive reaction I received for my previous post on how I plan to retire early in Money Design update in October. However, that update was only merely a sketch of where I wanted to be. As I’m sure any designer can tell you, no blueprint is ever really complete until you put numbers to it – even if it’s a blueprint for your plan on how to achieve financial freedom. In this update, we’ll seek to build upon my earlier retirement income strategies by making some assumptions about how much money my family could expect to take in from our multiple developing income sources. Please feel free to compare my decisions and estimations to what you think would be reasonable for your own … [Read more...] about My Money Design for How to Achieve Financial Freedom – November 2012 Update