Retirement Library
Plain-English guides to every major retirement topic — IRS limits, tax strategies, Social Security, Medicare, estate planning, and more. All content is educational only and not investment, tax, or legal advice.
Free Calculators & Benchmarks
Interactive tools to estimate your retirement number, project your monthly retirement income, and compare your savings to national benchmarks.
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Calculator & Tool
Retirement Income Calculator
Free calculator: see exactly how much monthly income your savings will generate at retirement, including Social Security and pension.
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Calculator & Tool
How Much Do I Need to Retire? The 2025 Guide
The 25x rule, income-replacement method, and savings benchmarks by age — with a free calculator to find your personal retirement number.
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Calculator & Tool
Average Retirement Savings by Age (2025)
Federal Reserve and Vanguard data on median and average retirement savings by age group — and a tool to compare your savings to national benchmarks.
Limits & Rules
8 articles available
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Limits & Rules
2025 IRS Retirement Contribution Limits: The Complete Guide
Every 2025 IRS retirement contribution limit in one place — 401(k), IRA, HSA, SEP, SIMPLE, 457(b), and the new SECURE 2.0 super catch-up for ages 60–63.
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Limits & Rules
SECURE 2.0 Super Catch-Up (Ages 60–63): An Extra $3,750 You Probably Missed
Starting in 2025, savers ages 60, 61, 62, and 63 can contribute an extra $11,250 catch-up to their 401(k), 403(b), or 457(b) instead of the standard $7,500.
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Limits & Rules
The 415(c) Annual Additions Limit, Explained
IRC §415(c) sets the master ceiling on everything that flows into a defined-contribution plan in a single year — $70,000 in 2025. Here is what it covers, what it doesn't, and why it controls every mega backdoor Roth calculation.
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Limits & Rules
HSA Contribution Limits and the 55+ Catch-Up
Every 2025 HSA contribution limit — self-only, family, the $1,000 catch-up — plus the eligibility rules and the Medicare trap that ends contributions early.
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Limits & Rules
RMD Rules After SECURE 2.0
Required minimum distribution rules as they stand for 2025: starting age, the Uniform Lifetime Table, the still-working exception, the SECURE 2.0 excise-tax cut, and the inherited-IRA annual-RMD rule now fully in force.
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Limits & Rules
The Mandatory Roth Catch-Up Starting 2026
SECURE 2.0 §603 forces high earners (FICA wages above $145,000) to take their age-50+ catch-up contributions as Roth starting January 1, 2026. The mechanics, the two-year delay, and the planning moves before year-end 2025.
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Limits & Rules
FICA Wage Base and How It Drives Plan Limits
The Social Security wage base ($176,100 for 2025) is the OASDI cap — and the quiet anchor for nearly every other retirement-plan limit in the Internal Revenue Code. Here is how the linkages work and the math on a $400,000 earner.
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Limits & Rules
Compensation Limits That Cap Employer Contributions
Above $350,000 of salary, your employer's retirement plan has to pretend you don't earn another dollar — the IRC §401(a)(17) compensation limit. Here is what it does, why it exists, and how it eats your match.
Strategies
10 articles available
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Strategies
Mega Backdoor Roth: How High Earners Save Up to $46,500 More Per Year
The mega backdoor Roth lets high earners contribute up to $46,500 of after-tax money to a 401(k) and convert it to Roth — tax-free growth for life.
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Strategies
HSA: The Only Triple Tax-Advantaged Account in the Tax Code
A Health Savings Account is the only account where contributions, growth, and qualified withdrawals are all tax-free. Here is how to use one as a stealth retirement account.
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Strategies
Backdoor Roth IRA: Step-by-Step for High Earners
A clean four-step walkthrough of the backdoor Roth IRA, the pro-rata rule trap, and how to avoid the tax mistake that wrecks most do-it-yourself attempts.
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Strategies
The Roth Conversion Ladder: Early Retirement Without the Penalty
A Roth conversion ladder turns pre-tax retirement money into spendable cash before age 59½ without the 10% early-withdrawal penalty. Step-by-step mechanics, a worked example, and the five-year clock you can't skip.
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Strategies
Asset Location: Which Accounts Hold Which Investments
Asset allocation is what you own. Asset location is which account each asset lives in. Done right it adds 0.25% to 0.75% of after-tax return per year, with no extra risk.
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Strategies
Tax-Loss Harvesting and the IRA Wash-Sale Trap
Tax-loss harvesting offsets gains and up to $3,000 of ordinary income per year — but only in taxable accounts. Buy the replacement security in an IRA and Rev. Rul. 2008-5 erases the loss permanently.
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Strategies
Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) From Your IRA
A QCD moves up to $108,000 (2025) directly from your IRA to a charity, satisfies your RMD, and never appears in your taxable income. The most efficient giving tool the tax code offers retirees 70½ and older.
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Strategies
Net Unrealized Appreciation (NUA) on Company Stock
IRC §402(e)(4) converts decades of growth on employer stock held in a 401(k) from ordinary income to long-term capital gains — but only if you execute the lump-sum distribution exactly right. The mechanic and the four conditions, with a worked example.
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Strategies
72(t) Substantially Equal Periodic Payments
IRC §72(t)(2)(A)(iv) lets you tap an IRA before 59½ without the 10% penalty by taking a fixed schedule for at least five years. Methods, the modification trap, the carve-out technique, and Notice 2022-6 in plain English.
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Strategies
Bunching Charitable Giving with a Donor-Advised Fund
OBBBA made the doubled standard deduction permanent. For most households, charitable giving no longer produces a federal benefit unless it is bunched. The DAF makes bunching painless — here is the arithmetic.
Employer Plans
6 articles available
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Employer Plans
How a 401(k) Actually Works
The 401(k) is the dominant private-sector retirement vehicle in America — built on a 1978 statutory accident. The mechanics, the nondiscrimination tests, and the safe harbor that lets HCEs max out.
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Employer Plans
403(b) Plans for Nonprofit and School Workers
The 403(b) is the 401(k)'s cousin for nonprofits, public schools, and churches. Same $23,500 deferral limit, similar mechanics — plus a 15-year service catch-up no other plan offers.
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Employer Plans
457(b) Plans and Why They Stack
The 457(b) carries its own $23,500 deferral limit that does not coordinate with the 401(k) or 403(b). For public-sector workers with both, that means $47,000 of pre-tax deferral per year. Plus the unique pre-59½ access rules.
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Employer Plans
Employer Match Math: Don't Leave Money on the Table
Match formulas, true-up provisions, the front-loading trap, and the SECURE 2.0 student-loan match. The mechanics of the most valuable employee benefit most people misunderstand.
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Employer Plans
Vesting Schedules and What Happens When You Leave
Cliff vs graded vesting, immediate vesting for safe-harbor contributions, and how to time a job change so you don't forfeit thousands in unvested employer match.
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Employer Plans
After-Tax 401(k) Contributions and In-Plan Roth Conversions
The mega backdoor Roth lives or dies on two plan-document provisions: (1) after-tax contributions allowed and (2) in-plan Roth conversions or in-service rollovers permitted. Mechanics, the $40,000+ headroom math, and the questions to ask HR.
IRAs
6 articles available
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IRAs
Traditional vs Roth IRA: How to Choose
The choice between Traditional and Roth depends on one variable — your tax rate now versus your tax rate in retirement. Here is the math, the contribution rules, and why most high earners should do both.
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IRAs
IRA Deductibility Phaseouts by Filing Status
Every Traditional and Roth IRA phaseout range for 2025, plus how MFS gets caught in the $0–$10,000 trap and what to do when one spouse is covered by a workplace plan and the other is not.
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IRAs
Spousal IRAs for Non-Earning Partners
IRC §219(c) lets a working spouse fund an IRA for a non-earning spouse — the only place in the tax code where someone with no income can fund their own retirement account. Mechanics, deduction rules, and the higher phaseout the non-covered spouse enjoys.
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IRAs
Inherited IRA Rules After the SECURE Act
The 10-year rule, the five categories of eligible designated beneficiaries who escape it, and the July 2024 final regulations that confirm annual RMDs are required during the 10-year window — fully enforced starting in 2025.
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IRAs
Rollover IRAs vs Direct Transfers
A direct trustee-to-trustee transfer is always safe. An indirect 60-day rollover triggers 20% withholding from a 401(k), the one-rollover-per-year IRA rule, and the chance to miss the deadline entirely. When to use which.
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IRAs
The Pro-Rata Rule and Why It Matters for Backdoor Roths
IRC §408(d)(2) requires every IRA distribution and conversion to be partly basis and partly pre-tax money — pro rata across all your Traditional, SEP, and SIMPLE IRAs. The rule that ruins most backdoor Roths and three legitimate ways around it.
Self-Employed
7 articles available
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Self-Employed
Solo 401(k) vs. SEP IRA: Which Should the Self-Employed Choose?
Solo 401(k) vs. SEP IRA compared head-to-head: contribution limits, Roth availability, loans, paperwork, and the income level where each one wins.
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Self-Employed
Cash Balance Plans for High-Earning Professionals
A cash balance plan is a hybrid defined-benefit plan that lets a 55-year-old physician or partner contribute $200,000+ per year on top of a 401(k). The mechanics, the actuarial assumptions, and when the numbers actually justify the cost.
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Self-Employed
Defined Benefit Plans: When the Numbers Make Sense
Traditional DB plans let owner-only businesses fund six-figure annual contributions targeting a fixed retirement income. When DB beats cash balance, when both beat a SEP, and the funding obligation that surprises new sponsors.
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Self-Employed
S-Corp vs Sole Prop: Impact on Retirement Savings
The same $200,000 of business profit funds very different retirement contribution caps depending on entity choice. The 25% W-2 rule for S-Corps, the ~20% net-SE rule for sole props, and where the break-even sits.
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Self-Employed
SIMPLE IRA Basics for Small Business Owners
The SIMPLE IRA gives small employers a 401(k)-lite: $16,500 deferral, mandatory employer contribution, no nondiscrimination testing. Why it fits some businesses, why it disqualifies others, and the two-year withdrawal trap.
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Self-Employed
Solo 401(k) Mechanics for One-Person Businesses
The Solo 401(k) is the highest-contribution retirement plan available to a one-person business. Two contribution sources, the $70,000 cap, Roth option, loan provision, and the rule that disqualifies you the moment you hire an eligible employee.
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Self-Employed
Adding a Spouse to Your Solo 401(k)
A spouse who works in the business can double the household's Solo 401(k) capacity — up to $140,000 of combined contributions (or more with catch-ups). The W-2 versus K-1 distinction, the reasonable-compensation requirement, and the plan-document fix to enable spousal participation.
Medicare & Healthcare
5 articles available
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Medicare & Healthcare
Medicare Enrollment Basics: Parts A, B, C, and D
The 7-month Initial Enrollment Period around age 65, the four parts of Medicare, the late-enrollment penalties that last forever, and how Medicare coordinates with employer coverage past 65.
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Medicare & Healthcare
IRMAA Brackets and the Two-Year Lookback
Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amounts add up to $443/month to your 2025 Medicare Part B premium, plus a Part D surcharge — based on MAGI from two years earlier. Bracket table, the cliff problem, and the appeal you can file after a 'life-changing event.'
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Medicare & Healthcare
Transitioning from an HSA to Medicare
Medicare enrollment ends HSA contributions. The six-month Part A retroactive trap, the timing of your last contribution, and what to do with the HSA balance after 65.
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Medicare & Healthcare
Long-Term Care Planning Without Long-Term Care Insurance
Traditional LTC insurance is increasingly unobtainable and unaffordable. Self-funding, hybrid life/LTC policies, the HSA stockpile, and the Medicaid-planning rules that actually still work in 2025.
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Medicare & Healthcare
Coordinating Marketplace Coverage with Early Retirement
Retire before 65 and the ACA marketplace is the bridge to Medicare. The premium tax credit math, MAGI sensitivity, and why a Roth conversion in the wrong year can cost you $20,000 of subsidy.
Withdrawals & RMDs
6 articles available
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Withdrawals & RMDs
The 4% Rule Revisited
Bill Bengen's 1994 study said a 4% initial withdrawal indexed for inflation survived every 30-year period in U.S. history. The Trinity Study confirmed it. Three decades on, what the rule actually says, what it doesn't, and how to use it without abusing it.
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Withdrawals & RMDs
Sequence-of-Returns Risk in Early Retirement
Two retirees with identical 30-year average returns can have wildly different outcomes if the bad years come first. Why the first five years of retirement matter disproportionately, and what to do about it.
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Withdrawals & RMDs
Bucket Strategies for Drawing Down Accounts
The classic three-bucket approach: 1–2 years in cash, 3–10 years in bonds, 10+ years in equities. Why it psychologically works even when it doesn't strictly mathematically dominate, and how to refill the buckets.
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Withdrawals & RMDs
Roth Conversions in Retirement
The window between retirement and Social Security or RMDs is the most efficient time to convert Traditional IRA dollars to Roth. The bracket-filling math, IRMAA awareness, and why the gap years are worth more than the conversion itself.
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Withdrawals & RMDs
RMD Planning to Reduce Lifetime Taxes
RMDs are not a tax problem in any given year — they are a 30-year tax problem. Pre-RMD conversions, QCDs, donor-advised funds, and the surviving-spouse compression that makes the second-spouse tax bill the worst.
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Withdrawals & RMDs
Order of Withdrawal: Taxable, Tax-Deferred, Tax-Free
The textbook order — taxable first, tax-deferred second, Roth last — is right only on average. The dynamic withdrawal approach that fills brackets each year usually beats the textbook by tens of thousands over a 30-year retirement.
Estate Planning
6 articles available
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Estate Planning
Federal Estate and Gift Tax After OBBBA: The Permanent $15M Exemption
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act made the elevated federal estate and gift tax exemption permanent and raised it to $15M per person beginning 2026. What that changes — and what it doesn't.
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Estate Planning
Beneficiary Designations: The Most Overlooked Estate Document
Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and life insurance override your will. Why they are the most common, most expensive estate-planning error — and how to audit them.
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Estate Planning
Trusts as IRA Beneficiaries: See-Through Rules and the 10-Year Trap
Naming a trust as IRA beneficiary requires meeting the Treas. Reg. §1.401(a)(9)-4 see-through requirements — and post-SECURE the rules interact with the 10-year payout in counterintuitive ways.
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Estate Planning
Step-Up in Basis Under §1014 and Why It Drives Asset Location
Internal Revenue Code §1014 erases unrealized capital gains at death. Understanding which assets receive step-up — and which do not — determines where wealth should be held during life.
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Estate Planning
GRATs, SLATs, and Other Advanced Transfer Strategies
Grantor retained annuity trusts, spousal lifetime access trusts, and intentionally defective grantor trusts — the mechanics of moving appreciation out of a taxable estate at minimal gift cost.
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Estate Planning
Charitable Lead and Charitable Remainder Trusts
CLTs send the income stream to charity and the remainder to family; CRTs do the reverse. Both work the §7520 rate to compress gift values and defer capital gains.
State & Local
4 articles available
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State & Local
California Nonconformity to Federal Retirement Rules
California does not conform to several major federal retirement and tax provisions. HSAs are taxable, mental health surtax adds 1%, and OBBBA conformity is selective. A practical map for California residents.
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State & Local
State Income Tax Map for Retirees
How each state treats retirement income — pensions, Social Security, IRA withdrawals, and capital gains. A practical map for retirees considering relocation.
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State & Local
Domicile Planning Before You Retire
Changing domicile from a high-tax to a low-tax state requires more than a moving van. The mechanics of severing residency, surviving an audit, and getting the timing right around Roth conversions and large gains.
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State & Local
States That Do Not Tax Social Security Benefits
Forty-one states and DC fully exempt Social Security from state income tax. The nine that still tax it — and how their rules differ.
Special Situations
5 articles available
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Special Situations
Divorce and Retirement Accounts: Qualified Domestic Relations Orders
A QDRO is the only mechanism to divide a qualified retirement plan in divorce without triggering tax or early-withdrawal penalty. The drafting, the timing, and the most common failures.
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Special Situations
Foreign Accounts: FBAR and FATCA Reporting
U.S. taxpayers with foreign financial accounts face two parallel reporting regimes — FinCEN Form 114 (FBAR) and IRS Form 8938 (FATCA). The thresholds, the deadlines, and the brutal penalties for noncompliance.
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Special Situations
Disability and Early Access to Retirement Funds
Internal Revenue Code §72(t)(2)(A)(iii) waives the 10% early-withdrawal penalty for disability. The definition is stricter than Social Security's, the documentation matters, and SECURE 2.0 added new exceptions.
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Special Situations
Federal Employees: TSP and FERS Basics
The federal Thrift Savings Plan and Federal Employees Retirement System produce one of the strongest retirement packages in U.S. employment — if used correctly. Match math, fund selection, and the FERS supplement.
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Special Situations
Military Retirement and the Blended Retirement System
The Blended Retirement System combines a 20-year pension at a reduced multiplier with a Thrift Savings Plan match. The 12-year continuation pay decision, the lump-sum option, and how reserve service counts.
High Net Worth
5 articles available
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High Net Worth
QSBS §1202 Family Stacking
Internal Revenue Code §1202 excludes up to $10M (or 10× basis) of gain on qualified small business stock — per shareholder, per issuer. Multiple non-grantor trusts can multiply the exclusion; OBBBA preserved and expanded the provision.
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High Net Worth
Conservation Easements: Risk and Reward
Internal Revenue Code §170(h) allows a charitable deduction for the donation of a qualified conservation easement. The economics, the syndicated-easement crackdown, and what survives.
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High Net Worth
Family Limited Partnerships and Discount Planning
An FLP holds family assets in a partnership where senior generations retain control and junior generations receive discounted limited-partnership interests. The valuation discounts, the §2036 traps, and what survived OBBBA.
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High Net Worth
Private Placement Life Insurance for High Earners
Private placement life insurance wraps a customized investment portfolio inside a §7702 life insurance contract — providing tax-free internal compounding and tax-free death benefit. The economics, the §817 diversification rules, and when it works.
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High Net Worth
Charitable Lead Trusts for Concentrated Wealth
A zeroed-out CLAT funded with concentrated low-basis stock can transfer the entire appreciation above the §7520 hurdle to family with no gift tax — while satisfying philanthropic commitments along the way.
History
1 article available
Social Security
6 articles available
When to Claim Social Security: Age 62, 67, or 70
Claiming at 62 cuts your benefit by 30%; claiming at 70 increases it by 24%. The breakeven math, the survivor-benefit consideration, and why the optimal claim age is almost never 62.
Spousal and Survivor Benefits, Explained
Spousal benefits pay up to 50% of the worker's PIA; survivor benefits pay 100%. The rules on when each starts, the divorce-spouse claim, and the often-misunderstood interaction between your own benefit and a spousal benefit.
Working While Collecting: The Earnings Test
Claim Social Security before FRA and your benefit is reduced by $1 for every $2 of earnings above $23,400 (2025). The mechanic, the special year-of-FRA rule, and why most of the reduction comes back as a higher benefit later.
Taxation of Social Security Benefits
Up to 85% of Social Security can be subject to federal income tax once your provisional income crosses $25K/$32K. The two-tier threshold mechanism, the cliff effect, and the planning moves to keep benefits below the tax line.
WEP and GPO Repeal: What Changed in 2025
The Social Security Fairness Act, signed January 5, 2025, eliminated the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset retroactive to January 2024. Who benefits, how much, and what the SSA back-pay process looks like.
How Inflation Adjustments (COLA) Work
Social Security's annual Cost-of-Living Adjustment is set by a CPI-W formula written into the 1972 amendments. How the number is computed, the third-quarter measurement window, and why the COLA you receive often understates your actual retiree inflation.