I'm curious if there is anyone else that has actually increased their investing during the down market. Probably more specifically for those that are close to FI or are still accumulating.

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Real Estate m by mdhershberger32

Sell Home and Rent?

Hi everyone! Based on my own personal experience and reading others’ financial analyses of renting versus buying, I believe there are circumstances in which it makes more sense to rent than buy, and my husband and I don’t believe our current house will be our long-term home, so I’m trying to figure out if it makes sense financially to go ahead and sell now and start renting if that’s going to save us money over the long term. Does anyone have suggestions on how to do the math for this? I’m curre...

15 replies 1 hour ago Read more →

Tax Strategies C by Charlotte

Spreadsheet from Cody & Sean's book?

Hi everyone! In their book "Tax Planning to and through Early Retirement," Cody Garrett & Sean Mullaney mention creating a spreadsheet in chapter 36 to track cap gains/losses for EOY tax planning, deciding whether to do a Roth conversion, etc. Has anyone already created a spreadsheet like this that they would be willing to share? They also mention current year tax planning software for this same purpose. Any recommendations? We are retiring in May and this part of retirement feels foggy to me- I...

9 replies 1 hour ago Read more →

Debt t by twoawesomedogs

Pay off CC from cash savings?

Hi all. I have an emergency fund in a MMF at 3%, with currently $21,000 in it. For me that is safely and conservatively 5 months of expenses with wiggle room (probably closer to 6–my bottom line expenses are $3500/month all-in). I have a credit card with $5200 on it (one sizeable home repair and one $3k vet bill from just last month). It's currently at 0% interest which is about to end. - **Option 1:** Pay off the card in its entirety immediately. That leaves $16,000–or only about 4 months of an...

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Spending Smarter L by LaurenW

Considering income limits and ROTH conversions in health insurance renewal options

Hi! I figured I'd throw this out of my head and into yours to see if any thoughts. I'm in a last minute unhinged rabbit hole and need to make a decision by tomorrow, so fully understand if no one even sees this before then, haha. NYS is eliminating Essential Plan 200-250 as of 7/1, and I have to reapply for heath insurance by tomorrow night 🫠. Im still at zero W-2 income for this year, so it's a great roth conversion year so thats where this is stemming from. I have 3 options. Option 1- reduce...

6 replies 1 day ago Read more →

Kids & Family Finance v by vagrant1

My wife's rebuttal to FI? There seems to be no consequences for bad financial behavior!

My wife and I are nearly FI. I've dragged her this far. She doesn't really understand FI. She doesn't understand the methodology, the strategies, etc. I do. And I believe in it wholeheartedly. But my wife has a (good?) rebuttal to FI….***"Why would we save and invest when seemingly society spends like drunken sailors and nobody ever pays any consequences!*** ***So they go into debt! They go bankrupt! What TRULY ever happens to them!"*** So she sees our neighbors with the new cars, the boats, etc...

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Nomads and Expats B by Bryan Wilson

The Finances of Travelling the World for 7 Months

My wife and I just got back from a 7 month career break to take a trip around the world! I wrote up a blog post going over a lot of the finances surrounding the trip and though people might be interested! [The Finances of Traveling the World for 7 Months](https://mindovermoney0.wordpress.com/2026/06/02/the-finances-of-traveling-the-world-for-7-months/)

5 replies 1 hour ago Read more →

Lifestyle Design v by vagrant1

Dreaming of my ideal "FI" place to settle down.....

So myself (age 48) and wife (age 42) are looking ahead about 5 years when we hope to "permanently" (is anything permanent?) settle down and retire. We're dreaming of our idea location to settle down and wonder if such a place exists? We're essentially wondering if a community exists out there whereby: 1. Residents own their home. 2. Residents of the community **HAVE ACCESS TO SOME KIND OF COMMUNITY MEAL PLAN**. 3. Residents of the community get "renter" type benefits (they don't have to maintain...

4 replies 1 hour ago Read more →

Earning More N by Nocek

Side Hustles: Starting a Travel Agency

Good morning all, I have been thinking lately about starting some sort of travel booking service. It's something I enjoy researching, and I think it is something that can easily be scaled as I become more experienced. Does anyone have any experience with starting something like this? I'd love to connect and understand all the proper channels to get something like this off the ground because I'm sure there are parts that I am grossly underestimating. Keo

2 replies 1 hour ago Read more →

Retirement Withdrawal Strategies S by SeaGlass7

BlackRock only?

Blackrock is the only target date funds my 457 offers. I do not like or agree with what they’re doing to monopolize certain industries. Is anyone else in the same boat? I can individually pick mutual funds and design my own investments, but I have quite a bit already invested in Blackrock target date funds (before I was aware). I am 55 years old and close to retirement and my question is: should I leave my existing money in Blackrock target date funds and just change my future contributions? I’m...

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Investing t by thinkpad12

More Small Cap Value Thoughts

I have flip flopped back and forth pretty bad on small cap value. You can see my previous post on it. I thought of a different angle to it. If I were to tilt my portfolio outside of VTI and VXUS I would at most do 30% in small cap value / factor tilts. Let's say I get and extra 1% to 2% return on that 30% tilt. I would basically be adding 0.3% to 0.6% more to my returns. Not to mention most of these fund typically charge 0.3% to 0.4% expense ratios, like DFSV, AVUV, AVDV, etc. if you are effecti...

16 replies 1 hour ago Read more →

Tax Strategies w by wendyneal1

529 unused funds and taxes for non qualified WD

I have 1 child who is no longer going to use the funds for college. I have transferred some of the account over to her ROTH and was going to take the rest and put in my individual account with Fidelity but would be paying taxes on $7,000 (and the 10% penalty). Wondering if there any work arounds or suggestions for this? Thanks.

7 replies 1 hour ago Read more →

Lifestyle Design A by Anonymous

Opt-out long-term care option

I'm reading the book, "The Childfree Guide to Life and Money", by Jay Zigmont where he mentions the opt-out long-term care option. This has been my plan since I retired a couple of years ago without a million dollars and no medical insurance. I am single, childfree, no pets, and plan to die with zero. I signed paperwork to donate my body to the local medical school years ago and also pre-paid for my death certificates, funeral home transportation from the local hospital to the local medical scho...

2 replies 1 hour ago Read more →

Retirement Withdrawal Strategies T by Tommy Mulhern

Traditional vs Roth IRA

Hey friends, I'm very new to my FI journey and just listened to podcast episode #21 pillars of FI and they mentioned how Roth IRA may not be the smartest to max out rather traditional may be the smarter max out. There was a reference to the IRA conversion ladder. I'm confused. Can someone help me understand what is the best to max out first, traditional or roth IRA? Side note I am self employed and have a self employed traditional and roth 401k and I was reading that self employed may be able to...

19 replies 1 hour ago Read more →

Retirement Withdrawal Strategies t by thinkpad12

Roth Conversion Ladder

I am still very early in FI journey, but I am trying to understand how I will bridge the gap between my FI date and 59.5. Right now I am maxing my 401(k), Roth IRA, HSA, and contributing to a brokerage. This means I am leaning pretty heavy into pre-tax assets in the 401(k). I am doing this because it saves me some taxes in the 22% federal bracket and some state income tax. I also believe that when I am FI I can basically fill up the standard deduction and the 10% and 12% federal tax brackets. Ob...

18 replies 1 hour ago Read more →

Retirement Withdrawal Strategies s by spickarski

Book Recommendations - Helping to Focus on Next Chapter

I am looking for any book recommendations that helped you focus your thoughts on a life where work or saving isn’t the primary focus.

12 replies 1 hour ago Read more →

Investing k by kyleray336

Large Windfall

I want to respect rule number 2 as much as possible here, but I am genuinely asking for guidance. I have received an $800,000 gift in the beginning of my FI journey. This is unexpected and it immediately makes me feel lightyears ahead of my goals! The issue is, I have not started my taxable account yet. I only have my funs in 401k. I have not finished my expense audit completely, but I have a good idea. Right now this money is burning a hole in my HYSA. FI is $1.3M. I feel like my plan to retire...

10 replies 1 hour ago Read more →

Retirement Withdrawal Strategies T by Tommy Mulhern

Missing Podcast Episode with JL Collins? Annuities, Reverse Mortgage

I'm new to the community and have been working my way through the older podcast episodes. I recently listened to episode 34 from July 30th 2017, the second part of a series with JL Collins. At the end of episode 34 they presented a cliff hanger. They asked JL about the role of annuities, reverse mortgages and other tools for retirement. The issues is that I can't find the next episode in the series. I searched the podcast archives I couldn't find any more parts of this series. Does any one know...

9 replies 1 hour ago Read more →

Investing C by CreatingMarina

Fixed Income and Cash Equivalents

For the Bond/Cash Equivalent part of the portfolio, what are people investing in to mitigate risk and to use for their cash cushion for sequence of return risk? Thanks.

9 replies 1 hour ago Read more →

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