How to Calculate How Much You Need to Retire
It doesn’t matter how old you are; you need to know how much you need to retire. The sooner you understand this, the better equipped you’ll be to plan your financial roadmap. If you plan to retire at age 35, you’d need a hyper-aggressive investment plan. If you plan to retire at 70 and are already 65, you may need to start considering a conservative investment portfolio. Regardless, you need to learn to calculate your retirement number so you can start working towards that goal. Surprisingly, you can calculate this in just a few simple steps. Read on to learn how!
5 Things I’ve Learned From My 1st Month of Retirement
I officially retired in early November of 2021. However, since we moved from Silicon Valley, California to Dallas, Texas in December, most of my time in November and December was spent packing, coordinating with movers for our vehicles and belongings, and actually doing the move right before Christmas. We then unpacked, cleaned, and settled in just 3 days. On Christmas Eve, we finally had time to put up our Christmas tree in our apartment. The rest of the winter break was spent with family at home and doing a little exploring in the new area.
Although I technically retired 3 months ago, I didn’t experience true retirement until the 2nd week of January. In this post, I’ll share my thoughts on how my life has changed, both personally and financially, as an (early) retiree!
End of 2020 Reflection on My Retirement Accounts
It’s an understatement to say that 2020 has been a crazy year. Nevertheless, at the end of every year, I like to review how well my investments have performed. Regardless of how good or bad each account has done, I find it healthy to review them as objectively as possible to see if any changes should be made to them for the following year. In this blog post, I will go through each of my retirement accounts one-by-one, see if I met my contribution goals, check their overall performance, and determine if my current 401(k) plans need any rebalancing or reallocating.
What's A Mega Backdoor Roth?
If you like your Roth IRA for its tax-free growth, you’re really going to like a mega backdoor Roth! Contributions to a Roth IRA are funded with after-tax dollars and earnings grow entirely tax-free. Similarly, a mega backdoor Roth is also funded with after-tax dollars and earnings grow tax-free but with a much higher contribution limit!
Reaching Financial Independence in Silicon Valley With $10,000,000
Financial Independence, Retire Early, AKA the FIRE movement, has become a major theme among millennials this past decade, including myself. Shortly after you start reading about it, you’ll learn that FIRE means different things to different people. In this post, I’ll give my take on what FIRE means to me, why I think it’s important, and how I determined my FIRE number. That is, how much money one needs to reach financial independence and retire early.
Roth IRA or 401(k): Which One Is Right For You?
I hear it all the time, “Should I invest in a Roth IRA or a 401(k)?” To help you answer that question, first we need to know what they are and what some of their benefits are. From there, I will make several suggestions to help you think about your own situation. Ultimately, the answer will largely depend on your current tax bracket, your future retirement tax bracket, and when you plan on retiring. One thing I will say is that no matter how high your income is, it’s possible for you and your spouse to each use both!