Investing 401(k)/403(b): Rule of 55 (50 for Public Safety Employees) If you leave your employer at 55 years of age or later, you can make penalty free withdrawals (50 for public safety employees)
Taxes What Is Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI)? It Depends MAGI is context dependent; you can't use in context A the MAGI from context B
Finance Roth Five Year Rules 5 year rule for making distributions qualified, not all non qualified distributions are subject to the 10% penalty, typical backdoor Roth IRA "contributions" aren't subject to a 5 year rule, 401(k)/403(b)/457(b) rollovers are also subject to a 5 year rule
Taxes The Other Way to Withdraw from Retirement Accounts Early: 72(t)/SEPP SEPP, once started, must continue until 59.5 or five years, whichever is LATER, has massive penalties if you mess up, interest rates dictate your maximum SEPP, can solve a potential problem of the Roth Conversion Pipeline
Taxes HSAs are Amazing Retirement Accounts ... Unless You Live in AL, NJ, or CA HSAs are pre income and FICA tax, tax free for medical expenses (including some procedures typically not covered by insurance), can defer reimbursements, penalty free non medical withdrawals post 65...but HSAs are taxed in AL, CA, and NJ
Taxes Tax Loss Harvesting and Its Subtleties TLH gives you an interest free loan and tax rate arbitrage, beware of wash sales from retirement accounts, spouses, automatic dividend reinvestment, and Betterment, but wash sales aren't usually that bad
Taxes Gift Taxes and Why You Might Have to File Them Despite Never Paying Any What is a gift, gift tax annual exclusion limit, estate taxes, and the lifetime exemption
Taxes Going Back to School (Particularly Med School)? Taking a Gap Year? You Might Want to Convert Your tIRA Low to zero income years = opportunity for IRA conversion. If going to school, use up that Lifetime Learning Credit for more conversion room.
Taxes How to Avoid Capital Gains Tax Keep your income low and stay in the 0% LTCG bracket, donate securities, or leave securities to your heirs
Taxes How Paycheck Withholding Works Overtime and bonuses are not taxed at a higher rate, though they are often withheld at a higher rate