Retirement guides
How much to save, when you can retire, Social Security, and drawing down.
Retirement guides
Required minimum distributions: RMD rules explained
RMDs force withdrawals from tax-deferred retirement accounts starting at age 73 or 75, depending on birth year. Here's how the age, the math, the penalties, and the common traps actually work.
Pension lump sum vs. monthly annuity: how to think it through
A pension buyout letter forces a one-time, often irreversible choice: a check today or a paycheck for life. Here's how the math, the risk, and the fine print actually work.
Social Security at 62 vs. 67 vs. 70: how to think about it
Claiming Social Security early permanently shrinks your monthly check; waiting permanently grows it. Here's how the math, the breakeven age, and the personal factors actually fit together.
How does a pension affect Social Security benefits?
For decades, two lesser-known rules could shrink or wipe out Social Security checks for teachers, police, firefighters, and other public workers with a pension. Both were repealed in 2025 — here's what changed and who it affects.
When can you actually retire? How to know if you're on track
Retiring isn't about hitting a birthday — it's about your savings, spending, and guaranteed income lining up so a sustainable withdrawal rate covers your life. Here's the math that actually answers the question.
What is a 401(k) and how does it work?
A 401(k) is an employer-sponsored account that lets you save for retirement straight from your paycheck, often with free matching money — here's exactly how contributions, matches, vesting, and taxes work.
Roth vs traditional: which retirement account is right for you?
The core trade-off is simple — pay tax now with a Roth, or pay tax later with a traditional account — but income limits, required withdrawals, and your future tax bracket all shape which one fits better.
How much should you have saved for retirement by age?
Widely cited benchmarks suggest saving roughly 1x your salary by 30, 3x by 40, 6x by 50, and 10x by 67 — but the number that actually matters most is your savings rate, not a single checkpoint.
How much money do you need to retire?
There's no single magic number, but a few well-tested rules of thumb — the 25x rule, the 4% rule, and the replacement-rate method — get most people surprisingly close to a real target.