Topic
Retirement
Free courses and guides on the decisions retirement brings: which account to fill, how much to withdraw, when to claim and how to step around the tax traps.
Retirement decisions compound in the same way investments do. The age you claim Social Security changes every check for the rest of your life, a Roth conversion in a low-income year can shrink every required distribution after it, and a withdrawal rate set too high in a bad first year is hard to recover from. The courses take those decisions one at a time.
The rules come from the IRS, the Social Security Administration and Medicare. Most dollar limits are adjusted every year, so treat any figure in a worked example as a round hypothetical and get the current one from the agency that sets it. The Social Security claiming and retirement withdrawal calculators run the sums on your own numbers.
Free courses
Beginner · free
Don't Let the Nest Egg Crack: A Retirement Withdrawal PlanPeople within about ten years of retiring, or already retired, who want a written plan for drawing income from their savings.
Intermediate · free
Tax Landmines After the Last Paycheck: Retirement Tax PlanningRetirees and near-retirees with savings in a traditional IRA or 401(k) who want to see how withdrawals, benefits and Medicare premiums interact.
Beginner · free
The Care Bill Nobody Budgets For: Planning for Long-Term CarePeople in their 50s and 60s planning for possible care costs, and adult children helping a parent understand the options.
Beginner · free
The Social Security Waiting Game: When to Claim Your BenefitAnyone within about fifteen years of claiming Social Security, and married couples who want to decide their claiming ages together.
Beginner · free
The Taxman Can Wait Outside: Growing Money in Roth and HSA AccountsAnyone saving for retirement who wants money that grows and comes back out without tax, whether they are new to Roth accounts or already hold one.
Strategies
Verdict
The 4% Rule: A Starting Withdrawal Rate to Test, Then AdjustUse 4% to size the savings target and the first withdrawal, then let the portfolio's path and your guaranteed income set later years.
Guides
Definitions
- Full retirement age
The age at which Social Security pays your full retirement benefit, called the primary insurance amount: 67 for people whose birth year is 1960 or later, and lower for earlier birth years.
- Required minimum distribution
The amount the IRS requires you to withdraw each year from traditional IRAs and most workplace retirement plans once you reach the required beginning age.
Calculators
- Social Security Claiming Calculator
Your monthly benefit at each claiming age from 62 to 70, and the age where waiting starts to pay.
- Retirement Withdrawal Calculator
How long savings last at a chosen withdrawal, return and inflation rate, year by year.