Sean Mullaney's Blog, page 6

Time to Stop 401(k) Contributions?

Ed Slott believes most Americans should not contribute to traditional 401(k)s. His recent essay on the subject is a great opportunity for the FI community to reassess its love for the traditional 401(k). My conclusion is that for many in the FI community, traditional deductible 401(k) contributions are still the most logical path when it […]

The Taxation of Roth IRA Distributions

Roth IRAs allow tax-free distributions to fund retirement. However, to help secure retirement savings and avoid premature raiding of Roth IRAs, Congress did not give them blanket exemption from taxes and penalties. Thus, there are times where distributions from Roth IRAs are subject to either or both ordinary income tax and/or the 10% early withdrawal […]

How I Learned to Stop Worrying About the Roth IRA 5 Year Rules

You know what gets too much attention in the personal finance space? The two five-year Roth IRA rules.  Why do I say that? Because the odds are extremely low that either rule will ever impact most Roth IRA owners. While the rules theoretically have wide effect, in practice, discussed further below, they rarely impact the […]

Medicare Resources

You know what doesn’t get enough coverage in the personal finance space: Medicare! It’s complicated, and frankly, I have neither the time nor the mental bandwidth to become a Medicare expert. However, recently I have seen some excellent YouTube Videos on the topic. I believe all the links provided below are worthy of consideration. That […]

Saving Social Security and Medicare

America has a retirement savings problem. To varying degrees, Social Security and Medicare support retirees. Other than for the very wealthy, a significant diminution in either program would materially hurt retirees.  Most can agree with a simple proposition: over the long term, there are fiscal holes in Social Security and Medicare.  I have seven proposals […]

Sean on the Catching Up to FI Podcast

Listen as I talk tax with Becky Heptig and Bill Yount on the Catching Up to FI podcast. You can access the podcast on Apple Podcasts. We discuss tax planning for financial independence, particularly planning for those catching up later in their careers. The show notes include references to the following FI Tax Guy blog […]

Inherited Health Savings Accounts

Folks love health savings accounts, and why not? A tax deduction or exclusion on the way in, tax-free growth, and then tax-free withdrawals when used for qualified medical expenses or reimbursements of qualified medical expenses.  Tastes great and less filling!  Considering the HSA is less than 20 years old (as of this writing) and contribution […]

Econome Presentation

Here are the slides for my 2023 Econome Conference presentation. Follow me on Twitter at @SeanMoneyandTax This post and the accompanying slides are for entertainment and educational purposes only. They do not constitute accounting, financial, investment, legal, or tax advice. Please consult with your advisor(s) regarding your personal accounting, financial, investment, legal, and tax matters. Please […]

Inherited Roth IRAs

Inherit a Roth IRA in 2023 or later? Thinking about leaving a Roth IRA to heirs at your death? Then this article is for you. Note that it is an educational resource. It is not advice for any individual’s particular situation. Further, this article does not address situations where a person inherited a Roth IRA […]

SECURE 2.0 529-to-Roth IRA Rollovers

Below I’ll discuss the ins and outs of the new SECURE 2.0 529-to-Roth IRA rollover provision.  While an understanding of the details is great, the more important issue is this: does this new rule fundamentally change financial decision making and planning?  My thoughts on this provision have developed somewhat since my January independent media appearances […]