You did everything right. You got into medical school, trained for years, and now earn a high income. By all appearances, you’ve made it. But deep down, something feels off. You’re exhausted, tied to your job, and constantly worried about money despite your impressive paycheck. Sound familiar? If so, you’re not alone. Many doctors and high income professionals find themselves stuck in what I call the “medical hamster wheel” – working harder, earning more, yet […]

This blog has a long history of writing about the best retirement calculators. However, we are also wide-eyed about the limitations present with even the best of these tools. Retirement calculators are only as good as the inputs you can provide. They can’t predict the future. One key input doesn’t get as much thought as… The post How Life Expectancy Impacts Retirement Projections appeared first on Can I Retire Yet?.

It’s no secret that market volatility has returned with a vengeance. For retirees and pre-retirees, the stakes are especially high, as sudden downturns can threaten stability and long-term plans. In uncertain times, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that doing something is better than sitting still. But without a clear strategy, emotional decision-making can take a serious toll on your long-term success. Ultimately, how you react to market volatility often has a […]

Before the article, here’s what’s happening this week on our podcast, Personal Finance for Long-Term Investors: Today’s Question Barry wrote in and asked: Jesse – I’ll need about $100,000 per year from my portfolio in retirement. I have $3M in my retirement portfolio. It’s producing about $60,000 in income and dividends for me, meaning I only need to sell $40,000 (net of taxes) of the principal value to fund the rest of my need. By my math – $40,000 divided by $3M is about 1.3%. That withdrawal rate is WAY less than the 4% rule. Am I thinking about this correctly? Financial Planning Background Info Before answering today’s question, we must ensure we’re all on the same playing field. The 4% Rule If you’re not familiar with the 4% rule, here’s some excellent info for you: Some 4% rule basics Why many people are using the 4% rule all wrong Is the 4% rule too risky? Where Do Investment Returns Come From? We also need to discuss where investment returns come from. Where does the “growth” come from if you own stocks, bonds, real estate, or anything else? How does the “return on investment” end up in your pocket? The answer is different for each investment class. But *most* investments provide their return to investors via two separate mechanisms: They regularly return cash to investors. This could be interest from a bond, a dividend from a stock, or rent from real estate. The investment itself appreciates in value. This could be a stock increasing in price over time (as the underlying company grows and becomes more profitable) or a building you own growing in value (due to capital improvements or increased demand in its local market). Plants grow bigger AND provide annual fruit. For a typical retirement portfolio: Portfolio Growth = Dividends + Interest + Capital Appreciation When someone says, “A 60/40 portfolio grows by ~9% per year, on average,” what they are actually saying is:  9% = Average Dividends + Average Interest + Average Capital Appreciation  Do Dividends and Income Count Toward the 4% Annual Withdrawal? To answer today’s question: Yes, if dividends and income leave your portfolio, they are part of your withdrawal rate. If you extract 2% of your portfolio via income and dividends and another 1.3% via selling assets, then your withdrawal rate is 3.3%. The dividends and income are not free money. They are one of the key components of your overall portfolio return. If you weren’t extracting those dollars, you’d reinvest and compound them. Believing that dividends are “free” is one of the biggest misconceptions in DIY investing. The 4% Rule Is Limited…But *This* Is Much Better The simple fact is that the 4% rule—or any withdrawal rule—is only a rule of thumb. It’s a starting point but highly limited. You must go deeper. A real CFP financial planner would use

Gift certificates are everywhere—birthdays, holidays, rewards from work, or loyalty points. Yet, many are unused, tucked in drawers, or forgotten in wallets. That’s money sitting idle, especially when everyday expenses like groceries, gas, or bills pile up. What if those gift cards could actually help unlock some financial breathing room? For people looking to gain a bit more control over their cash flow, converting gift certificates into actual money is becoming a smart move. Some […]

Image Source: Pexels Planning for retirement today takes smart planning. Additionally, the earlier you start, the more likely you’ll be able to retire when you’d like. Does it seem like you’ll never be ready to retire? Here are 10 reasons why that might be true. 1. You Didn’t Save If you failed to save for retirement early, you probably don’t have enough saved to maintain your lifestyle into your golden years. Failing to adequately save […]

Last year I wrote about some of the psychological challenges I’d encountered in early retirement. That post struck a chord with readers, some of whom shared their own challenges, both in the comments section of the post and in personal messages shared directly with me. One such response came from Chad Andrews, founder of the… The post Trial by FIRE appeared first on Can I Retire Yet?.

Hey Everyone! Did you have a good month? March was a pretty good month at the RB40 household. We visited my brother during Spring Break and had a great time. We are back in town now, and Spring is here! The nicer weather and longer daylight hours improve my mood tremendously. RB40Jr is back with his Ultimate Frisbee team. He has activities every day after school now. We’ll be busy this Spring. On the personal finance side, we didn’t have a good month. Our rental condo hasn’t sold yet, but that’s expected. The real estate market was very slow in the winter. Hopefully, spring will bring more buyers to the table. Our net worth decreased a litte bit in March, but that was before Liberating Money from Your Portfolio Day. It’s down a lot more now, but that will show up in the next update. For March, we weren’t too bad off. Our cash flow was also negative due to the rental condo. It’ll be rough until the condo is gone. Alright, I’ll share how I’m doing with my New Year goals. Then, I’ll go over our net worth and cash flow. Let’s go! 2025 Goals Here is my 2025 goal spreadsheet. It works well. Try it out if you can’t keep up with your New Year goals. The key is to review the spreadsheet monthly to track your progress. That way, you can see which goals need extra attention and work on them. Financial Goals Sell Rental Condo This is my main goal for 2025. Our tenant moved out of our rental condo in January. I fixed it up and put it for sale. Unfortunately, the housing market is terrible right now. It might take a while to sell.   Anyway, I plan to travel more and don’t want to be a landlord anymore. I’d rather invest in real estate crowdfunding. That’s much easier. Prep duplex for sale Along the same line, I want to sell our duplex after RB40Jr finishes high school in 2029. We need to move to southern California to be closer to families. Mrs. RB40’s parents are getting older, and they need help. This year, I want to meet with our realtor and figure out what we need to fix. The first thing on the list is siding repair and exterior repainting. I’d be happy if we could get at least that much done. I plan to hire this out. These days, I try to avoid the ladder as much as possible. I also want to remodel the kitchen and bathroom if we have any money left. This is on the back burner for now.   Max out my Roth IRA The Roth IRA is the best investment account you can have. You don’t have to pay tax on the gains when you withdraw. This is huge. If you start young and max out your Roth IRA every year, it’ll be a great resource in retirement. I’ve maxed out my Roth IRA