Not surprisingly, the most common question I’m getting lately is some form of: how does this new One Big Beautiful Bill Act affect the tax planning decisions I should be making? My very short answer is: for most people, it doesn’t — at least not dramatically. The law made quite a lot of changes. (This article on Kitces.com from Ben Henry-Moreland is the most thorough walk through I’ve seen yet of the various provisions and […]

7 Common Car Repairs That Can Be Done at Home to Save Money <img decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-24319 size-full" title="7 Common Car Repairs That Can Be Done at Home to Save Money" src="https://www.ourdebtfreefamily.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/pexels-tayssir-kadamany-3674523-5510228.jpg" alt=" Car repairs can quickly add up, draining your wallet with labor and parts costs. However, many routine maintenance tasks and minor repairs can be handled right at home, often with basic tools and a little patience. Not only can doing your own […]

These are the mutual fund taxation rules for FY 2025-2026. These are derived from Manmohan Sethumadhavan’s fantastic Capital Gains Taxation Rules Ready Reckoner for FY 2025-2026. Surcharge and cess rates are to be added to the tax rates shown below. Equity-oriented MF (>= 65% Domestic Equity Shares) Investments redeemed on or after 23 July 2024… The post Mutual Fund Taxation Ready Reckoner FY 2025-2026 appeared first on freefincal.

When it comes to retirement income planning, annuities can serve as a powerful tool to convert savings into a predictable income stream, either for a lifetime or a specific period of time. With that said, the decision about what assets to use when funding an annuity (i.e., in a taxable brokerage account, a traditional pre-tax IRA, or a Roth IRA) has important implications for tax efficiency, flexibility, and legacy planning. Each account type can trigger […]

When most people think of joining a country club, they imagine luxury, not financial savviness. But for me, joining a country club was a money-smart and emotionally aligned decision that saved me $84,871. Let me explain. The Dream That Sparked It My husband, Nick, and I have wanted a pool for years. The dream? Swim whenever we want, without relying on public pools or waiting for retirement in Florida. We even explored buying a new home here in Kentucky with a pool. But the ones we loved were $300,000 more than our current (paid-off) house. Financially, that didn’t make sense, especially with Florida on the horizon in four and a half years. Then it hit me.What if I could get the experience we wanted… without the massive price tag? The Numbers: New House vs. Country Club Membership Let’s break it down. If we were to buy a $600,000 home with a pool in Kentucky, we would incur the following costs. First of all, we’d be back into a mortgage, and would finance $300,000 on a 15-year mortgage. This would result in $90,088 in payments over 5 years, with most of the payments being interest, not principal. We would pay closing costs and realtor fees of $19,320 for the sale of our current home. Even though we’d be moving locally, our backs are no longer young, and therefore, we’d hire a moving company for a minimum price tag of $6,000. And let’s not forget pool maintenance! A quick Google search shows that the average annual pool maintenance cost for a home in the Midwest is $1,400, which comes to $7,000 for five years Total cost of a new house with a pool over 5 years: $122,408 What are the costs of joining the country club instead? There is a one-time joining fee of $7,500. Yes, I know that’s a tough one to swallow. My first year’s dues were prorated, as I joined a few months after their fiscal year began on April 1, totaling $4,900. The annual dues for years two through five add up to $24,512 ($6,128 per year). I decided to splurge and get my own locker in the ladies’ dressing area – with my name engraved on a bronze plate –  for $125 per year, a five-year total of $625.  Total cost of joining the country club over 5 years: $37,537 Total Savings: $122,408 – $37,537 = $84,871 That’s not a rounding error! That’s a serious return on intentional living. What That $37,537 Buys Me Let’s be clear: Nick and I didn’t “settle” by not buying the house. We gained: Unlimited pool access (without cleaning it ourselves) Tennis, pickleball, and gym access (Now that Nick and I are in the 50+ club, I hear that pickleball is a mandatory activity!) A beautiful, welcoming space to gather with friends, have meetings with referral partners, and go on impromptu date nights A new private restaurant with delicious and healthy cuisine  Time together that feels like a vacation, without

My Sweet Retirement Best High Interest Savings Accounts in July 2025 Do you know what are the Best High Interest Savings Accounts in July 2025? Putting your money into a high-interest savings account in Singapore is a smart and low-risk way to grow your wealth while … Best High Interest Savings Accounts in July 2025 My Sweet Retirement

Imagine spending your life building wealth, investing in real estate, stocks, or your business, with the hope of leaving a legacy for your children. Then one day, you find yourself wondering: Will the government take a massive chunk of it anyway? If your estate is well above the federal estate tax exemption threshold — $30 million […] The post The Step-Up In Cost Basis And Its Relation To The Estate Tax Threshold appeared first on Financial […]

Hi, it’s me: the crazy person who made a 2+ hour-long video reviewing grocery stores! Did you think I was done? Never! I’m the Saiyan warrior of personal finance writers. If a topic brings me to the brink of total annihilation, it only makes me more powerful. The positive response to that video was the senzu bean I needed to bounce back with even more cheap grocery shopping wisdom. To our new readers: welcome. To our new Patreon donors: thank you. Many readers lamented that they live far away from the stores featured in my investigation. With them in mind, I challenged myself to come up with some really juicy, delicious advice that could apply to everyone who shops for food. And I think I’ve managed to do just that. Today’s advice is universal. These are *cosmic truths* about grocery shopping. They will save you money on food, no matter what you buy or where you shop. If rising food prices are a source of stress in your life—as they are in mine!—I promise you’ll learn something helpful. [embed]https://youtube.com/watch?v=wAxywsdl7CE&feature=oembed[/embed] 1st Cosmic Truth of Cheap Grocery Shopping: Where you shop matters as much as what you buy. I already did a deep dive into grocery store price comparisons in To Hell And Back for Cheap Groceries. And when I say “a deep dive” I mean Active-Lava-Zone-deep. Sea-Dragon-Leviathans-Working-Loss-Prevention-deep. Any deeper and we’re just inside the mantle! The tl;dr of that investigation is this: an average shopping list costs $157 at one store and $82 at another. Which means that where you choose to shop has an enormous impact on how much money you’ll spend on groceries throughout your lifetime. A lot of people shop based on convenience: which store is closest to home or work, which stocks everything in one place, which are least crowded… and that’s completely understandable! But if saving money is your top priority, you should know that a few extra minutes in the car or checkout line could lower your bill—realistically by 10-20%, but potentially by as much as 50%. The cost savings at the cheapest stores may justify added expenses like grocery delivery, curbside pickup, or a bus ride or ride share to get to the store. At the very least, you can save money doing big, infrequent trips to the cheaper store for shelf-stable and freezable foods. To paraphrase Jess, “cheat on your grocery store—it’s not your girlfriend.” That’s my only repeat! Everything that follows is brand advice you’ve never heard from us before. 2nd Cosmic Truth of Cheap Grocery Shopping: Look up and look down. Here is a photo of the granola section at one grocery store. And here is the same photo, with a heat map of its unit prices. Highest prices are in red, lowest prices are in blue.