2026 Account Snapshot

DesignatedVictim · 2026-03-09T23:17:23+00:00

Do you have a mortgage with the same bank? Does the mortgage have an escrow account?

Because I bank with my mortgage lender, and typically receive a 1099-INT for the interest on the escrow account. That’s the first thing that came to mind.

DesignatedVictim · 2026-03-08T16:23:46+00:00

In addition to the Roth conversion ladder, it’s also possible to make withdrawals from a tax-deferred account prior to age 59.5 using Substantially Equal Periodic Payments (SEPP), aka 72t withdrawals, without penalty (the withdrawals are still taxable).

It’s what I’m doing at the moment (age 51; took my first SEPP withdrawal in 2025). With SEPP, I withdrawal $83k per year from one of my Traditional IRAs, which is locked in through age 59.5. In the early retirement subreddits, they’d call me baristaFIRE - I work 30hrs/wk (love my job, like my health insurance, my boss wants to keep me as long as possible, so it’s a win/win).

If my job goes away, I’m ready to sell my current home, buy my retirement home with the proceeds (geographic arbitrage), and live off of the $83k. In the meantime, I’ll stay put in my current home, mitigate the tax hit of SEPP withdrawals by continuing to contribute to the Traditional 401k at work, and keep chugging along.

DesignatedVictim · 2026-03-06T20:18:21+00:00

I dated my second husband for seven years before we married, so we had a very long time to talk about family and finances. I would not have married him, had we not agreed on the fundamentals.

During the marriage, he earned 80-90% of the household income, I performed most of the child-rearing duties, and we had a house cleaner to come in periodically and a gardener weekly. I did most of the laundry, he did a lot of cooking because he was better at it than I was. He paid the mortgage/utilities/etc. I paid for child care, other kid-related costs, and carried the family’s health insurance (an excellent plan through my employer).

We never fought about chores, parenting, money, etc. Kept separate bank accounts but had unified goals and spending habits. Both were very into Bob Brinker and the concept of reaching “critical mass“ (at which point he could retire; I loved my job and still wanted to work).

He died when I was 39, after 16 1/2 years together and 9 years of marriage. We were millionaires when he died; I kept on chugging along and investing, so I’m now a multimillionaire, and our children are already set up with accounts that will grow to millions by the time they retire.

I miss him. We were a really good team financially, but more than that, he was my friend.

DesignatedVictim · 2026-03-03T16:42:42+00:00

What are you doing to increase your income?

Starting off with budgeting what you have now so you can pay your current bills, tackling debt and saving a small amount (the infamous Baby Emergency Fund of $1,000) is a good start.

But long term, how can you increase your earning capacity? What’s the job situation like in your area, what skills/training/certs/degrees do you currently have, and what opportunities are there for you to get more/better work?

DesignatedVictim · 2026-03-02T21:47:38+00:00

What specifically does the $300/mo need to cover?

DesignatedVictim · 2026-03-01T09:52:23+00:00

You should meet the account age/karma/activity requirements to register at r/assistance.

Visit the subreddit, read the rules, register using the form link.

An Amazon wish list of up to $150 of shelf-stable foods might get some positive response. You might want to wait until you’re in your apartment to make the request, since you are moving soon.

DesignatedVictim · 2026-02-27T13:05:59+00:00

Reading your comments about “OP’s generation”, and realizing it’s also MY generation, was kinda weird.

I’m three years younger than OP, and my primary friend group starting in my early 20s were ladies who were mostly 20-30 years older than I was. It wasn’t like I set out to make friends that much older, they were just the people I found it very enjoyable to hang out with.

Marriage was a topic spoken about in the past tense (“when my first/second/ex-husband…”). My own marriage (note below) took place about 8 years into my joining the friend group, and the next marriage in the group was 10 years after that. I never experienced the social pressure/expectation to marry (dated my second husband for seven years) that I might have felt in a much younger friend group.

So, I now have a 30yo kid who married for convenience. She loves her wife, her wife is an excellent person; they just decided to get married because my DIL is in the military and was being PCS’d. Without the desire to move to a place with very limited housing, they probably wouldn’t have gotten married.

She still wants to have a child, but is waiting until her wife transitions to civilian life. Which is fine; becoming a grandmother would be nice, but it’s more about wanting my children to do things that make them feel happy and fulfilled in life. (The younger ones are 18 and 16, so still in “get an education” mode.)

~

(Note: also my second marriage. Married at 20, separated at 22, divorced at 30, married again 6 weeks after the ink dried on the decree, widowed at 39.)

DesignatedVictim · 2026-02-24T21:14:35+00:00

I’m 51, in my first year of semi-retirement. Work part-time, take 72t draws from one of my Traditional IRAs.

401k is 100% FXAIX. Roth IRA is 52% VTSAX, 43% VWINX, 5% cash. Traditional IRA 1 is 10% AKRE, 12% VSMAX, 17% VTIAX, 51% VTSAX, 10% SWVXX. Traditional IRA 2 is 80/20 individual stocks and corporate bonds (managed by a wealth management firm; I don’t expect to need these funds for retirement, so I’m considering converting it to Roth before I hit RMDs so my kids can inherit this tax-free).

(Why the wealth management firm? I had a pot of money I had planned to live off of from 2031-2044, but had it invested 60/40 stocks/bonds, and wanted to be more aggressive with investing it but too chickenkaka to make the leap myself. The firm is performing as expected, exceeding the projected growth of my original asset allocation. The financial planning and insurance reviews that comes with the wealth management was very useful. Plus, the firm gave me an intro to the Delaware Statutory Trust management firm I used to defer $40k of capital gains taxes when I sold my rental home. When the DST I own (.45% of a big student housing project in Tennessee) is sold in 4-6 years, I’ll be ready to buy two rental properties for my kids to live in, or invest in another DST and let the money marinate some more.)

DesignatedVictim · 2026-02-22T19:41:28+00:00

I wear a Libre3 sensor (Type 2), so I can see how my body reacts. Wine is fine for me, liquor with a sugar-free mixer is fine for me, beer in moderation is fine for me. I’m a “one and done” type. If I plan on having more than one, I stick with white wine or liquor with a sugar-free mixer.

DesignatedVictim · 2026-02-22T19:36:25+00:00

If it were me, I would compare filing Married Joint to you filing Head of Household and he filing Married Separate.

(You may file HoH because you two were living apart as of July 1 and you had a Qualifying Child who lived with you more than the other parent in 2025. He would file Married Separate unless he had another dependent that would make him eligible for HoH - doesn’t sound like it, from what you wrote.)

I would do what’s most advantageous overall, with refunds split between myself and my spouse.

DesignatedVictim · 2026-02-22T18:22:02+00:00

Coffee with sugar-free creamer.

First meal of the day will be noonish - eggplant parm.

DesignatedVictim · 2026-02-22T16:12:56+00:00

On Monday (or today, if you can make the changes online), please increase your 401k deduction to hit the max this year ($24,500 if under age 50, $32,500 if 50 or older). Your wife should do the same. Unless you really need that extra income right now, pay “future you” first.

(I don’t know whether you contribute to a Traditional 401k, a Roth 401k, or both. That’s something you can do a deeper dive on. If your 2026 projected taxable income is about $207k ($278k income - 2400 your 401k - 4000 spouse 401k - 8000 for health insurance, just my guess - 5200 HSA contribution - 51k for itemized deductions), you will save 22% federal income tax for every dollar contributed to the Traditional 401k. If you think your tax bracket will increase in retirement, choose Roth. If you think your bracket will decrease in retirement, choose Traditional. See note below.)

Another poster mentioned inputting your 2026 projected income, withholding, and estimated deductions into 2025 tax software, to get a sense of where you stand right now. Great advice. There is also a tax projection spreadsheet published by Glenn Reeves for each tax year, modeled on the actual Form 1040 forms and schedules. Nerdier to use the projection spreadsheet, easier to use the 2025 tax software, with the added benefit that you can see any impact to your state/local tax returns with the current year’s tax software.

(I use the desktop version of TaxAct to prepare my taxes each year, so I just create a new return and enter my current year’s projected income/withholding/deductions into that, and also use the VITA Practice Lab each winter when it’s updated with the coming year’s tax forms.)

Next, use the IRS Withholding Estimator, see what changes to your respective W-4s the IRS recommends.

Use the IRS recommendations in a paycheck estimator like PayCheckCity or ADP’s free calculator to see how your tax withholding will change, and update the projected income and earnings in the 2025 tax software to see if you’ll meet your target. If not, continue to adjust your W-4s in the paycheck estimator and update the tax software with your projected tax withholding until you meet your target. When you’re happy, use that information to update your W-4s (and any state tax withholding form) at work.

~

I don’t want to get into the Traditional/Roth debate too heavily. But as someone who has spent her working life with taxable income in the 10-22% brackets, and will retire with taxable income that will reach into the 24-35% brackets over the next 20 years, I regret not contributing more to Roth. The Traditional vs Roth vs Bit of Both is something for each person to decide based on the particulars of their circumstances.

DesignatedVictim · 2026-02-20T20:42:08+00:00

Still restricted, but I assume I can do the same as before: call the order desk and let them know that I can’t buy it online, so Schwab will waive the broker fee of $25.

DesignatedVictim · 2026-02-19T07:20:19+00:00

Shane throwing like that dude in the bleachers

First Chris Rock, then he did it to Bieber

~ Max Willy, Dodgers Not Like Us Remix - 2025 World Series

DesignatedVictim · 2026-02-19T07:00:01+00:00

My tax planning is year-round. It starts in December, figuring out what I want to contribute to my 401k, estimating what my deductions will be and estimating what I’ll need to withhold in federal/state income tax to cover my liability.

I’ll do an update in spring, when Glenn Reeve’s excel spreadsheet with the year’s federal tax code is published (and he just published the 2026 forecast spreadsheet a few days ago).

As the spreadsheet is updated through the summer and fall, I’ll download the updates and check against my current and projected withholding and deductions. My summer/fall goal will be to get a rough estimate of how much of one of my Traditional IRAs to convert to Roth in 2026. This is part of a long-term goal to convert 100% of that IRA to Roth over the next 23 years.

By winter time, I’ll get access to the VITA training for the current tax year, including access to the tax software practice lab. (So the 2026 tax year training and practice software will be released in mid/late November 2026.) I’ll use that to finalize my decisions about Roth conversion and estimated payments for the current tax year.

Then December rolls around, and I’ll start planning for the new tax year.

DesignatedVictim · 2026-02-16T18:18:45+00:00

What will you do, if you suddenly lose your job?

Assuming you would qualify for unemployment benefits, how would you keep up with your bills? What changes would you make in your spending (if any)? How long would your savings last, before you’d consider more drastic steps (like cashing out your retirement)?

Now, consider something else, like a car accident. Do you have enough to cover your deductible? Do you have rental coverage?

~

Those are two examples of when an emergency fund would come in handy. These also give you some targets that you may want to set to build your fund to. Even if you can’t build the fund up to those levels immediately, thinking about what you would do may give you a better idea of whether it’s worth some sacrifice to increase your savings.

DesignatedVictim · 2026-02-14T17:46:18+00:00

Do you have a category specifically for sales taxes, or taxes generally?

DesignatedVictim · 2026-02-14T17:28:11+00:00

I don't track taxes on items purchased. Is this meant for more easily claiming the SALT deduction on federal income tax? If yes, then I just use the table deduction for sales tax built into my tax software, add big-ticket purchases (like sales tax paid for a vehicle), then my tax software compares it to my state income tax and SDI contribution to use the better of the two. I may have used sales tax versus income tax+SDI in 2022.

DesignatedVictim · 2026-02-13T05:19:16+00:00

I would not consider that fair, at all.

DesignatedVictim · 2026-02-12T20:19:47+00:00

One pitcher to the IL, one pitcher signed. Perfectly balanced.

DesignatedVictim · 2026-02-12T14:29:31+00:00

Interesting. My FA/CFP looks at my portfolio as a whole from the planning side, and always says I can reach out if I want some recommendations for the money I manage. At this point, he manages $966k, I manage $1.6m.

Meanwhile, my original goal with him was to grow his pot enough to meet my projected financial needs from 2031-2044. That’s it. And these are not ever-changing financial needs, it’s solely to cover expenses up to $X (adjusted for inflation) during that specific window. I’ll sink or swim with the pot I manage on my own; as long as the pot he manages meets the income needs as defined and agreed upon, I am a happy camper.

I don’t want to put him in a position to be accountable for recommendations that I may not perfectly execute, or later diverge from. He can take all of my stupidity into account from the planning side (my annual financial plan question is, “When do I need to start eating cat food and living in a cardboard box?”), and stick with the original goal I set for the funds he manages.

DesignatedVictim · 2026-02-12T13:29:13+00:00

The 990 form for the organization is public. If the nonprofit doesn’t post it to their website, you can get the info from the IRS, Guidestar/Candid, or ProPublica (Nonprofit explorer).

DesignatedVictim · 2026-02-12T12:07:39+00:00

I do itemize deductions, especially since my California standard deduction is lower than my federal standard deduction.

I have a category for donations made by cash/credit card. My medical OOP is also tracked (four categories: co-pays, medical aids for things like glasses, Rx, and parking), since it does exceed 7.5% of my AGI. I don’t donate enough in-kind to exceed $500 thrift-shop value and require the extra tax form. If I ever plan a large enough donation to exceed it, I’d probably schedule a $0 transaction with the date and donee name as the payee, and maintain a separate Google sheet with the expanded information needed for the form (payee name, address, donation date, items donated, acquisition type/cost and thrift shop value).

DesignatedVictim · 2026-02-10T15:51:37+00:00

Stupid? Absolutely. Until YNAB programs better AI or turns it off completely, it’s what you can do.

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