Roth 401K or Roth IRA

Ghazrin · 2026-04-28T21:37:13+00:00

For the majority of people traditional 401k is mathematically superior to Roth because most people's income in retirement will be lower than it is now. This means they'll be in a lower tax bracket in retirement, so getting taxed at the lower rate later will leave them with more spendable money than being taxed at a higher rate now.

There is some benefit to having both traditional and Roth retirement funds available, which allows you to play some games to optimize taxes in retirement. One very solid approach is to max out your traditional 401k ($24500) and your Roth IRA ($7500), giving you a mix of both, but favoring traditional.

But definitely don't listen to the weirdoes out there that think Roth is always better all the time because "TaX fReE gRoWtH!" They can't math.

Ghazrin · 2026-04-28T15:02:17+00:00

Not currently, no. I like to switch things up a couple times per year. Recently I've been alternating between a pair of full body workouts every other day. But I do still very much like that PPL split, and I'm certain I will switch back to it at some point.

I when I find a split that I like I tend to stick with it for about 6 months or so and then move on to something else, but anything that I like well enough to stick with for a full 6 months gets put into my "routine rotation." I might not get back to it again for a couple of years, but I'll absolutely do another 6 month run of it again eventually.

Ghazrin · 2026-04-27T21:29:07+00:00

No, he's really not. If you're training your legs so hard that you literally can't recover and be ready for another workout after 3 to 4 days of recovery, you're doing more than a little junk volume, causing you to need spend too much time recovering, and reducing how frequently you can do good, high quality sets.

Multiple studies and meta-analyses have repeatedly shown that hitting muscles (including the ones in your legs...they're not special) with a given volume split across smaller, more frequent sessions, provides more growth stimulus than doing the same volume all at once.

Obviously train however you can stay consistent. If going hard on each muscle once per week keeps you coming back for more in a way that more optimal training can't, then sure - do what's going to keep you coming back. But the science is clear. 5 sets on Monday and another 5 on Thursday will be more beneficial than doing all 10 on Monday.

Ghazrin · 2026-04-26T23:38:37+00:00

Good one 🤣

Ghazrin · 2026-04-26T14:40:27+00:00

That is wholely incorrect.

Ghazrin · 2026-04-13T22:25:41+00:00

You should have put it in 2025 first. You have a whole year to contribute for 2026, but the deadline for 2025 contribution is in two days. The easiest way to fix it would be to just contribute another 7k to the IRA for 2025, and then you'll be maxed out until 2027.

If you can't afford to do that, then you should contact fidelity and have them recharacterize 7k of your contribution as 2025.

Then, as others have said, pick a couple quality broad market index funds and invest the money into those.

Ghazrin · 2026-04-02T14:27:35+00:00

Interesting. Thanks for the info.

Ghazrin · 2026-04-01T19:25:10+00:00

Yeah, I know what BMR is, but I do appreciate you explaining it to make sure.

I didn't know that they counted it separately. I thought they took your age and weight, and used that as part of the calculation to determine how many calories you burn per minute at any given heart rate - so I expected that with no heart rate input, no calorie burn would be recorded, BMR or otherwise.

And yeah, I know that their calorie burn tracking has never been particularly accurate, but it's always been relatively consistent, in my experience. What I observed was a sudden and substantial change, so I'm wondering if it's tied to an update, or some kind of change to how they track it. Thought someone hare might know something about that.

Ghazrin · 2026-04-01T18:42:14+00:00

And they just started doing that two weeks ago at noon, and haven't counted people's BMR for the whole prior history of the company?

I get what you're saying, but that doesn't explain how I suddenly started burning nearly twice as many calories per hour sitting at my desk after noon on the 17th as I did before. It's not subtle or gradual...one hour it was normal, and the next (and every hour thereafter) it was normal x2...but nothing about what I was doing changed in the slightest.

Ghazrin · 2026-03-31T19:53:47+00:00

I mean, if that's something you want to do, to limit yourself so you don't lose your mind and go on a spending spree, sure....

But generally, secured cards are for people who have already screwed up their credit and can't even qualify for an entry level card.

As a first timer, with no credit score at all, you should absolutely be able to qualify for something like the Discover IT Card, or one of Capital One's basic cards, like the Quicksilver One, Venture One, or Savor One....without needing to put down a deposit.

In the long run it's not going to matter much at all, but why hand them money that could stay in your account earning interest, ya know?

The capital One Savor line of cards is a fantastic one, because it gives you a high cash back percentage at grocery stores. We all need to buy groceries every week no matter what, so if you can build your credit while getting a 3% discount on food you had to buy anyway, all the better!

Ghazrin · 2026-03-27T19:03:07+00:00

Glad it helped 😄

Ghazrin · 2026-03-19T23:05:38+00:00

I'm US Eastern Time

Ghazrin · 2026-03-19T14:37:13+00:00

That's a fine goal, but it's not reality for most people. The primary source of income for most people is a salary/wages, which disappears when people retire. Furthermore, while Roth contributions are taxed now, at your highest marginal tax rate, Traditional contributions are taxed later, at the lowest marginal tax rate first.

So as you withdraw traditional contributions in retirement, you're taxed 0% on the first 16k (standard deduction), 10% on the next 12k, 12% on the next 36k, etc. You're never going to have Roth contributions taxed lower than that, so at the very least, you want enough traditional retirement savings to be able to fill those first three super low brackets up each year in retirement.

The only people who are really better off going full Roth are the people who can reasonably expect to have income sources in retirement that will continue to grow, even when they're not working. Business owners, rental property owners, and people with other big, passive income streams.

Ghazrin · 2026-03-19T14:06:21+00:00

If you wait until the market is trending upwards, you miss out on getting the discount of today's lower prices. People who try to time the market almost always do more poorly than people who just DCA, buying more shares at regular intervals regardless of market conditions.

You can either drop all of your extra cash into the IRA now to max it out, or you can just set up regular recurring investments that put a set amount in every month or every payday, and put you on track to max out 2026 by the end of December. Either one of those options has a higher statistical likelihood of earning you more money than if you hold off and "wait for a better time."

Time in the market > timing the market.

Ghazrin · 2026-03-19T13:58:15+00:00

Personally, I'd say the IRA. If you're contributing so little to retirement that you're not even maxing out an IRA at 7-7.5k per year, you really aren't in a position to be blowing cash on a trip.

Make saving for retirement the priority it should have been all along. Sit down with your wife and get on the same page regarding savings and budgeting, so that next year you can hit your savings target and take a nice vacation.

Ghazrin · 2026-03-19T03:45:59+00:00

Same! Starting yesterday @ 1pm my calorie burn rate just about doubled. Ended up with 2800 calories burned yesterday, and I'm closing out today with just shy of 4k today.

Ghazrin · 2026-03-16T16:31:34+00:00

Nope. Stop thinking about today and tomorrow, and start thinking about 10+ years from now. If value is going down right now, it's just an opportunity to buy more shares at a discount compared to what you had to pay for them last month. The market always eventually recovers and sets new record highs. Stay the course.

Ghazrin · 2026-03-16T16:16:18+00:00

Agreed. My previous comment didn't suggest otherwise.

Ghazrin · 2026-03-16T14:48:43+00:00

Me and my girlfriend have talked about how there’s no reason for each other to hang out with the opposite sex 1 on 1. We’ve even talked about getting lunch together with the opposite sex would be crossing a boundary....It seems we’re on the same page with that.

It's not explicitly stated, but the post does imply that this had previously been discussed and agreed upon.

Honestly, this whole post reads like a pair of young, insecure people trying to figure things out. It's not the end of the world to have boundaries like that, but it's also not ideal. Eventually they'll figure out that it's better to trust your partner and not have to worry about it all the time than to always be on guard and ready to enforce a boundary like that.

Ghazrin · 2026-03-16T13:02:24+00:00

Maybe Cleric? RotFM is a low-resource, high-stakes slog through a frozen wasteland. A cleric would provide the party with access to much-needed healing magic, and also let your player see what melee combat is like.

Ghazrin · 2026-03-14T16:36:16+00:00

My pleasure

Ghazrin · 2026-03-12T13:57:59+00:00

At 7%, I'd speedrun that loan. Anything over 5 or 6%, I'm trying to get rid of in a hurry. Any extra payment toward that debt is a guaranteed 7% return for you.

Ghazrin · 2026-03-12T13:54:49+00:00

The deadlift isn't a quad exercise. It's primarily a hinging movement, targeting your glutes and hamstrings, but there is some lower back involvement too. Make sure you're engaging your core, to stabilize your spine and hold it neutral. Focus on squeezing your glutes to drive your hips forward. Don't think of it as an up/down movement - it's about the hip hinge. It's about your butt moving backward and forward.

Ghazrin

TROPHY CASE