The retiree who built a $2 million traditional 401(k) by age 67 did everything right. Maxed contributions for decades. Captured the match. Stayed invested through every selloff. Now, at 67 with $25,000 in Social…
Social Security’s trust fund is at risk of running dry. There’s no question about whether this will occur on the current trajectory. The only question is when it will occur. The most recent Social Security…
A 52-year-old hospital vice president earning $310,000 at a university medical center maxed her 403(b) during open enrollment and assumed she was done. She was leaving roughly $32,500 on the table. The benefits portal…
A retired plumber, 65, claimed Social Security two years ago at age 63 and locked in a reduced benefit of $1,800 a month. Then a former boss called with steady work, and he took…
Picture a 64-year-old who claimed Social Security at age 62 because the bills were closer than the cushion. Two years in, a former colleague offers a part-time gig that pays roughly $50,000 a year.…
A single 65-year-old just retired with $1.3 million in a traditional 401(k), $80,000 in a Roth IRA (the 5-year clock long satisfied), and $200,000 in cash. Annual spending is $50,000. Social Security is deferred…
On a recent episode of the Rich Habits Podcast titled “169: Our Favorite Passive Income Strategy (2026),” co-host Austin laid out the covered call ETF pitch that most yield-chasers skip: “Because JEPI uses these…
Francisco called into Talking Real Money with a $1.5 million Vanguard portfolio, an average expense ratio of 0.06%, about $42,000 a year in portfolio income, and $60,000 in Social Security coming in with his…
On a recent episode of HerMoney with Jean Chatzky, a 56-year-old listener named Louise laid out a problem that sounds impossible on paper. She has $3.2 million in 401(k)s and IRAs, $430,000 in stock…
On a recent episode of My First Million, Sam Parr told his co-host Shaan Puri that he keeps 80% of his portfolio in the S&P 500, which would not be remarkable except for who…
On the May 12 episode of The Clark Howard Podcast, financial advisor Wes Moss, CFP, told Clark Howard something most retirement content avoids saying out loud: When the tax bill comes due 3 months…
A 30-year-old caller named Dan phoned into The Ramsey Show with a question his lender had already half-answered for him: should he and his wife cash out about $36,000 in 401(k) money to put…
Jessica wrote to Suze Orman with a line that stopped me cold: “I woke up at 60 after 2 divorces and some tough times. But thanks to you, I also have 2 beautiful children…
Tiffany Aliche, the personal finance educator known as The Budgetnista, told podcast host Paula Pant on Afford Anything about the night her financial life cracked open. “I spent my 30th birthday in my middle…
Northwestern Mutual’s 2025 Planning & Progress Study turned up a number that should worry everyone who watches household balance sheets. 69% of millennials say an inheritance is critical or highly critical to their long-term…
