Four tickers, $600,000, and a target of $40,000 per year in dividend income. That math requires a blended yield of roughly roughly 6.7% across the portfolio, which is achievable but demands a clear-eyed look…
Every December, financial advisors ask high-earning clients: have you done your backdoor Roth yet? The mechanics are straightforward and the financial stakes are real. For anyone earning too much to contribute directly to a…
Clark Howard, the personal finance radio host and podcaster, had what at first might seem like some unusual advice for a 25-year-old caller. Stop investing in your Roth IRA right now, he told Timothy.…
A $20,000 annual income stream requires roughly $571,000 at a 3.5% yield, $333,000 at 6%, or $250,000 at 8%. The question is what you give up to get there. What a $20,000 Income Goal…
At 21 years old, Bridger and his 20-year-old wife are eight months into their marriage, earning $55,000 combined, and carrying $36,000 in car debt across two vehicles at $500 per month each. When they…
A 30-year-old single mother called into The Ramsey Show carrying $74,000 in debt and a question about opening a 529 for her 4-year-old son. Dave Ramsey’s answer reframed everything she thought she was doing…
Jordan is 20 years old, married, with a baby on the way, earning $70,000 a year. He got a larger-than-expected tax return and wanted to know whether buying a motorcycle before a house was…
Tyler called into The Clark Howard Podcast after someone told him that overfunded whole life insurance was a “no-brainer” for building generational wealth. Howard’s response: The cart is before the horse, and the math…
Buying a house is a complex process full of important decisions, one of the most significant being your mortgage. Choosing the right mortgage term can have a major impact on your finances in the…
A stepmom named Leslie called The Ramsey Show with a question that sounds like a $1,200 decision but is really about something much harder: how much space should a difficult ex-spouse get inside your…
Americans are driving more miles than ever before, yet pulling up to the pump and spending less on gas than they did five years ago. That counterintuitive reality deserves a close look, because understanding…
A 73-year-old with $1.5 million in a traditional 401(k) faces a forced withdrawal of roughly $56,600 this year. The IRS Uniform Lifetime Table assigns a distribution period of 26.5 at age 73, meaning the…
A cardiologist who retires at 60 with $2 million in a traditional 401(k) and delays Social Security until 67 has something most investors do not: a multi-year window of artificially low taxable income. When…
Collecting Social Security doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re ready to give up working forever. Many people retire and claim benefits with the plan to still work at least part of the time. This desire…
It sounds nearly impossible on paper: a couple with a $250,000 annual income somehow is still running a $5,000 monthly deficit. Tracy called into The Ramsey Show recently looking for help. Someone embezzled roughly…