Articles for thinking it through.
30 evergreen, plain-English notes on retirement decisions, rollovers, Social Security, Medicare, taxes, and Texas-specific planning topics. No hot takes, no predictions.
Asset location — the tax-efficiency multiplier most investors miss.
Asset allocation gets all the attention. Asset location — which holdings live in which account — quietly adds 25–75 basis points o…
02 · Choosing an AdvisorHow to choose a financial advisor — the complete checklist.
Choosing a financial advisor is one of the largest decisions most households will make about money. A specific checklist — credent…
03 · InheritanceInherited IRA 10-year rule — the post-SECURE deep dive.
The SECURE Act collapsed the inherited IRA payout from a lifetime stretch to ten years for most non-spouse beneficiaries. The IRS …
04 · Taxes & Retirement IncomeRoth conversions in the gap years before RMDs.
If you retire in your early sixties and your required minimum distributions don't start until 73, you have a decade-long window to…
05 · InvestingSequence of returns risk, explained.
Two retirees can have the same starting balance, the same average return, and the same withdrawal rate — and one runs out of money…
06 · MedicareMedicare Advantage vs. Medigap: how to choose.
Both options cover the same Medicare-approved care. They work very differently — and the choice you make at 65 is harder to undo t…
07 · Taxes & Retirement IncomeThe HSA — the most tax-efficient retirement account most people ignore.
Three different tax breaks in one account. No income limits. Contribution dollars grow tax-free forever, can be invested, and come…
08 · Retirement PlanningShould you pay off your mortgage before retiring?
Paying off the mortgage feels right. Often, mathematically, it's not. Sometimes, behaviorally, it absolutely is. Here's how I help…
09 · InvestingEmployer stock concentration and the NUA election.
If you have substantial employer stock inside your 401(k) with a cost basis far below current value, the NUA election can be the m…
10 · Taxes & Retirement IncomeThe backdoor Roth and the pro-rata trap.
High earners over the Roth IRA income limit can still fund a Roth — through a back door. But scattered pre-tax IRA balances can tu…
11 · Estate PlanningCharitable giving in retirement — QCDs and beyond.
If you're 70½ or older with charitable intent and a sizable IRA, the qualified charitable distribution is one of the most tax-effi…
12 · Retirement PlanningThe spousal IRA: saving for retirement on one income.
If one spouse earns and the other doesn't, the household can still fund two IRAs. The non-working spouse's account is funded from …
13 · InsuranceDisability insurance — the coverage gap most households miss.
Statistically, you're more likely to be disabled for ninety days or more during your working years than to die during them. Most w…
14 · InvestingWhen real estate and private investments dominate your portfolio.
Your investment statement says you're diversified. Your full balance sheet says otherwise. For many Texas households, the largest …
15 · Financial PlanningBuilding wealth as a first-generation earner.
The challenges of growing assets are different when you're the first in your family to have them. The technical questions matter. …
16 · Pension DecisionsCorporate pension: lump sum vs. annuity — the questions to ask first.
Before running the numbers, walk through the seven questions that change the answer for most retirees. The math is what the math i…
17 · RolloversWhat to do with your 401(k) when you leave a Houston employer.
Four destinations are on the table — and the right one depends on your specific situation, not on whoever called you first. Most r…
18 · Texas PlanningHow Texas's no-state-income-tax status affects retirement planning.
The advantage is real — but smaller and more nuanced than most retirees assume. Here's where it actually shows up in the math, whe…
19 · Retirement PlanningThe 5-year retirement readiness checklist.
Most of the consequential retirement decisions get made — or missed — in the five years before you stop working. A year-by-year li…
20 · InheritanceInherited an IRA in 2024 or later? Here's what changed.
The lifetime stretch is gone for most non-spouse beneficiaries. The replacement is a 10-year drain rule — and recent final regulat…
21 · Social SecuritySocial Security claiming strategies for Houston couples.
For most couples, the higher earner's claiming age matters more than anything else — and the reason is survivor benefits, not brea…
22 · MedicareMedicare and IRMAA — the income brackets that surprise retirees.
A single dollar over a bracket can raise your Medicare premium by hundreds per month — per person. The brackets are easy to miss i…
23 · AnnuitiesFixed vs. variable annuities — what to understand before you decide.
Two products that share a name but solve different problems. Knowing which is which is the start of every good decision here — the…
24 · InsuranceLong-term care insurance for Texans — the questions to ask.
Three serious paths exist: traditional LTC, hybrid life-with-LTC, and self-insurance. Each has a defensible case. The right one de…
25 · Education FundingEducation funding: 529 plans, custodial accounts, and other options.
529 plans get most of the attention, and usually deserve it — but custodial accounts, Roth IRAs, prepaid tuition plans, and outrig…
26 · Business OwnersBusiness succession planning for Houston business owners.
The single largest financial event in many owners' lives is the day they leave the business. Five to ten years of preparation typi…
27 · Estate PlanningEstate planning basics for Texas families.
Texas has unique features — community property, no state estate tax, and an independent administration option — that change how pl…
28 · RMDsHow RMDs work after the SECURE Act 2.0.
The starting age moved. The penalty for missing one shrunk. Roth 401(k)s no longer require lifetime RMDs. The changes are mostly f…
29 · InvestingRisk tolerance vs. risk capacity — why both matter.
Tolerance is what you can stomach. Capacity is what your plan can absorb. The right portfolio respects both — and when they disagr…
30 · Choosing an AdvisorWhat to look for in a financial advisor (and what questions to ask).
Ten questions that separate advisors meaningfully — and how to interpret the answers. The answers matter more than the marketing. …