Join the Mad Fientist, Mr. Money Mustache, Paula Pant from Afford Anything, and Doug Nordman from The Military Guide for a live Q&A from Camp Mustache! Thanks and appreciate what you are doing. And if they decide not to pay it, you really have no recourse to get money from them. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of the credit card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer. In retirement accounts. We are not claiming any deduction for the IRA contribution as I have a 401K in my office and also my salary exceeds significantly the contribution limits for a deduction. Similiar to Fidelity. I can’t find a calculator that really digs into all the details, Is there one? I have a mutual fund that I opened through my financial advisor, and she does offer advice and try to educate me on my accounts. – a newbie Danish FI’er, UK reader new to site and new to all things FI! I was impressed and inspired to learn more. Free online tool that automatically pulls your financial transactions from your banks and categorizes your spending. Total for loan is $42,000. I now there are others out there too, but that’s what I use. Still can’t get into the lab or download the spread sheet. I’m clearly misunderstanding the purpose of this field. Now just check your email to get your spreadsheet download link! Rinse and repeat for both you and your wife. I noticed that many of the resources and tips given to achieve FI are geared towards individuals in the United States which is totally understandable. All Rights Reserved. What is the value for this field actually supposed to represent? I’m already subscribed. So it’s even more risky. I am poking around looking for info on backdoor Roth contributions. Thank you for your thoughts on both. Would that count towards the $3k? How’s that compare if youd just left the $100k growing until the drop? I got the card first, and then a year later my wife gets the card and I DOWNGRADE mine to a no fee version. Would you recommend doing a 0% balance transfer for an auto loan. Huge fan of the blog; concise and so well written! Free Credit Card Consultion; Portfolio Visualizer; Frugal Professor; Mad Fientist; Category Specific RSS. Correction – Tax savings is subtracted from the (HSA Contribution + Premium) not added back, and remember, you cannot calculate tax savings on co-pays unless it falls within the IRS guidelines (Publication 502 https://www.irs.gov/publications/p502/). This! A powerful (and free!) Welcome to CardRatings.com . All the best, The classic book on financial independence and early retirement! Loan will probably begin in May 2016. It is really easy to set up a new account but if you run into problems, you can give them a call and they’ll help you through the process. Not arguing against – just thinking out loud. I listened to your podcast on millenials, and that inspired me a lot – do you also have any good places to seek out information on FI for students? Do you have an iPod Touch or something you could use on wifi? but I have an even bigger software project in mind that I’m hoping to start in 2019. Email series that shares the strategy I used to accumulate over one million frequent flyer points! Thanks Buy Official Mad Fientist T-Shirt! But since so many FIRE evangelizers eschew the rhetoric of the typical formulas of (bonds = age) or (bonds = age-10) or whatever the latest version is, I don’t fully understand how this change occurs. I’ll be retiring on a mix of military pension and index funds and have no idea how to figure out what I might be paying in different states. We max out SEPs and an HSA. I think I should have had a lower-deductible plan. That is insane so yes, I’d suggest you go out on your own! Could someone explain to me why, when I enter a larger value in the “Withdrawal Rate” field, my “Time to FI” actually goes down? Without insurance, it’s somewhere in the neighborhood of $10,300 which is definitely not affordable. Should I start and end the sabbatical partway through the year to spread the income over two tax years. 33 votes, 25 comments. While on sabbatical, should I keep putting money into a Roth and HSA? I have lots of ideas, but I think this subject it ripe for the graphs you are so good at. Once I am doing that, I feel like I should go to adding the HSA. I work in London but benefit from an “overseas workday relief” (OSWDR) scheme which is great cause I pay less income taxes. General Disclaimer: See the online credit card applications for details about terms and conditions of credit card offers. Credit Card Guides . I have to go to a clinic every month for a treatment for a genetic disease. Has anyone else out there come across something like that? Good one! All of the calculators I have tried to use up to this point haven’t been helpful, they don’t account for the pensions. Some things, like prescriptions need to be estimated. “The rate at which you will withdraw from your accounts during early retirement”. I just have my paycheque. The FI takes use of your average spending over time. Because credit card offers change frequently, please visit the card issuer site for current information. Hi, I was wondering if you have knowledge of any FI’ers outside of the US – most of the advice you and your co-bloggers give is specific to the US system – although a lot of the advice is still relevant across borders, some things are not applicable. Just curious about a rule of thumb to keep the FI as realistic as possible. Spending can fluctuate over time and there may be a few years with big expenses that will skew the average, but that spending may be a one off. The word "Insider". An incredible book and an incredible blog! So I am thinking about not adding any more money to the account through her, and opening a new one on my own. Since I live in Canada many of the tax avoidance tips given are not applicable so my question is- would you happen to have any investment or supplemental income (besides creating a website) ideas for someone living in Canada using strictly Canadian investments or supplemental income ideas or know anyone in Canada who has followed a similar journey as yours but have used various Canadian instruments to gain FI, and if so if there is any way I can get in contact with them to pick there brain a bit? If I get a card in my wifes name can I use those points for me to fly? I want to do it, just leery of having CC I don’t need. If you send me an email before you apply though, I can send you my creditcards.com link, which should kick me back something if you apply through their links. I am a qualified public safety employee, if i retire before age 50 when does the 10% penalty for early withdrawal expire? Please try again. Credit card Hacking . ), I knew I was going to love this blog when you mentioned you had read How to Live Free in an Unfree World, and ERE. The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, Southwest Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card, Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card, Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card, Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card. Success! Betterment’s Cash Reserve account has a competitive interest rate and is FDIC insured up to $1,000,000 so it’s a great place to park your spare cash. Some pharmacies will give you a quote with your insurance information, but they generally get cranky about doing it. Just wanted to let you know that it is very much appreciated and looking forward to using it for many years to come. I have a question about the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards card, that I haven’t been able to find an answer to online. A small note, Mint is fairly ineffective these days (personal experience). Could someone clarify please? The property taxes on the rental is over $15,000 per year. Every two years you will be eligible for the sign-up bonus. Hey I love your site! I’ve never paid state taxes so I have no frame of reference for what numbers to use. © 2020 MadFientist.com and CardRatings.com. There was an error submitting your subscription. In my short search it seems like a point is worth about $1 is that about right? Can i do a back door Roth for just the $7000 contribution for 2019 and not pay any taxes ? Quick question. Nevermind, I just read the previous answer, sorry about that. What we do when it’s time to fullfill the sign-up bonus required spend is put literally everything we can on the card. Forbes Guide To ... Mad Fientist, he has carved out a unique space in the community by focusing much of his attention on … Affiliate Disclosure: Mad Fientist may receive compensation (at no cost to you) when you utilize some of the links below. Courtesy of the Mad Fientist. I wanted to send you an email just to see if you could critique what I’m doing but I couldn’t find a link to your “contact us” page? Does it expire at age 50 or does it now extend to 59 1/2? Do you have any recommendations on how to invest wisely this money in the channel islands? I have a homeowners insurance payment due in a couple months and was hoping to use the card for that. What is supplemental income? How to reduce taxable income is slightly more complicated. I opened a Roth IRA with Prudential through my financial advisor a couple of years ago. web application for monitoring and managing your accounts and investments. Credit Cards (4) Investing (6) Uncategorized (1) Search for: Recent Posts. When you email me, let me know what cards you are thinking about getting. Specifically, I’m looking for something that will allow me to submit multiple different cash flow needs for a period of time to calculate total assets required for the entire retirement. How would you go about starting a traditional Ira? That can make a big difference. There are a lot of smart phone companies out there now that have pretty cheap phones and plans. Keep up the great blog. Found some CC’s that have 21 month 0% terms with a 5% transfer fee of the balance. Reasonable efforts are made to maintain accurate information. We have 2 children and one of them needs a specialized school setting. I am asking because I am debating taking X amount of money out of my 401k or remortgaging for the same amount. The Clark Howard Show. Since most Americans are idiots with money, credit card companies offer incredibly generous signup bonuses because they think you’ll rack up a big balance and will spend many years paying them a lot of interest. I just joined, and tried the “Time to FI calculator”: https://lab.madfientist.com/calculators/time_to_fi. That is, I most likely won’t be accessing this savings for about 5-7 years, and I expect to be adding about $10,000 to it each year. So I type in my email that I subscribed with and get an error that I’m already subscribed. Did you not get it? Yes, I do own Traveler Plastic but sadly, the credit card affiliate programs are notoriously difficult to get into so only a few cards on that site actually pay me anything. I’m well on my way to FI and am looking for a tool that allows complex variables for FI planning. We have a nest egg of just over $500k with all the IRA’s, (both Roth and regular), 401k’s, 403b’s, a 457 and a joint investment account… (teacher and public service worker couple here). It all comes down to credit cards. Mia Now my husband is going to open his Roth IRA, but I am not sure if I want to go through the financial advisor for that or not, or whether I want to stick with Prudential for his IRA or not (I’m basically opening the fund for him). The single best way to get points and miles as cheaply and quickly as possible is to sign up for credit card offers. Thanks. Which I feel like is a “bad thing”, and I feel kinda burned. From what I’ve read most early retirees have been happy with a catastrophic plan. There are many things I use that could be helpful to you on your journey to financial independence and this page describes those things! Has the FI Lab been useful to you so far? What do you think about the Schwab Investor checking account? Maybe try running your numbers against a previous scenario eg the drop at turn of the year, using VTSAX. How does one take this into account – both the uncertainty and the major expense on a frugal budget. Need advice! To buy the same coverage from the same provider directly is too expensive (I’d be better off just staying in the workforce). Just one question, how can I set up the spread sheet so that I can factor in the value of a defined benefit pension plan into the formulae? 2. I have significant retirement and no retirement savings. If you haven’t achieved FI (yet!) Please advise. Thank you for a wealth of information! Ever since they switched from Yodalee to Intuit it’s just not as good since a lot of institutions end up blocked on their tracker. paying more tax, because of losing the kid deductions and college tuition credits. So how do I get an insurance that is comparable to what I have, yet still affordable on an early retirees income? Are there tax implications of pulling the joint account? I can’t decide if that fee is worth having her guidance there. Thank you for all your genius work! I thought I understood what that means clearly enough, but the calculator’s math obviously reflects something else. I am envisioning leaving the other 80% to ride the market out — were still ~15 years from retirement. Nothing happens when I click on them…. Will you sell your house and rent or will you keep living in that house? on how to to put money on a card you would not normally spend? Unlike certain beginner personal finance gurus, Mr. Money Mustache is a big fan of cash-back credit cards. So when you say you built travelerplastic, does that mean you own it and get the commissions for it? Not for borrowing, of course, but as a means of channeling through your standard spending and collecting … Here, he explains how you can start, too. and are still working, a historical view of portfolio dividend income earned is less important than understanding how much annual dividend (and interest) income my current portfolio would earn in the future, including the contributions I just made. Also remember, if you use your HSA as an additional vehicle for investing (HealthEquity is really great for this), it currently behaves like an IRA at retirement age. I love the site. Just set up an account and plan on putting it to use this january. A coworker shared that the mega back door Roth has different rules and because our employer allows in service distributions, I would be eligible to use this strategy. I know that you generally can’t “time the market”, but I can’t help but wonder if we can do some preparations for when the inevitable down-turn of the market arrives. I currently have a roll over IRA from a previous employer and a Roth IRA, both at C Schwab. Does Vanguard have the equivalent of the Fidelity cash management account that also reimburses ATM fees, offers checking and online bill pay, etc? What if I am in the same situation (opening a fund with Financial Advisor vs. opening an account on my own), but with money that I want to be fairly liquid? Just found this, I love your information. Your email address will not be published. Was just curious, do you have recommendations of CPAs and/or law firms for those of us who’d like to get started in real estate? According to the Mad Fientist, you need to know where you are in order to figure out where you’re going. What I do to avoid the fee is rotate between me and my wife. Thank you. Now just check your email and start tracking! On the Averages page, it uses “supplemental income” to calculate the discretionary and total coverage. If this makes sense, WHEN should I do the rollover? Do you think it would be simple to open a mutual fund (or another fund) through the Vanguard website as well? I intend to hit the 401K max ($19K) for 2019 and we’ll also max out our ROTH IRAs. * I am getting approx $13,000 tax credit from federal and $1000 from state. Not enough to fire at the level I want to. Older posts. There are 4 different planning tools, which one is the most basic? What financial steregies should I use to take advantage of a sabbatical. I’m 28 and have settled upon an 80/20 allocation for myself, but I just want to know how long I maintain that and how one transitions to a more conservative allocation. It is more based on “where your money WILL go” rather than ” where DID the money go”. Nate’s suggestion is a great one as well. I seem to be having trouble gaining access to the lab. Advertiser Disclosure: Many of the credit card offers that appear on this site are from credit card companies from which CardRatings.com and MadFientist.com receives compensation. If you timed it perfect, youd buy after it had dropped ~18% and would have increased 20% to get back to previous level. If you know anything about it, I would love to hear your take on this. If I start doing Roth conversions, Should I continue with our SEP’s? I use Republic Wireless. I was informed that based on the value of my roll over IRA ($500,000), that a back door Roth was not allowed. Thank you very much for unique and eye-opening posts, resources, and podcasts! The only thing I’m unsure about is health insurance. MadFientist.com has partnered with CardRatings.com to provide you with credit card offers, reviews, and ratings. Then forecast into next year the same thing, but this sounds like a very tedious and manual process. Thanks! We can cover the payments easily but wanted your reco. Trying to decide if it is beneficial to see what the current transfer value would be and what the unreduced value would be at the end of the pension term. :). My combined household income exceeds the limit to allow a contribution to my Roth IRA and my wife’s Roth IRA. Is this just a crazy strategy in general? Do you know, concerning the Barclay Arrival Card, if I don’t plan on spending my miles within the first year, can I downgrade to the no fee card and still hold on to my points for using later? Hello MF, Don't forget expenses that don't come monthly, such as vacations or holidays. Thanks a lot for the comment. There doesn’t seem to be a login. No in service withdrawals allowed at my firm (without cause) so back door ROTH isn’t an option and I’ll be employed here for another 10-15 years at least (fingers crossed). A vertical stack of three evenly spaced horizontal lines. Hi Mad Fientist. Since I’ll be in Edinburgh until May, please let me know if I can take you up on you and Jill’s offer on going out for a beer when in town. I do the same thing for a PPO every year, however, I use the PPO plan co-pays instead of the expenses. They both were life changing, spend changing for me. No contract. If not, just use taxis because it doesn’t sound like it would be worth the hassle and additional expense. I don’t think MMM counts it, but my memory might be wrong on that. If you instead decided to only withdraw 3% from your portfolio each year to fund those $30,000 worth of annual expenses, you’d have to wait until you had $1,000,000 before you could retire ($1,000,000 * 3% = $30,000). Camp Mustache – Q&A with Mr. Money Mustache, Afford Anything, & The Military Guide. At the point where I am it benefits me to have a high-deductible plan. I’ve been building custom software for the Mad Fientist since the beginning (e.g. The Fidelity Cash Management account reimburses all ATM fees and offers unlimited free checks so it’s a great account to have, if only for those two reasons. If something like rolling money for unused vacations to 401k exists, I would love to take advantage of that instead of getting cash (and bumping my tax bracket). – Is there a UK version of Mint or Personal Capital that you would recommend? If I don’t, that raises my income $16k, If I do a Roth Conversion that raises my income even further. Financial Independence Podcast by Mad Fientist "Brandon—aka the Mad Fientist—gets into the weeds of financial independence and early retirement with some fantastic guests," Loudenback said. Welcome to CardRatings.com . Been looking for a service/ software to use without having to connect mine and my wifes investment and banking passwords and just found your fi lab. Any help and guidance appreciated. How else can I take advantage of having very low taxable income? I am planning on changing back to the low deductible plan next year, but I want to make sure it will be the right move. I am a huge fan of your podcast and take every chance I can to soak up some of the knowledge you give out to us about FIRE. If you don’t normally spend enough to make the sign-up requirement, some options you can look at: buy gift cards to stores or gas stations you are going to shop at for future use, have friends/family pay you cash to buy their stuff, pay your taxes (has a fee included, but may be worth it if you are close). Great information and well presented, thanks in advance. I use most of the things on this list except for personal capital. I’ve got about 8 years before I turn 59 1/2 and I just want to get the five year rule on rollovers to a ROTH straight before I take the time to go to a CPA. My pleasure, Eric! I’ve recently discovered your site,much to my delight!. It is this compensation that enables CardRatings.com and MadFientist.com to provide you services like access to free tools and information for consumers. – Are there any UK equivalents that you would recommend? this is a fantastic tool to track your budget but mainly to be intentionnal about your spending. And I am hoping you can explain this conversion to me so that I might be able to actually do it! Thanks for your time. It’s a junkier junk bond. Hi, I am really enjoying your spreadsheet. The web-hosting company that has been serving up the Mad Fientist since the very beginning! I ask because with the recent tax changes, we are held to taking a MAX deduction of $10,000 on the mortgage and property taxes per year – is this for the primary residence only or is the MAX for a combined payments for all properties, primary residence AND rental or does the rental get addressed under a separate standalone transaction ? We have both regular IRA and Roth contributions over the years and are now not getting any deduction for my IRA. FI Laboratory, Credit-Card Search Tool for Travel Hackers, FI Spreadsheet, etc.) It indicates a way to close an interaction, or dismiss a notification. First time visitor to your website and it is absolutely amazing, You are truly living the dream! The Mad Fientist's powerful credit card search tool allows you to easily find the best credit cards for your specific travel needs! Like many, a good chuck of my retirement nest egg is in a pre-tax 401K. I have an infant son and thinking of setting aside a fund for him. For instance, if I roll over an IRA to a ROTH when I’m 58, will I have to wait till 63 to tap it or am I free to access it 59 1/2? Your portfolio will have a greater likelihood of lasting longer with a lower withdrawal rate but it will take you longer to build up enough to retire. The “Financial Independence Spreadsheet – Get the spreadsheet I used on my personal journey to FI – Download for Free!” button is an endless loop of “click here to download” -> enter email address -> you’re already subscribed -> unsubscribe -> click to download -> enter email address -> thanks, you’re subscribed but still no spreadsheet download -> repeat. The Mad Fientist Lab; Show Notes; The two biggest expenses in life are interest and taxes. Once I get that whole number – Required HSA Contribution + Premium, the whole thing gets the tax savings added back to it (HSA Contribution + Premium + (HSA + Premium ) * Your effective Tax Rate [I use last years’ because my income doesn’t change very much year over year]) Love this resource! However there is a 5% administrative fee on the amount that I deposit, and after 7 years that will add up to quite a lot of money, in my opinion. Thanks for the recommendation to read “How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World.” Great book with some very practical insights. Post navigation. We have $13.5k remaining with 34 months left (originally 63 month term) at 3.49%. Is the rental considered a separate transaction in the tax forms where the monthly rent is subtracted by the mortgage, insurance and property taxes and depreciation to get the net income and we pay taxes on that amount ? Lowering your withdrawal rate means you’ll have to build up a bigger balance to pay your bills so that will increase your time to FI. You seem genuine and down to earth and we really appreciate what you’re doing – thank you! How long will you have to wait with cash until that scenario happens? When would you have really invested the $100k as price was dropping? What pitfalls, like wash sales, must I watch out for? Hello, could you direct me to any posts on how to choose correct savings plan for your kids? where my tax bill has been in the 100s of dollars, I expect 12% bracket in 2018, mostly likely i still am unable to decide if Traditional IRA is good for me…due to income levels, i cannot contribute to Roth IRA and the Traditional IRA does not give me the benefit of deduction before tax….in such a situation, is it worthwhile to invest in a traditional IRA? Are there any gotchas if you cancel after one year? On Mad Fientist, Brandon offers a free, ... (B4 and C4) aren't the same as the ones noted on the balances tab — that's because the credit card balances have been subtracted. Right now everyone is covered under my plan offered by my employer. Thanks Mad Fientist and merry christmas to you. Give them a call if you get stuck with anything but I can’t imagine you will. You are able to combine points within household so you and your wife will share the same points. Say I Convert $15k, that would add $31k to my income. Hi Johnny, you should be able to do that so just give Barclay a call when your annual fee is close to being due. Share your success … The Mad Fientist's list of recommended banks, credit cards, books, travel-hacking tools, and financial services! Giles. If you sell your house and rent, your net worth will be higher but so will your expenses but if you stay in your house, the opposite. The application that powers all of the Mad Fientist's signup forms, email automations, etc. However all credit card information is presented without warranty. Offers are subject to change without notice and the terms displayed may not be available to all consumers. Thanks. We are a two pension household, with a little over 800,000. I understand that once I rollover an amount to my ROTH I will have to wait 5 years to tap it. I am planning to quit being an employee (and hopefully go as a consultant/contractor for my current employer). I assume one doesn’t just wake on the first day of retirement and update their portfolio from 100% stocks to 60/40. This book helped me, more than any other, with building my ideal post-FI life! Hi Mad Fientist! I am pretty new to this stuff. Whereas if you’re lending to some guy who wants to get money to pay off his credit cards, that’s a non-collateralized loan. – Can I still invest with companies such as Vanguard & Betterment from the UK? Brandon, also known as the Mad Fientist, used credit card rewards to travel the world. I don’t really need the HSA yet for an “extra place to put money” (i.e., I haven’t managed to max out my 401k and Roth IRA in the same year yet and I am in my 2nd year of work). MadFientist.com has partnered with CardRatings.com to provide you with credit card offers, reviews, and ratings. But what about after I’m 59 1/2. I prefer the freedom of pay-you-go but that just works for me and my mobile work situation, instead of paying a huge penalty breaking local phone contracts constantly. I wander how your hypothesis and analysis of retiring young would change with kids and especially if you had a child with special needs. On my own I am planning on looking at all the claims I had, and trying to calculate what I would have spend and gotten paid by my insurance company if I was under the other plan. Don’t have any specific question, but I just wanted you to know that my fiance and I actively listen to your podcast and it’s really changed that way we look at our finances and how we live our lives.