Your FI Community

Spending Smarter t by tiffycan2

Need advice for saving money on groceries

Curious if anyone has any good recipes or hacks they've had for saving money on groceries? With two teenage kids (one an athlete) I'd welcome any ideas for saving money while still being able to have home cooked healthy food without our grocery bill being so high. Seems like prices at the store just keep going up and I need to find better options than just eat more beans and rice (especially since one of the kids won't touch beans).

35 replies 21 minutes ago Read more →

Retirement Withdrawal Strategies s by susannz

What percentage of your 401k is invested in stocks versus bonds?

I’m curious to see how everyone is allocating their 401k investments.

28 replies 21 minutes ago Read more →

Investing M by McLovin

Question on asset "location"

Hello, seeking some clarification on the discussion regarding asset location. I follow that it is more tax efficient to have equities in after-tax accounts and have bonds or other interest-earning investments in tax-advantaged accounts. Does this only matter when in drawing from all account types (after-tax and tax-advantaged accounts)? It definitely makes sense for the 60 year old person who withdraws from every type of account as desired. But what about a 40 year old FIRE'd person who doesn't...

25 replies 21 minutes ago Read more →

Earning More F by FrugalReno

Burnout, Work-Life Balance, and Large Career Pivots ~

Curious if others have experienced a major career pivot after burnout. I went from practicing law into a business role where my law background is helpful, but not required. Escaping billable hours improved my work-life balance a lot, but mentally the shift has felt strange at times. I feel like most people follow a more “standard” career path, so taking a different route can create a weird sense of imposter syndrome — even when the change is positive. For example, feeling like law school and the...

22 replies 21 minutes ago Read more →

Kids & Family Finance v by vagrant1

My wife's rebuttal to FI? There seems to be no consequences for bad financial behavior!

My wife and I are nearly FI. I've dragged her this far. She doesn't really understand FI. She doesn't understand the methodology, the strategies, etc. I do. And I believe in it wholeheartedly. But my wife has a (good?) rebuttal to FI….***"Why would we save and invest when seemingly society spends like drunken sailors and nobody ever pays any consequences!*** ***So they go into debt! They go bankrupt! What TRULY ever happens to them!"*** So she sees our neighbors with the new cars, the boats, etc...

15 replies 21 minutes ago Read more →

Tax Strategies V by Victor Zarour

Opening a Traditional IRA?

Hi FI friends, I am new to the community I have been tuning in for about a month or so now. I was considering opening a Traditional IRA to reap the tax deduction benefits. My employer doesn't offer a 401k, we only have profit sharing which I cannot contribute to. I currently have a Roth IRA and have been saving money for a few years now, I have about 15k saved in there. If I were to open a Traditional IRA, should I just contribute to that instead of my Roth from now on and convert later down the...

11 replies 21 minutes ago Read more →

Lifestyle Design A by Anonymous

Opt-out long-term care option

I'm reading the book, "The Childfree Guide to Life and Money", by Jay Zigmont where he mentions the opt-out long-term care option. This has been my plan since I retired a couple of years ago without a million dollars and no medical insurance. I am single, childfree, no pets, and plan to die with zero. I signed paperwork to donate my body to the local medical school years ago and also pre-paid for my death certificates, funeral home transportation from the local hospital to the local medical scho...

8 replies 21 minutes ago Read more →

Debt t by twoawesomedogs

Pay off CC from cash savings?

Hi all. I have an emergency fund in a MMF at 3%, with currently $21,000 in it. For me that is safely and conservatively 5 months of expenses with wiggle room (probably closer to 6–my bottom line expenses are $3500/month all-in). I have a credit card with $5200 on it (one sizeable home repair and one $3k vet bill from just last month). It's currently at 0% interest which is about to end. - **Option 1:** Pay off the card in its entirety immediately. That leaves $16,000–or only about 4 months of an...

8 replies 21 minutes ago Read more →

Military FI M by Marty

Disabled Veteran Benefits FIRE

Has there been a discussion on being able to FIRE as a disabled vet?

6 replies 21 minutes ago Read more →

Real Estate M by MeloJ

Can I get to FIRE? Debt, mortgage, home selling process

Hello everyone. Please share your thoughts. I'm trying to be completely debt free, but I can't do so unless I sell my house. The mortgage is affordable, which is why I bought it, but I never had any intent on staying here. The value has increased. The problem is that I'm struggling with deciding on the selling process. I prefer to sell below value for a cash offer to avoid the full selling process (showing my home to a bunch of strangers who may or may not have a pre-approval or the paperwork to...

5 replies 21 minutes ago Read more →

Nomads and Expats B by Bryan Wilson

The Finances of Travelling the World for 7 Months

My wife and I just got back from a 7 month career break to take a trip around the world! I wrote up a blog post going over a lot of the finances surrounding the trip and though people might be interested! [The Finances of Traveling the World for 7 Months](https://mindovermoney0.wordpress.com/2026/06/02/the-finances-of-traveling-the-world-for-7-months/)

5 replies 21 minutes ago Read more →

College P by Paul Vail

Credit card sign-up or cashback bonus with tuition payments

Hi folks, I am looking to help my daughter learn about credit card perks. We spent several months traveling on my Chase Sapphire Preferred and Discover cards for points accrual and cashback, depending on expenses. She'll be going to college in the fall, and it's time for her to have her own (non-AU) card. I'll be visiting the site bonus cards because, well, every podcast I'm gently reminded that Brad pays for this hosting with the affiliations and I'm happy to help. But I'm not interested in her...

3 replies 21 minutes ago Read more →

Spending Smarter K by Kac

Cellphone

Been with a major carrier ( ATT) for years and believe we are paying too much for a plan for three people. Looking for recommendations for anyone who has switched and found a carrier that would provide similar coverage/ features etc for around $100/month.

18 replies 21 minutes ago Read more →

Retirement Withdrawal Strategies G by GraceMakesLace

Why is it better to max out the 401k than just do the employer match and Roth IRA?

I'm going through the Tax Optimization lesson on here and am a little confused. At my last job, we didn't get any sort of retirement plans, so I had to DIY which meant a Roth IRA and a Brokerage account. At my current job, I'm investing a teeny bit beyond the company match(they match up to 5%, I'm contributing 6%). There's no HSA for us here. According to step 3, it says to max out my Roth. BUT here's where I'm getting confused. We can only add 7,500 a year to our Roth IRAs. My expenses are $14,...

26 replies 21 minutes ago Read more →

Investing W by Westie

Muni bond funds for a portion of emergency fund?

My annual spending is around $85-90k. One of my major goals over the next 2-3 years is to bump up my emergency fund to a full years worth of regular spending (not "oh shit I lost my job time to cut back" spending). I'm already close to maxing out all the tax-advantaged accounts available to me unless there's some wacky loopholes I don't know about. So I don't plan on using Roth vehicles for any portion of my e-fund. I don't know much about bonds, so I may be way off base here. But what do you gu...

17 replies 21 minutes ago Read more →

Earning More S by Stephanie Sipes

Remote, flexible side hustle???

Hi, friends, I’m new to the FI community, working to pay down debt and accelerate my family toward FI. I’m a SAHM and homeschooler and would like to stay that while building some part-time, remote, flexible income. I have a civil engineering degree but have never worked in the field. I have taught and tutored math, but my kids are not at an age where they can be consistently quiet while I tutor during the day. I have been tutoring after they go to bed, but there’s not a lot of time there. I’m hu...

18 replies 21 minutes ago Read more →

Kids & Family Finance B by Bill

Debit card for Kids

Till Financial has a debit card for kids that is zero cost. We found out about through our kids middle school. Been using it for almost a year now and it has been great. I am able to transfer money into their accounts and see what they have been spending and saving. The kids login allows them manage their own balance, see their spending history, and move money into savings goals and out of their debit "account" so they don't overspend. Allowances can be automated and more.

3 replies 21 minutes ago Read more →

Tax Strategies B by BostonFI

Taxes in Year 1 of Retirement

I’m retiring from my W2 job in Q2 2027 and am reading up on estimated taxes to prepare. Am I correct that because I’ll have W-4 withholding in 2027 up until my retirement date, I’m exempt from needing to hit any of the usual quarterly estimated tax payment targets (25% of the year’s required payment by April 15, 50% by June 15, 75% by Sept 15, and 100% by Jan 15 of the following year)? I plan to do Roth conversions each year in retirement but wait until Q4 to do them so that I can adjust the siz...

11 replies 21 minutes ago Read more →

Lifestyle Design v by vagrant1

Dreaming of my ideal "FI" place to settle down.....

So myself (age 48) and wife (age 42) are looking ahead about 5 years when we hope to "permanently" (is anything permanent?) settle down and retire. We're dreaming of our idea location to settle down and wonder if such a place exists? We're essentially wondering if a community exists out there whereby: 1. Residents own their home. 2. Residents of the community **HAVE ACCESS TO SOME KIND OF COMMUNITY MEAL PLAN**. 3. Residents of the community get "renter" type benefits (they don't have to maintain...

6 replies 21 minutes ago Read more →

Debt W by Westie

Update on helping my friend get out of debt

I have to be honest…this isn't entirely altruistic on my part. I've been in the "boring middle" for a few years now. Helping someone else who is starting from zero (less than zero actually) is invigorating. We had a meeting today where I proposed my split-income strategy (a portion to debt, and a portion to living, with no budgeting restrictions on the living money except the general ceiling of having less money to spend). It helped that over THIRTY PERCENT of her take-home was already going to...

1 replies 21 minutes ago Read more →

Military FI B by Bob Scarlett

Newly Separated Veteran

Hi all, I got out of the Navy in October, 2025 after 6 years of active duty with 5 years overseas.

6 replies 21 minutes ago Read more →

Real Estate C by Chris_W

Lenders that look at retirement assets for inv property HELOC

Long-time podcast listener, first post! Does anyone have experience with qualifying for a HELOC associated with an investment property that was able to use retirement accounts in the debt-to-income calculation? Don't want to waste time and then not qualify at the end of the process (happened last year). Hoping to find a couple lenders that others have had success with Asset Backed Qualification. I have enough Roth-basis funds to qualify if included in the income calc. Found some lenders online b...

4 replies 21 minutes ago Read more →

Retirement Withdrawal Strategies m by msualumni33

Good calculator recommendations?

I am about 4 years away from planned retirement (I am 56) and somewhat freaked out that I have saved too much in my 401K for tax purposes in the future. I did start last year converting portions to Roth 401K, when my employer added that option. I have a very small taxable brokerage account on the side but my primary focus in the next few years is converting to Roth 401K as much a possible. I will file for Social Security at 62. I do plan to eventually meet with a CPA for more specific guidance,...

26 replies 21 minutes ago Read more →

Retirement Withdrawal Strategies J by JDFI

An interesting caution on Coast FI and maybe Barista FI from Nick Maggiulli

See [www.businessinsider.com](https://www.businessinsider.com/retire-early-coast-fire-movement-ai-job-risks-financial-independence-2026-4) Basic concern is if AI takes too many jobs, it could raise unemployment permanently and structurally eventually (AI could provide more jobs temporarily, but net eliminate jobs over time), which makes FIRE a terrific mitigation. But Coast FI or Barista FI dampens that risk reduction compared to full FI. Nick (the guy behind "Of Dollars and Data") summarized th...

22 replies 21 minutes ago Read more →