Essays
All essays
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ACA MAGI Is the Number Early Retirees Actually Need to Control
For US early retirees, healthcare cost often depends less on net worth than on one controllable income number: modified adjusted gross income.
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Roth Conversion Ladders Without the Forum Jargon
A Roth conversion ladder is simply a five-year conveyor belt. Here is what moves, what gets taxed, and where early retirees usually get confused.
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The Taxable-Brokerage Bridge: Funding the Years Before 59½
Early retirement is often a bridge problem, not a net-worth problem. Here is how taxable accounts fund the years before retirement accounts become easy to reach.
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Eight Podcasts That Actually Discuss Mortality Honestly
Most podcasts avoid the topic that should be at the center of their audience’s lives. Eight that don’t.
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The Spending Categories That Vanish When You Stop Working
Most retirement calculators assume your spending stays the same after you walk away. It doesn’t. Here are the categories that quietly vanish — and the ones that grow.
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Why Buddhism Beats Productivity Culture on Death
Productivity culture has nothing useful to say about death. Buddhism has had a coherent answer for 2,500 years. Here is what the two traditions disagree about, and why the older one is right.
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The 90-Day Walk-Away Plan: Week-by-Week
If you have decided to walk away from work, here is the actual sequence of tasks. Week 1 to week 13. Mark them off as you go.
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Atul Gawande’s Most Uncomfortable Lesson
Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal (2014) is the most-recommended book on aging by doctors who work with the dying. Most readers miss its most uncomfortable lesson: that the medical system is engineered to prolong dying, not living.
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How Long Are You Actually Alive? An Honest Audit
You have 78 years on the calendar. Subtract the sleep, the commute, the doomscroll, the meetings about other meetings. What is left is your actual life. The math is harsh.