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).

38 replies 27 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 27 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 27 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 27 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...

16 replies 27 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 27 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...

9 replies 27 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 27 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 27 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 27 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 27 minutes ago Read more →

Military FI C by ChivasDM

Question Regarding Full Receipt of Qualified Benefits

Does anyone know someone who actually gets all the benefits they're eligible for? I ask this question to all Veteran services that help military/military families receive benefits, and most cannot say with confidence that they or someone they are working with is receiving everything they are qualified for. Most veterans get so frustrated with the process that they settle for what they have and leave the rest on the table. IT SHOULDN'T BE LIKE THIS.

2 replies 27 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 27 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 27 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 27 minutes ago Read more →

Investing t by thinkpad12

More Small Cap Value Thoughts

I have flip flopped back and forth pretty bad on small cap value. You can see my previous post on it. I thought of a different angle to it. If I were to tilt my portfolio outside of VTI and VXUS I would at most do 30% in small cap value / factor tilts. Let's say I get and extra 1% to 2% return on that 30% tilt. I would basically be adding 0.3% to 0.6% more to my returns. Not to mention most of these fund typically charge 0.3% to 0.4% expense ratios, like DFSV, AVUV, AVDV, etc. if you are effecti...

17 replies 27 minutes ago Read more →

Kids & Family Finance P by Paul Vail

Rewards Credit Cards - cashback rather than travel points

My child is off the college. In the past, their mom has paid for our children's tuition using her own travel points cards. I'd like to use the future tuition payments as a teaching opportunity for our child to use their own credit card, and earn cash back instead. Aside from Discover, what cards would you recommend (fee-free, naturally) for a young adult to adopt for paying their bills? Travel rewards are NOT what I'm seeking here. Thanks!

1 replies 27 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 27 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 27 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 27 minutes ago Read more →

Real Estate J by JeanniBB

Rent my home vs sell? Taxes and long term strategy

I’m looking to find some help in understanding what options and the long term tax implications for what I’m considering. I’ve found a home that could accommodate my family and my 79 yr old mother comfortably. My mother and I both own our homes and there are significant increases on their value… maybe 500k for her and possibly 1.25M+ for me. Her house is in a trust and I am the beneficiary. I was considering renting the homes put, they are on large acreage and are very nice. We would like to have...

2 replies 27 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 27 minutes ago Read more →

Retirement Withdrawal Strategies d by dmcdonou

IRA, HSA, Brokerage: what's the order?

I realize it's common for folks heading to FIRE to have the vast majority of their savings in a tax-advantaged account like an IRA or 401k. I'll just use IRA to refer to both for now. Assuming that's true *but* you also have some other buckets, what's the order you would draw from once hitting FI? Let's imagine some stats: - Retiree is currently 45 - Net worth is currently at FI (let's imagine they want 4% of 1.25 mil) - IRA balance: 1,000,000 - HSA balance: 150,000 - Brokerage balance: 100,000...

21 replies 27 minutes ago Read more →

Retirement Withdrawal Strategies S by SeaGlass7

BlackRock only?

Blackrock is the only target date funds my 457 offers. I do not like or agree with what they’re doing to monopolize certain industries. Is anyone else in the same boat? I can individually pick mutual funds and design my own investments, but I have quite a bit already invested in Blackrock target date funds (before I was aware). I am 55 years old and close to retirement and my question is: should I leave my existing money in Blackrock target date funds and just change my future contributions? I’m...

21 replies 27 minutes ago Read more →