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• Healthcare in retirement: before 65, at 65, and after Topic guide What health coverage costs between leaving work and starting Medicare, how Medicare itself works when you get there, and why your income…
• Inherited IRAs and what you leave behind Topic guide What an inherited IRA is, how the 10-year rule works, and why the account you leave decides the tax bill your children pay.
• Long-term care: the risk and the arithmetic Topic guide Long-term care is help with everyday activities, and Medicare does not pay for it. How long it usually lasts, what drives the bill, and what…
• Required minimum distributions and QCDs Topic guide What the government eventually makes you withdraw, and how giving directly from an IRA can change the tax result.
• Roth conversions in retirement Topic guide When a Roth conversion helps, when it quietly costs you, and how to find the years where your own tax rate is lowest.
• Turning your portfolio into a paycheck Topic guide Which accounts to spend from, in what order, and how the sequence changes what you pay in tax over a full retirement.
• When to claim Social Security Topic guide Why claiming age is a tax decision as much as a break-even calculation, and what actually changes for a married couple.
• Do You Still Have to Take an RMD If You’re Still Working? Article The still-working exception can delay one plan’s required distributions — never an IRA, never an old employer’s plan, and never a…
• Does Medicare Cover Long-Term Care? No, and What Does Article Medicare pays for skilled care after a hospital stay, up to 100 days. It does not pay for custodial care at all.
• Form SSA-44: How to Get an IRMAA Surcharge Reduced Article Form SSA-44 asks Social Security to price your Medicare surcharge on this year’s income instead of the return from two years ago. Who can…
• How Much of Your Social Security Is Taxable? Article Somewhere between none of it and 85 percent, decided by a measure called provisional income. What goes into it, and why the thresholds never…
• How to Calculate Your RMD Article How to calculate an RMD: last December 31’s balance divided by one factor from an IRS table — plus which accounts combine and which never…
• Inherited IRA RMD Rules, and Who Escapes the 10-Year Rule Article Most people who inherit a retirement account must empty it by the end of the tenth year after the death, and some owe a withdrawal in each…
• Pension Lump Sum vs. Annuity: Which One Is Better? Article The real question is whether you or an insurer carries the risk of a long life, and what your spouse is left holding under each option.
• QCD Rules: How a Charitable IRA Distribution Works Article A qualified charitable distribution moves IRA money straight to a charity without it entering your income. Who can make one, and how it is…
• Spending Guardrails and the 4% Rule Article Where the 4 percent figure came from, what guardrails change about it, and why the planning profession is split on whether they cut spending…
• The ACA Subsidy Cliff Is Back for 2026 Article The premium tax credit cap at 400 percent of the poverty line was suspended through 2025 and is in force again for 2026. What changes before…
• The Average Retiree’s RMD, by Age Article IRS balance data by age, divided by the IRS life-expectancy table: what a required withdrawal really looks like once Roth dollars are taken…
• The IRMAA Look-Back Period: Why Income Lags Two Years Article Your Medicare surcharge is set from the tax return you filed two years earlier. How the look-back works, and why age 63 is the first year…
• The Medicare Late-Enrollment Penalty: What It Costs and Why Article The Part B penalty adds 10% of the premium for each full 12 months you could have enrolled and did not, for as long as you have Part B.
• The New Senior Deduction: Who Gets It and How It Phases Out Article The senior deduction is a flat amount for each person 65 or older that shrinks as income rises above a threshold and disappears after 2028.
• The RMD Penalty: What Happens If You Miss One Article A missed RMD carries a 25 percent excise tax on the shortfall — cut to 10 percent if corrected in time, and waivable outright. How the…
• The RMD Table for 2026, and the Deadlines That Go With It Article The RMD table by age, with every divisor also shown as a share of your balance — plus the deadlines and the first-year trap that doubles one…
• The Rule of 55: How It Works and Where It Goes Wrong Article The Rule of 55 lets you take money from the plan at the job you just left, after separating at 55 or later, without the 10%…
• The Social Security Fairness Act: Who Qualifies, What Changes Article Congress repealed the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset outright. Who the repeal reaches, and what it…
• The Widow’s Tax Trap: Why a Survivor Pays More Tax on Less Article When one spouse dies, household income falls but the tax rate can rise. The six mechanisms that cause it, and what can be done before and…
• What Are the 2026 Federal Tax Brackets? Article The 2026 federal income tax brackets for single and joint filers, and why your top rate is not the rate you actually pay.
• What Are the Medicare IRMAA Brackets for 2026? Article IRMAA is a cliff, not a ramp: one dollar over a threshold moves your whole premium to the next tier for the year. The 2026 Part B and Part D…
• What Happens to an HSA at 65 Article The penalty stops, contributions must stop, and the account starts behaving like a traditional IRA. What the statute says about an HSA in…
• What Is IRMAA? The Medicare Surcharge on Higher Incomes Article IRMAA is an income-related surcharge added to your Medicare Part B and Part D premiums, and it is a cliff rather than a phase-in.
• What Is Sequence of Returns Risk? Article Two retirees can earn identical returns and one runs out of money, because withdrawals turn the order of those returns into a permanent…
• What Is the Mega Backdoor Roth? How It Works and Who It Fits Article The mega backdoor Roth routes after-tax contributions in a workplace plan into a Roth account. The mechanism, the plan features it needs…
• What Is the Roth Conversion 5-Year Rule? Article There are two five-year clocks, not one. Which decides whether earnings come out tax free, which decides the 10% additional tax, and when…
• What Is the Social Security Break-Even Age? Article Break-even is the age at which delaying Social Security has paid back the checks you skipped. How it is calculated, and the four things it…
• What Is the Step-Up in Basis at Death? Article When you die, the cost basis of most assets resets to their value on that date, and the unrealized gain your heirs inherit disappears with…
• What Long-Term Care Costs: Why the Average Misleads Article What matters is not the average annual cost but how many years you might pay it. How long care lasts, and how to run it against your own…
• When Do RMDs Start? Age 73 or 75, Set by Your Birth Year Article RMDs start at 73 or 75 depending on the year you were born — and birth year 1959 has no answer in the regulation. Here is what the source…
• $2M IRA—Why I’m NOT Converting to Roth (Even If You Were Told You Should) Video Mark is 65 with $2 million saved in his traditional IRA. So, the question running through his head is, "Shouldn’t I be converting to Roth…
• $2M–The Retirement Plan I’d Use to Retire NOW (With Case Study) Video Ray and Jenny both turned 62 this year. They just walked out of their jobs they held for more than 30 years. Now, the question they have is…
• 3 Things You MUST do 5 Years BEFORE Retirement Video There’s a 5-year window before retirement where small decisions create massive results. Get it right and you’ll enter retirement with…
• 4 Brutally Honest Truths About Retiring at 62 Video Dennis is 62. He retired three months ago and on paper everything worked. The number was there. The mortgage was gone. But the question…
• 7 Silent Forces That Determine Your First 5 Years Of Retirement Video Steven and Margaret are 14 months into retirement. He’s 62, she’s 60, and they have 2 and 1/2 million dollars saved. Now, the question that…
• Advisors Hope You NEVER Learn This Truth About Social Security Video Today, I’m sharing the truth about Social Security that most advisors hope you never figure out because it’s not just about what age to…
• Age 59 Tax Moves to Make BEFORE You Retire Video Sam is 59 and his wife Alex is 57. They have $2.5 million saved for retirement and they came to us 6 months ago with the same assumption…
• Almost No One Retires With Over $1M Saved - How Much Do You Need? Video Almost no one retires with over a million dollars saved, but that’s not the point. How much you actually need has nothing to do with a…
• Before Your First RMD, Retirees Must Make These 5 Tax Moves Video So, Doug and Nancy just retired. He’s 65, she’s 64, and the way they see it, the hard part is over. But, the stretch they just walked into…
• Can You REALLY Spend $10K a Month From $2.5M? (The 4% Rule Says No) Video So Dave and Susan just retired at 65 and there’s one number they can’t stop staring at. They want to pull $10,000 a month out of their…
• Don’t Do a Roth Conversion UNTIL You Know How You’ll Pay the Tax Video So, let’s look at Paul. He’s 64 years old, and he’s pretty sure he has a perfect Roth conversion plan. $150,000 out of his IRA and into a…
• Everyone’s Retiring Early—Give Me 10 Minutes And I’ll Explain Exactly Why Video Tom is 60, has nearly $3 million saved, and the question running through his head is, do I have enough to retire? But that’s the question…
• Here’s Why Retirees Are Afraid to Spend—And How to Fix It Video You spent 40 years of your life doing the responsible thing and now it’s time to be a little bit less responsible. Here’s what I mean by…
• How "Poor" Retirees Are SECRETLY Outspending You... Video Today, I’m showing you how some retirees are affording what looks like a $3 million lifestyle, big travel, membership clubs, second homes…
• I Analyzed 1,000 Retirement Portfolios—This Quietly Destroys Them Video I’ve analyzed nearly 1,000 retirement portfolios. The ones that fail often make one simple mistake. But the retirees who thrive in…
• I Built 500+ Retirement Plans–Here’s Why RMDs Won’t Matter Video Diane and Paul are both 64, retiring this year, and sitting in their IRAs is two and a half million dollars. If they do nothing, there’s a…
• I Did Everything Right For My Retirement, Until THIS Ruined Everything Video Today I’m showing you how someone can follow every rule, do everything right, and still destroy their retirement with this one mistake…
• I Studied 500 Retirees–Here’s EXACTLY When to Stop Saving for Retirement Video Mark and Julie are 61, and by almost any measure, they’ve already won. They’ve actually had enough to retire for a few years now. They just…
• I Tested Dave Ramsey’s 8% Retirement Rule So You Don’t Have To Video Dave Ramsey says you can pull 8% from your portfolio in retirement. 8% of what though? Because 8% of your balance every year and 8% in year…
• I’m 60 With $2M—Can I Retire and Spend $15k a Month? Video Today I’m breaking down whether you can retire at 60 with $2 million and spend $15,000 a month. Now most people punch those numbers into an…
• I’m 60 With $3M in My IRA—Here’s How I’d Legally Minimize Taxes Video Craig and Diane are both 60. $3 million sitting in a traditional IRA built over decades of disciplined saving. And the question they brought…
• If I Could Claim Social Security Again, I’d Do This Instead Video Steven and Kathy are both 73 years old. They have $2 million in their IRAs, and 8 years ago at 65, they turned on their Social Security. It…
• If Your Guaranteed Income Isn’t Around THIS Number, Your Savings Barely Matter Video So, let’s look at Eugene. He’s 66, retired, and has no pension. Like most of you, he’s trying to answer one question, which is how much of…
• Irreversible Mistakes I See In the 12 Months Before Retirement Video Ed and Nancy are both 63 with about 1 and 1/2 million dollars saved and 1 year left before they walk out the door for the last time. Now…
• Mega Backdoor Roth Explained: When It Works — And When It Doesn’t Video What if I told you there’s a completely legal way to put over $50,000 into tax-free accounts every single year? All the while, most people…
• New Health Insurance Rules Just Created a Hack For Retirees Video When you retire early, most people think health insurance will destroy their budget. But here’s the scary part for 2026. It could get much…
• New Roth Conversion Rules Just Set A Trap for Retirees Video What if the rules for retirement planning just changed and no one sent you the memo? For years, Roth conversions were a straightforward way…
• Once I Show Retirees This System, They Have Reliable Income For Decades Video Most retirees worry about running out of money. But here’s what’s worse. Having $3 million in the bank and living like you’re broke because…
• Once You Save Over $1.8M, Retire ASAP... Video Why retiring earlier than you planned can hand you more control over how your income is taxed — the four reasons it works, and why the window narrows once required withdrawals begin.
• Pension vs Lump Sum: The Risk Most Retirees Underestimate Video Picture this. You’re sitting across from HR on your last day of work. They slide a form across the table with a simple question. lump sum or…
• Retirement Wealth Tiers Have NOTHING To Do With Your Net Worth Video Tom and Susan are 65, both retired, with $3 million in retirement savings. Karen is single, retired 3 years ago with the exact same $3…
• Roth Conversions At Age 60, 65 OR 70? (Avoid This Costly Tax Mistake) Video David and Karen are 60, have $2.3 million saved, and the plan in their heads is simple. Pick a conversion amount, run it every year until…
• Social Security Isn’t About Age—It’s a Costly Tax Decision That Changes Your Retirement Video Social Security timing will affect your taxes for decades. This isn’t just about monthly checks. The age you file quietly changes how each…
• The 3 Habits of the Happiest Retirees Video Most retirement advice is a list of things to avoid. This is the opposite: the three habits that show up again and again in retirees who are genuinely enjoying the years they saved for.
• The Best Case To Take Social Security EARLY (Even If the Math Says Wait) Video Carol is 62. She has $1.5 million saved for retirement with almost all of it sitting in a traditional IRA. And the question running through…
• The IRA Trick Retired Millionaires Use To Legally Avoid Paying Tax Video Today, I’m showing you the IRA trick retired millionaires used to legally avoid paying tax. Not tax evasion, but choosing to pay tax earlier…
• The IRS Quietly Gave You a Roth Conversion Gift—Most Retirees Miss It Video The IRS just handed you a gift, a chance to get money into Roth IRAs at the lowest rates you’ll see in your lifetime. But here’s the…
• The IRS Treats Age 63 Differently From EVERY Other Age—Retirees Find Out Too Late Video Bruce and Ann are both 65, retired at 62, with about two and a half million dollars saved. Last week, a letter showed up from Social…
• The Medicare Part D Change Coming in 2027 (and What It Means for Your Premium) Video So Medicare Part D subsidies are ending in 2027. You’ve probably seen some version of that headline this fall. But what does that actually…
• The NEW Roth Conversion Strategy You’ve Never Been Taught (Yet) Video Ron and Diane just turned 65 and for years they’ve been planning one move, convert a big chunk of their IRA to a Roth before required…
• The PERFECT $2M Retirement Spending Plan To Pay Less Taxes Video A spending plan for a $2M portfolio built around the order withdrawals come out in — and why the pressure at this level is what required distributions do to your bracket later, not running out of money.
• The REAL Value Of A Pension In Retirement (Nobody Will Tell You This) Video Frank is 62. He just retired with a $60,000 a year pension starting at age 65. And like most people with the pension, Frank thought he knew…
• The Retirement System Quietly Punishes Retirees Who Cross These Invisible Lines Video The income thresholds that quietly change what retirement costs you — the Medicare surcharge, how much of your Social Security counts as taxable income, and why crossing one by a dollar is not the same as crossing it by a lot.
• The Roth Conversion Mistake That Creates Bigger Tax Problems Later Video There’s a narrow window between your last paycheck and your first Social Security check. Miss it and you could pay tens of thousands more in…
• The Social Security Survivor Trap That Forces IRA Millionaires to Overpay Taxes Video So, there’s a name for it now. The financial press calls it the widow’s penalty, and it’s real. For a couple like Steven and with big IRAs…
• The Zero Tax Retirement Strategy Hiding in Plain Sight (No Roth Needed) Video Chris and Sam are both 65 on Medicare and this year they’re pulling $145,000 out of their accounts to cover their retirement. Their federal…
• When You Retire, DO NOT Convert Until You Do These 3 Things Video Today, I’m showing you three things you need to do before converting to Roth in retirement. Because the worst mistake retirees make is…
• Why 61 Is The Most Important Age For Your Entire Retirement Video Today, I’m showing you why 61 is the most important age for your entire retirement and why turning 61 isn’t a milestone, it’s a deadline.…
• Why Your Final Working Year Matters More Than the First Year of Retirement Video Your last working year isn’t just another year of saving. It’s the single most important tax planning year of your entire career. Get this…
• Your Retirement Savings Are Worthless Until You Do THIS Video Bill and Carol are 73. Their IRAs have grown to $5 million, nearly double the amount they retired with and totally untouched since then. And…
• About Josh Rendler, CFP® Page I’m Josh Rendler, a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional and a partner at Define Financial. Motion Retirement is where I publish that…
• Contact Page How to reach me, whether you have a question about the content or want to talk about your own retirement plan.
• Frequently asked questions Page What Motion Retirement is, who it’s for, whether any of it counts as advice, and how working with me through Define Financial actually…
• Insights Page In-depth answers to the retirement tax and income decisions people actually search for, explained in plain English by a CFP® professional.
• Motion Retirement — Retirement tax strategy, explained plainly Page Retirement tax education from Josh Rendler, CFP® professional: Roth conversion timing, tax-efficient withdrawals, Medicare surcharges and…
• Retirement planning topics Page Seven retirement topics — Roth conversions, withdrawals, healthcare, Social Security, RMDs, estate and long-term care — a plain-English…
• Retirement planning videos Page Every Motion Retirement deep dive, newest first, filterable by topic. Roth conversions, IRMAA, withdrawal strategy, Social Security and…
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