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birb_cromble  1d ago (text post)   224 thread views

Weekly Finance Thread - 2027-06-27

A weekly thread to discuss financial matters - from personal all the way up to global.

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When planning for retirement, is there a useful heuristic for when it makes sense to pull back on contributing to your 401(k) and stashing money in a taxable brokerage account instead?

Right now I'm operating on a premise that looks something like this.

  • Assume my retirement spending base is the equivalent of the highest inflation-adjusted year I have on record.
  • Assume $15,000/year (inflation adjusted) for private insurance until I can get Medicare at 65.
  • Assume Medicare will exist when I'm 65.
  • Assume social security will not be available on retirement.
  • Assume the market between now and my death at 95 will have 5th percentile performance (ie: dogshit)
  • Assume my tax advantaged accounts will be accessible without penalty at 59.5.
  • Add a small yearly buffer as a safety factor.

My thought right now is that I should keep contributing to the 401(k) until I have enough saved so that I can survive entirely on my tax advantaged accounts from 59.5 to 95, based on those assumptions.

Is this reasonable? I've had "you must contribute to your 401(k) or you will die starving in a ditch" pounded into my head for so long that it seems almost blasphemous to even consider alternatives.

As an American, you should at the very least seriously consider a geographical arbitrage exit strategy.

Of course, it's not always feasible due to family and friends, cultural barries, etc. But the retirement math in the US is much different than that in Italy/France, let alone somewhere like Brazil/Paraguay, so I would consider it.

the retirement math in the US is much different than that in Italy/France, let alone somewhere like Brazil/Paraguay

It's interesting you mention France, since I think tax treaties with the US make them a pretty good option.

It is not a coincidence! Since, for Americans, the US taxes your income no matter where you are, that is something you have to pay attention to.

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