Guides
The questions behind the calculators, answered properly. Each guide carries the calculator itself, so you can stop reading and run your own number at any point.
What a 401(k) Hardship Withdrawal Actually Leaves YouWithdraw $20,000 for a hardship and roughly $13,600 lands, on the assumptions below. To end up with $20,000 you have to request about $29,400.Can You Work While Taking a 72(t)?You can work as much as you like while a 72(t) runs. The rule that traps people is about the account, not the job — and it costs the whole series.Should You Use the Rule of 55 or a 72(t)?The rule of 55 waives the 10% penalty with no schedule at all. A 72(t) instead locks a fixed $38,168-a-year payment for 5 years on a $600,000 IRA at 55.How Does a Roth Conversion Ladder Work?A Roth conversion ladder moves IRA money to a Roth now, then waits five years to touch it penalty-free. Converting $50,000 costs $3,820 in 2026 federal tax.What Is the 4% Rule for Retirement?The 4% rule explained: where it came from, what it actually promises, the four assumptions that break it, and what researchers say the safe rate is now.Safe Withdrawal Rate for 2026Morningstar puts the 2026 safe starting withdrawal rate at 3.9% for a 30-year retirement. What that assumes, how it has moved since 2021, and what changes it.Retirement Withdrawal Strategies ComparedFixed real, fixed percentage, guardrails, the RMD method and buckets — what each strategy does to your income, and which one suits which retiree.Is SSDI Taxable?SSDI is taxed like Social Security: up to 85% becomes taxable once income crosses $25,000 single or $32,000 joint. A worked example and a calculator.What Is the Difference Between SSDI and SSI?SSDI is insurance earned through work credits; SSI is needs-based with a $2,000 asset limit. 2026 payments, Medicare vs. Medicaid, and getting both.How Is SSDI Back Pay Taxed?SSDI back pay is taxable, but an IRS election can spread it across the years it was owed instead of taxing it all in the year it arrives. Worked example.Can You Work While on SSDI?Yes, in stages: 9 months at full benefit regardless of earnings, then 36 months where $1,690 a month (2026) decides. The trial work period and SGA limits.Which States Do Not Tax Military Retirement?Forty states exempt military retirement pay from income tax in 2026. Nine exempt part of it, capped by an amount or your income. Two tax most of it.What Are the Best States for Military Retirees?A single military retiree with a $30,000 pension, Social Security and $500,000 in savings: state tax and how long the money lasts, computed for all 51 states.Which States Do Not Tax Pensions?Most states tax pensions differently by type. Private, federal, state or local, and military pensions, state by state for 2026, with the partial exemptions.
More questions, answered in full
Social Security, state taxes, and the IRS test cases the 72(t) calculator is checked against.
When Should You Take Social Security?How to decide when to claim Social Security: what each age pays, the break-even maths, the survivor-benefit rule for couples, and when claiming early is right.Is Social Security Taxable?Up to 85% of Social Security is taxable once other income crosses the provisional-income thresholds. The limits, a worked example, and how to reduce it.Which States Tax Social Security?Only eight states still tax Social Security, and most exempt it below an income threshold. The full list, the thresholds, and what other states tax instead.How long $500,000 lasts in every stateA single 67-year-old's $500,000 lasts to 94 in no-tax states and shortly before 92 in Indiana and Oregon. Local prices move it far more: about 87 to shortly before 113.72(t) Calculator Test CasesTen worked examples from the IRS SEPP FAQ and Notice 2022-6, with every input and the expected figure. Test any 72(t) calculator against them before you file.72(t) Accuracy Check: Dinkytown and calcxml Against the IRSWe ran the IRS's own 72(t) examples through Dinkytown and calcxml. Both are right on two of three methods and wrong on fixed annuitization by the same amount.
Printed from https://savingslast.com/guides/ on . The figures reflect the inputs shown and the rules as published on that date.