Retirement Planning with Fexingo: 401k, IRA, and Saving for Your Future

In this episode of Retirement Planning with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna break down the Roth conversion ladder strategy for early retirees. They walk through a concrete example: a 52-year-old retiree with $800,000 in a traditional 401k who needs $50,000 per year. Lucas explains the five-year waiting rule, how to structure annual conversions to minimize taxes, and why the ladder can be a powerful bridge...

Lucas and Luna uncover a little-known tax strategy for retirees in 2026: filing as head of household instead of single or married filing separately. They walk through the specific IRS rules that allow a widow or widower with a dependent child to claim a higher standard deduction and wider tax brackets, potentially saving thousands per year. Using the example of a 68-year-old widow with a 19-year-o...

Episode 52 of Retirement Planning with Fexingo explores how retirees can use a Health Savings Account (HSA) as a powerful tax-free savings tool, even after age 65. Lucas and Luna break down the triple tax advantage—pre-tax contributions, tax-free growth, and tax-free withdrawals for qualified medical expenses—and explain the 'Medicare trap' that can trigger penalties if you delay enrolling in Part...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna break down a little-known spousal Social Security claiming strategy that can boost a couple's lifetime benefits by over $50,000. Using the example of a couple where one spouse earned significantly more, they walk through the math of the restricted application for spousal benefits only, the impact of delaying one's own benefit, and how the 2026 earnings test changes...

Lucas and Luna dive into the rebalancing frequency debate for retirement portfolios. Should you adjust your asset allocation quarterly, annually, or only when bands are breached? They analyze a Vanguard study on the 'rebalancing bonus,' how often the typical 401k investor actually rebalances, and why one big annual rebalance may outperform more frequent tinkering. Using a hypothetical $500,000 por...

In this episode of Retirement Planning with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna dive into one of the most common and costly errors retirees make with their required minimum distributions, or RMDs. Using the example of a 73-year-old retiree named Carol who had $800,000 in her traditional IRA, they explain how failing to take the full RMD amount — or taking it too late in the year — can trigger a cascade of tax...

Episode 48 dives into a retirement planning choice many self-employed professionals face: Solo 401k or SEP-IRA? Lucas and Luna break down the 2026 contribution limits, the profit-sharing nuance, and the Roth Solo 401k option. They walk through a concrete example of a freelance graphic designer earning $150,000 and how the Solo 401k lets her stash an extra $23,500 in employee deferrals plus 25% pro...

Lucas and Luna break down the mega backdoor Roth IRA strategy — a little-known retirement savings technique that allows some employees to contribute up to $69,000 to their 401k in 2026, far exceeding the standard $23,000 limit. They explain how it works, which employers offer it, the key steps to avoid tax traps, and why more companies are adding after-tax contributions. Real examples from Fidelit...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna break down the Safe Harbor 401k match—a provision that allows employers to make mandatory contributions that are immediately vested. They explain how it works, why it eliminates nondiscrimination testing, and how employees can maximize this benefit. Using a concrete example of a small business with 50 employees, they show how a 4 percent match can dramatically incre...

Did you know retirees with earned income can still contribute to a Roth IRA, even after age 70 and a half? In this episode, Lucas and Luna break down the often-overlooked 'retiree earned income loophole' in the SECURE Act 2.0, using a concrete example: a 73-year-old part-time consultant earning $18,000 in 2026. They walk through the income limits, the pro-rata rule trap, and why this strategy can...

Episode 44 of Retirement Planning with Fexingo: Lucas and Luna unpack a powerful but often overlooked strategy called tax bracket arbitrage. Using a concrete example of a married couple earning $120,000 per year who plan to retire in 2035, they show how strategically timing Roth conversions and traditional IRA withdrawals across different income years can save tens of thousands in taxes over a ret...

Lucas and Luna examine the hidden costs of borrowing from your 401k, using a specific case: a 45-year-old who takes a $50,000 loan from her 401k to cover a down payment. They walk through the double-taxation risk, the opportunity cost of missing market returns, and the job-loss trigger that turns the loan into an early withdrawal. Listeners learn why a 401k loan might feel like cheap money but can...

Lucas and Luna unpack the donor-advised fund, or DAF, as a retirement planning tool that goes beyond simple charity. Using the example of a couple in their 50s with a concentrated stock position and a desire to reduce their taxable income before RMDs kick in, they explain how DAFs allow you to donate appreciated assets, claim a deduction now, and recommend grants to charities over time. They walk...

Lucas and Luna dive into the specific rules and tax consequences of taking a hardship withdrawal from your 401k in 2026. They explore the SECURE Act 2.0 changes that expanded source eligibility, the new self-certification process, and the five-year repayment rule for qualified birth or adoption distributions. Using the example of a hypothetical 38-year-old marketing manager in Austin needing $15,0...

Inheriting an IRA can trigger a massive tax bomb if you don't know the 10-year rule. This episode explains how non-spouse beneficiaries must empty inherited retirement accounts within a decade, and why stretching withdrawals could cost you tens of thousands in unnecessary taxes. Lucas and Luna walk through a real-world example of a $500,000 inherited IRA and show how one withdrawal strategy saves...

Episode 39 of Retirement Planning with Fexingo breaks down the SEP-IRA, a powerful retirement tool for freelancers, solopreneurs, and small business owners. Lucas and Luna walk through how a self-employed graphic designer earning $120,000 annually could contribute up to $30,000 to a SEP-IRA in 2026—far more than the $7,000 IRA limit. They compare it to solo 401(k)s and SIMPLE IRAs, explaining the...

Episode 38 of Retirement Planning with Fexingo dives into the spousal IRA strategy, a powerful but often overlooked retirement savings tool for couples with one non-working or lower-earning spouse. Lucas and Luna explain how a non-working spouse can still contribute to an IRA based on the working spouse's income, the income limits for 2026, and how this strategy can double a couple's retirement sa...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna dive into the 401k auto-escalation feature — a little-known plan design that automatically increases your deferral percentage each year. Lucas explains how a typical auto-escalation clause raises contributions from 3% to 10% over five years, using data from Vanguard's 2025 How America Saves report showing that participants with auto-escalation save nearly 2 percenta...

Episode 36 of Retirement Planning with Fexingo tackles one of the most common retirement questions: 'Is there any way to access my 401k before 59½ without paying the 10% penalty?' Lucas and Luna walk through the three main exceptions — the Rule of 55, substantially equal periodic payments (SEPP), and hardship withdrawals — using concrete examples. They explain why the Rule of 55 only works if you...

In this episode of Retirement Planning with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna break down a little-known provision from the SECURE Act 2.0 that allows employers to make matching contributions to your 401k based on your student loan payments. They explain how this works, who qualifies, and why ignoring it could leave thousands of dollars on the table. Using a concrete example of a 30-year-old earning $60,000...

Episode 34 of Retirement Planning with Fexingo dives into Qualified Longevity Annuity Contracts — QLACs — and how they can reduce your Required Minimum Distributions by deferring a portion of your tax-deferred savings to age 85. Lucas and Luna explain the mechanics, the updated 2026 limits, and the trade-offs, including liquidity risk and inflation concerns. They walk through a concrete example of...

In this episode of Retirement Planning with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna dig into a little-known Social Security rule called the widow's penalty. They explain how a surviving spouse's combined benefit can be significantly reduced if they claim early, and why the timing of a survivor benefit claim matters more than most retirees realize. Using a concrete example of a 62-year-old widow, they walk through...

Episode 32 of Retirement Planning with Fexingo breaks down the three-bucket withdrawal strategy—a systematic approach to sequencing your retirement income from taxable, tax-deferred, and tax-free accounts. Lucas and Luna walk through a concrete example: a retiree with $600,000 in a 401k, $200,000 in a Roth IRA, and $100,000 in a taxable brokerage account, withdrawing $40,000 per year. They explain...

Most people assume tapping your 401k before 59½ triggers a 10% penalty. But there's a little-known exception called the Rule of 55 that lets you access funds penalty-free if you leave your job in the year you turn 55. In this episode, Lucas and Luna break down who qualifies, how it works with multiple employers, and a real-world example of a 52-year-old who accidentally triggered it. They also cov...

Episode 30 of Retirement Planning with Fexingo dives into inflation indexing and how it quietly shapes your 401k and IRA growth. Lucas and Luna break down the 2026 cost-of-living adjustment for contribution limits, the real impact of 3.2% annual inflation on a $500,000 nest egg over 20 years, and why ignoring indexing could leave you short by six figures. They also discuss how Treasury Inflation-P...