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

In this episode, Lucas and Luna break down the Roth IRA conversion strategy for pre-retirees with large traditional 401k balances. They explain the tax implications, the ideal timing to minimize tax brackets, and how this move can reduce future Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs). Using a concrete example of a 58-year-old with $800,000 in a 401k, they walk through the math of converting $50,000...

Episode 28 of Retirement Planning with Fexingo uncovers a hidden tax rule that could cost you thousands: employer matching contributions to a Roth 401k are always pre-tax, meaning you'll owe taxes on that 'free money' in retirement. Lucas and Luna break down the IRS rule, walk through a concrete example with a 35-year-old earning $120,000, and explain why this creates a tax liability at withdrawal...

Episode 27 of Retirement Planning with Fexingo explores the Health Savings Account as a powerful but overlooked retirement savings vehicle. Lucas and Luna walk through the triple tax advantage — deductible contributions, tax-free growth, and tax-free withdrawals for qualified medical expenses — and explain why an HSA can outperform a 401k for certain savers. They discuss the 2026 contribution limi...

Episode 26 of Retirement Planning with Fexingo. Lucas and Luna dissect the Social Security earnings test — the rule that reduces benefits if you claim before full retirement age and still work. They walk through a concrete example: a 63-year-old earning $60,000 who claims early, triggering a $1-for-$2 benefit reduction on earnings above the annual limit. They explain how benefits are recalculated...

In this episode of Retirement Planning with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna break down the Roth conversion ladder — a strategy that lets early retirees access their 401k funds before age 59 1/2 without paying the 10 percent early-withdrawal penalty. They walk through a concrete example: someone retiring at age 45 with a $500,000 traditional 401k balance, converting $40,000 per year to a Roth IRA, and usin...

Episode 24 of Retirement Planning with Fexingo dives into the often-overlooked tax bomb that inherited retirement accounts can trigger for your beneficiaries. Lucas and Luna break down the SECURE Act’s 10-year rule, the difference between designated and non-designated beneficiaries, and why a charity can be a smarter beneficiary than a child in high tax brackets. They walk through a concrete examp...

In this episode of Retirement Planning with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore a little-known tax strategy for mitigating sequence-of-returns risk in early retirement. Using a hypothetical retiree with a $1.2 million portfolio, they walk through how a tactical Roth conversion ladder can reduce the impact of a market downturn in the first five years. Lucas explains the math behind withdrawing from tax...

Lucas and Luna explore the most overlooked document in retirement planning: the 401k beneficiary form. Using the cautionary tale of a 2019 California case where a $600,000 retirement account went to an ex-spouse because the owner never updated the designation after remarrying, they explain how the Supreme Court's 2018 ruling in Sveen v. Melin overturned a Minnesota law that automatically revoked a...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore a powerful but underused retirement strategy: tax bracket arbitrage. Instead of simply deferring taxes with a traditional 401k or paying them upfront with a Roth, this approach involves strategically managing taxable income in retirement to fill lower tax brackets each year. They break down how a married couple with $1.2 million in traditional retirement ass...

Episode 20 of Retirement Planning with Fexingo dives into the mega backdoor Roth strategy—a powerful but lesser-known technique that allows high earners to save tens of thousands of extra dollars in a Roth account each year, even if they exceed the normal income limits. Lucas and Luna break down how the strategy works step by step: maxing out your 401k, then making after-tax contributions, followe...

Episode 19 of Retirement Planning with Fexingo breaks down the Backdoor Roth IRA — a strategy high earners use to bypass the Roth IRA income phaseout. Lucas and Luna walk through the mechanics, the IRS 'step transaction' risk, and the pro-rata rule that can trigger unexpected tax bills if you have existing traditional IRA balances. They use a concrete example: a married couple earning $250,000 in...

Episode 18 of Retirement Planning with Fexingo dives into a little-known RMD strategy: the first-year deferral rule. Lucas and Luna explain how retirees who turn 73 in 2026 can delay their first required minimum distribution until April 1 of the following year, avoiding a potentially massive tax bill. They walk through a concrete example of a retiree with a $1.2 million IRA, showing how proper tim...

In Episode 17 of Retirement Planning with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna uncover the spousal IRA — a little-known provision that allows a non-working spouse to contribute to their own IRA based on the working spouse's income. Using a hypothetical couple — Sarah, a stay-at-home parent, and Tom, a marketing manager earning $120,000 a year — they walk through how the rule works, the income limits, and the l...

Episode 16 of Retirement Planning with Fexingo reveals a hidden tax on retirement income that catches millions of retirees by surprise: the Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount, or IRMAA. Lucas and Luna break down exactly how IRMAA works, why it's triggered by seemingly small Roth conversions and capital gains, and how a single year of high income can spike Medicare Part B and Part D premiums...

Episode 15 examines the 'tax torpedo' — the hidden tax spike that hits retirees with modest 401k and IRA withdrawals when combined with Social Security benefits. Using a concrete example of a couple with $60,000 in annual income, we explain how provisional income formulas cause marginal tax rates to spike to 40% or higher on every additional dollar withdrawn. Lucas and Luna break down why the conv...

Episode 14 of Retirement Planning with Fexingo: 401k, IRA, and Saving for Your Future dives into the Roth IRA income phaseout — the little-known rule that silently blocks high earners from contributing directly. Lucas and Luna break down the phaseout thresholds for 2026: $150,000 to $165,000 for single filers and $236,000 to $251,000 for married couples filing jointly. They explain the 'pro rata r...

When you inherit a 401k from a parent or spouse, the tax rules changed dramatically with the SECURE Act. In this episode, Lucas and Luna break down the new ten-year distribution rule, the 'stretch IRA' that no longer exists, and the shocking tax bracket surprises that await beneficiaries who don't plan ahead. They walk through a concrete example: a $400,000 inherited 401k that could trigger a $90,...

Episode 12 of Retirement Planning with Fexingo dives into a question that trips up many savers: once you have a mix of Roth and traditional 401k money, how do you actually withdraw it tax-efficiently? Lucas and Luna break down the withdrawal rules, the pro-rata problem, and a real-world strategy called 'tax bracket stacking.' They use the example of a hypothetical retiree named Mark who has $400,0...

Lucas and Luna dig into the hidden costs of borrowing from your 401k. Using a concrete example of a mid-career borrower who takes a $20,000 loan, they show how double taxation, lost compounding, and job-change repayment cliffs can cost you over $100,000 in retirement savings. They contrast the 401k loan with alternatives like a home equity line or a personal loan, and explain the one scenario wher...

Episode 10 of Retirement Planning with Fexingo dives into sequence-of-returns risk — the often-overlooked danger of a market downturn hitting just as you start withdrawing from your nest egg. Lucas and Luna walk through a concrete example: a retiree with a $1 million portfolio who retires in 2008 versus 2013, showing how the same average return leads to wildly different outcomes. They explain why...

Episode 9 of Retirement Planning with Fexingo tackles Qualified Longevity Annuity Contracts (QLACs), an IRS-approved insurance product that lets retirees defer Required Minimum Distributions on a portion of their retirement savings until as late as age 85. Lucas and Luna explain how a QLAC works with a specific example: a 72-year-old with $500,000 in traditional IRA assets uses $100,000 to buy a Q...

Episode 8 of Retirement Planning with Fexingo zeroes in on a retirement account that gets overlooked: the SEP IRA. Lucas and Luna walk through why freelancers, gig workers, and solo business owners should consider it instead of a traditional IRA or solo 401k. They break down the 2026 contribution limits ($69,000 or 25% of compensation, whichever is less), the tax deduction mechanics, and the surpr...

Episode 7 of Retirement Planning with Fexingo dives into a critical but overlooked anchor: your Social Security claiming strategy isn't just for pre-retirees. Lucas and Luna explain how decisions you make in your 40s and 50s—like timing your first benefit, coordinating spousal benefits, and managing earnings history—can boost lifetime income by six figures. They walk through the math on why waitin...

Starting January 2026, the SECURE 2.0 Act raises the catch-up contribution limit for people aged 60 to 63 to the greater of $10,000 or 150% of the standard catch-up amount—indexed for inflation after 2025. But there's a catch: all catch-up contributions for those earning over $145,000 must now go into a Roth account, not traditional pre-tax. Lucas and Luna walk through the mechanics, the phase-in,...

Lucas and Luna explore why Health Savings Accounts are arguably the most tax-advantaged retirement vehicle available, yet remain massively underutilized. Lucas walks through the triple tax benefit: contributions are pre-tax, growth is tax-free, and withdrawals for qualified medical expenses are tax-free. He explains the strategy of paying out-of-pocket for healthcare now and saving the receipts to...