I review our finances with my wife several times a year and we have a longer meeting every New Years day (Just had one) to go indepth and talk our accounts, our spending, vacation dreams and about the future. In the same location of these binders of financial reports is an evelope that is labeled. "It I get hit by a bus"
It does not get into great detail, but clearly explains the investments, the accounts and recommendations on going forward without me. She already has access to safe that contains our wills, end of life directives, all my passwords, etc.
I did exactly that, captured LTCG up to the ceiling of the 0% tax bracket on the gains, in both tax year 2024 and 2025. Yes, I'll pay some state income tax but that's fine with me. If I did a Roth conversion instead I'd still have to pay both Fed and State taxes. The amount captured had over a 100% gain so I'm very happy taking advantage of this conversion for 0.0 Federal. Unlike a Roth, it will not grow going forward tax free. That works in our situation, but probably not for everyone.
I just turned 65 a few months ago. After years of traveling to Europe or other countries several times a year for pleasure, we definitely now more acutely feel the hassles, logistics and the burdens of travel. It is all too much for us to give up travel? No, not yet. However it;s funny. Every new years day we pop a bottle of champagne in the morning and talk about the coming year and our goals. Travel being a large part of the discussion. Yesterday we talked about several locations and the talk drifted into weighting the fun of being there vs the hassles of getting there. So no, we're not giving up travel, but we are going to be more intentional about destinations going forward.
In hindsight it was pretty easy. I had a small one person business and my wife was a school teacher. After 29-ish years she was burned out. After meeting with Admin, she found she could retire in her early 50's with a full pension in a few months. I asked what would make her happy. She voiced that it would be nice to retire together and move to our vacation home on the lake in a nearby state. It took a while to wind down my business obligations to be able to retire. So months later she did and then I did and we've been deliriously happy in retirement for over a decade now.
Congratulations on the holiday "jumper." I've no advice on the option of accepting it, but I would very much like to read your note that won the contest. It might prove very useful to myself and others who have spouses that are, let's say less enthusiastic about investments and finances.
Like you we are in the 12% tax bracket. For several years I had been doing Roth conversions to the upper limit of the 12% bracket. Last year instead of a Roth conversion I chose to do tax gain harvesting up to the 0.0 tax bracket. on LTCGs. On roth conversions I would had to still pay Federal and State taxes. Capturing the gains in the zero % tax bracket made those gains tax free vs 12% tax on a roth conversion.
A good rule of thumb for actual prints, be they from a ink jet printer or an online service is 200 DPI at the true size of the final print. ie 8x10" at 200 dpi.
Once our investing net worth hit a mental threshold, I admit to doing something I never thought I would. I parked several years of floor spending in a money market account. Then two more years in T-bills, and 5 more years in TIPS. Yup, that's a total of 10 years just sitting there drawing hopefully enough to match inflation. I absolutly know that I'm ignoring opportunity costs. Still, I don't care. We still have over 50% of our assets in the stock market. Having a set floor spending reserved for a decade lets us sleep very well at night.
It seems the increase of withdrawal rates is enabled by adding a few more funds such as small cap, etc. Having not read the Bergman's new book, I would assume that it references the percentage in each. I'm pretty happy with my set and forget total market fund but if you're willing to add a little more complexity to your accounts then this might be a way to wring out a higher safe withdrawal rate.
Comments
I review our finances with my wife several times a year and we have a longer meeting every New Years day (Just had one) to go indepth and talk our accounts, our spending, vacation dreams and about the future. In the same location of these binders of financial reports is an evelope that is labeled. "It I get hit by a bus" It does not get into great detail, but clearly explains the investments, the accounts and recommendations on going forward without me. She already has access to safe that contains our wills, end of life directives, all my passwords, etc.
Post: Your two best investing books—and do you also keep an End-of-Life “family binder”?
Link to comment from January 4, 2026
I did exactly that, captured LTCG up to the ceiling of the 0% tax bracket on the gains, in both tax year 2024 and 2025. Yes, I'll pay some state income tax but that's fine with me. If I did a Roth conversion instead I'd still have to pay both Fed and State taxes. The amount captured had over a 100% gain so I'm very happy taking advantage of this conversion for 0.0 Federal. Unlike a Roth, it will not grow going forward tax free. That works in our situation, but probably not for everyone.
Post: Capital Gains Planning
Link to comment from January 4, 2026
I just turned 65 a few months ago. After years of traveling to Europe or other countries several times a year for pleasure, we definitely now more acutely feel the hassles, logistics and the burdens of travel. It is all too much for us to give up travel? No, not yet. However it;s funny. Every new years day we pop a bottle of champagne in the morning and talk about the coming year and our goals. Travel being a large part of the discussion. Yesterday we talked about several locations and the talk drifted into weighting the fun of being there vs the hassles of getting there. So no, we're not giving up travel, but we are going to be more intentional about destinations going forward.
Post: At what age did travel start feeling like work—and what changed your plan?
Link to comment from January 2, 2026
Charge the entire amount to credit cards and pay them off in June!
Post: Well: That’s Just Inconvenient!
Link to comment from December 30, 2025
In hindsight it was pretty easy. I had a small one person business and my wife was a school teacher. After 29-ish years she was burned out. After meeting with Admin, she found she could retire in her early 50's with a full pension in a few months. I asked what would make her happy. She voiced that it would be nice to retire together and move to our vacation home on the lake in a nearby state. It took a while to wind down my business obligations to be able to retire. So months later she did and then I did and we've been deliriously happy in retirement for over a decade now.
Post: What Age Did You Retire—and What Made You Decide It Was Time?
Link to comment from December 27, 2025
Congratulations on the holiday "jumper." I've no advice on the option of accepting it, but I would very much like to read your note that won the contest. It might prove very useful to myself and others who have spouses that are, let's say less enthusiastic about investments and finances.
Post: The Festive Sweater and the Dilemma
Link to comment from December 19, 2025
Like you we are in the 12% tax bracket. For several years I had been doing Roth conversions to the upper limit of the 12% bracket. Last year instead of a Roth conversion I chose to do tax gain harvesting up to the 0.0 tax bracket. on LTCGs. On roth conversions I would had to still pay Federal and State taxes. Capturing the gains in the zero % tax bracket made those gains tax free vs 12% tax on a roth conversion.
Post: Calculating the Maximum Income While Staying in the 12% Tax Bracket
Link to comment from December 7, 2025
A good rule of thumb for actual prints, be they from a ink jet printer or an online service is 200 DPI at the true size of the final print. ie 8x10" at 200 dpi.
Post: How to buy a laptop computer in an AI world
Link to comment from December 3, 2025
Once our investing net worth hit a mental threshold, I admit to doing something I never thought I would. I parked several years of floor spending in a money market account. Then two more years in T-bills, and 5 more years in TIPS. Yup, that's a total of 10 years just sitting there drawing hopefully enough to match inflation. I absolutly know that I'm ignoring opportunity costs. Still, I don't care. We still have over 50% of our assets in the stock market. Having a set floor spending reserved for a decade lets us sleep very well at night.
Post: The Absurdity of my Mental Financial Gymnastics
Link to comment from December 3, 2025
It seems the increase of withdrawal rates is enabled by adding a few more funds such as small cap, etc. Having not read the Bergman's new book, I would assume that it references the percentage in each. I'm pretty happy with my set and forget total market fund but if you're willing to add a little more complexity to your accounts then this might be a way to wring out a higher safe withdrawal rate.
Post: Nick Maggiulli’s take on Bergen’s 4.7 or 5% Withdrawal Rate
Link to comment from September 24, 2025