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Tax Free Money!

Retirement planning isn’t fun and as a forty-something, I’m far from that phase of my life… but that doesn’t mean my parents are. Or my in-laws. Or their friends.

So, I try to prepare myself by learning as much as I can now, knowing full well the tax laws and different factors (Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, etc.) can change, and this first post was extremely helpful in explaining how to view taxes (or lack thereof) in those low earning retirement years:

Tax Planning: 2024 Free Money! [Millionaire Educator] – “Free Money! refers to the amount of income:

you can earn before you owe any federal income tax.

FM! represents your 0% tax rate for your federal income taxes (not your state or FICA tax rate). The FM! calculation for most people consists of two components: 1.) the standard deduction and 2.) the child tax credit. (However, keep in mind that once your adorable child tax credit turns 17, that credit is gone forever.)”

It’s very much specific to these recent few years but still useful (at least to me!) to understand.

How To Be More Resilient: 6 Steps To Success When Life Gets Hard [Barking Up The Wrong Tree] – “Sometimes life doesn’t just hand you lemons — it pelts you with them like you’re in a citrus fruit dodgeball game. Yeah, we’re talking about when you have to deal with grief, like the death of a loved one or other serious tragedies.”

Dark patterns are when a user flow (when you’re using a website, app, etc.) is intentionally deceptive. It’s designed to get you to act in a way you otherwise wouldn’t, like getting you to purchase an upsell because the button is designed in a way that makes you think you’re not (or that you can quickly bypass). I hate that stuff. And the Ryanair website is chock full of it.

Ryanair – when every page is a dark pattern [Dark Patterns] – “Ryanair is a prime example of a company that employs various manipulative techniques, known as “dark patterns,” to increase its profits.”

J.D. is back next week!