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Retirees waste money on these 5 things
Cut what loses value, fund what loses time: the $250,000 difference on a $1.2 million retirement.
Sam's Economics
Economics explained through stories, animation and interactive tools
Big money decisions, explained. Then check your own numbers.
Sam breaks down renting, buying, retiring and paying off debt in plain English on YouTube. Every video comes with a free calculator and a PDF guide, so you can run the math for your own life.
Others give you opinions. Sam gives you the tools to run your own numbers.
- 1Watch the storyA short animated video explains the decision and the trade-offs.
- 2Run your own numbersA free calculator shows the answer for your price, rate and timeline.
- 3Keep the guideA PDF walks through the math so you can revisit it anytime.
Latest videos
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Social Security at 62, 67 or 70? Break-even is the wrong question
Why filing at 62 can cost a married couple almost $200,000, and the survivor check that should decide it.
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Rent or buy? Find your real break-even point
How long you need to stay before buying beats renting, and why the five-year rule can be wrong.
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Retire at 55, 65 or 70? Same savings, three different lives
What each retirement age actually produces, with the 4% rule and compound growth worked out.
The calculators
Free, no sign-up. Each one includes a PDF guide.
Roth Conversion
How much to convert each year to fill a tax bracket, your lifetime taxes, and what your family keeps after tax with and without conversions.
Medicare Advantage or Medigap?
What each choice costs over 20 years, healthy and sick, your worst-case year, and the date your guaranteed Medigap window closes.
Emergency Fund
Your real emergency fund number from your essential spending and job stability, how long it takes to build, and what a job loss would cost without it.
Credit Card Payoff
How long the minimum payment really takes, what a fixed payment saves, and whether avalanche or snowball clears several cards faster.
Social Security: Claim at 62, 67 or 70?
Each monthly check, your household's lifetime total, the break-even ages and the survivor check the longer-living spouse keeps.
Rent vs Buy
Net worth if you buy versus renting and investing the difference, with your break-even year.
Retirement Age
Compare what retiring at 55, 65 or 70 gives you from the same savings and contributions.
Pay Off the Mortgage or Keep It?
What paying off your mortgage from an IRA really costs in tax and Medicare surcharges, and when keeping the loan wins.
Cut and Splurge
What five common money leaks cost you by retirement, and how much room fixing them frees up.
Severance Package
Compare the offer as printed with what a negotiated package could be worth.
Foreclosure Timeline
Where you likely are in the foreclosure process and how much time you have to act.
Early Retirement Withdrawals (72(t) SEPP)
Your penalty-free IRA payments under the IRS SEPP rules, and how long you're locked in.
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