A bi-weekly newsletter from our Founder & Portfolio Manager, Ryan A. Hughes. Straight talk on markets, taxes, and money. Read by 2,700+ people who value clear thinking.
Key Takeaways: What Retirement Ready Means at Age 55 Reaching 55 with a healthy nest egg can have a strange feeling. You’ve done the work, the balance looks solid, and yet you still can’t answer the one question that matters: whether your next paycheck could be your last. Retiring at 55 can be a gift,...
Key Takeaways: Retirement planning isn’t a single decision you make once and forget about. It’s a string of decisions that starts the day you get your first paycheck and doesn’t end until you’re gone. How early you start saving, what you do with your 401(k) every time you change jobs, and how you manage your...
Key Takeaways: Calculating your retirement number sounds like a simple exercise, right up until you open three online calculators, get three different answers, and start to scratch your head. Those calculators disagree because they’re all guessing at your life. You’re not. When you build the number from a few pieces you know, and hold onto...
Key Takeaways: If you are approaching 60 with $4M saved, you have built a strong foundation. For many households, that level of savings creates the opportunity to step away from work and start using the wealth you have spent decades building. However, the real question is not simply whether $4M is enough. The better question...
Key Takeaways: San Diego offers much of what people look for in retirement: great weather, outdoor activities, access to the coast, strong communities, and a lifestyle many want to enjoy after years of working. However, enjoying retirement here also comes with higher costs. Housing, insurance, healthcare, taxes, and everyday expenses can add up quickly, especially...
Key Takeaways: Can you retire at 55 in San Diego with $3 million? In many cases, yes. But the answer depends on far more than the portfolio balance. Housing costs, healthcare, taxes, spending habits, and how many years your money needs to last all play a role. Retiring at 55 is vastly different from retiring...
Key Takeaways: Can you retire early in San Diego with $3 million to $5 million? Perhaps. Though in many cases, the answer is yes. A portfolio of that size may feel like enough, but the answer depends on more than the balance itself. Housing costs, taxes, healthcare, spending habits, and the number of years your...
Where should you save your next dollar? Should you prioritize an emergency fund or pay off high-interest debt? Max out your 401(k) or fund a Health Savings Account first? These are not trivial questions. The order in which you save and invest your money has a direct impact on your long-term wealth and tax efficiency....
We’re updating this list in 2026 to reflect the ongoing changes in the personal finance landscape here in San Diego. The advisory industry has continued to evolve over the past several years: through consolidation, shifting service models, and changes in how firms structure advice and client relationships. For example, we previously included Dowling & Yahnke...
Are you interested in a little-known strategy that could help you save up to $43,500 into a Roth IRA every year? This method is known as the Mega Backdoor Roth IRA, and it can be a game-changer for individuals with high incomes. However, it can be complex and not suitable for everyone. The Power of...
Whether you make $100K/year or $1MM/year, you likely need a budget. We have worked will all different types of individuals, each with their own unique financial hurdles. We have seen many different ways to track one’s expenses. Some work well. Some don’t. The most unique way to budget that we’ve come across? An individual established a checking...
A recent article discussing why college is so expensive had me thinking as to the true reasons. With two young children and many clients impacted by rising college costs, I decided to look into this more and see why higher education is so expensive, whether college is truly necessary for most, and ways education expenses...
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