2026: New Year, New Limits

As we are about to turn the page (click the arrow?) on the calendar to move into 2026, there are many changes that happen around taxes. These include tax bracket changes, changes in the limits of what you can contribute to various retirement accounts, and a variety of other changes. The following is by no … Continue reading 2026: New Year, New Limits

PERACare vs. ACA Marketplace: 2026 Edition

I've written previously comparing our options for health insurance in retirement (2024, 2025). In both years insurance through the ACA Marketplace was easily the better choice. But for 2026 there are big changes to both PERACare and the ACA Marketplace that are going to make the comparison much closer (and more complicated). The big change … Continue reading PERACare vs. ACA Marketplace: 2026 Edition

The Extraordinary Opportunity of Starting Early (and Privilege)

compound interest

Note: This post is going to assume a lot of privilege. It's not going to address the very real issues of income inequality and systemic disadvantage, as those are a bit beyond my wheelhouse (although I do have pretty strong opinions about policy changes we should make that could at least help address those issues). … Continue reading The Extraordinary Opportunity of Starting Early (and Privilege)

PERACare Premium Increases and the Impact of a Plan Design Change

after subsidy

Colorado PERA offers optional health insurance called PERACare as a benefit to its retirees. While the details of next year's plans aren't out yet (open enrollment begins October 20th), a presentation at today's Board meeting shared the details on the premium increases (and a change in one of the plans offered). Given all that's going … Continue reading PERACare Premium Increases and the Impact of a Plan Design Change

Spreadsheet: Growth of HSA Over Time

Some of the episodes in my new podcast series Teaching You to Fisch (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube) include spreadsheets I've created to illustrate particular topics. Some of them are modifications of spreadsheets I've used before and some are newly created. Because not everyone is going to choose to watch/listen to the podcasts (they are really … Continue reading Spreadsheet: Growth of HSA Over Time

Should I Invest in My Traditional, Roth, or Taxable Account?

IT DEPENDS! Okay, I really wanted to just leave this as a two-word blog post, but I decided that probably wasn't all that helpful. The genesis of this post was a discussion on Facebook where people were giving advice about what account someone should invest money in. Often these folks are really big fans of … Continue reading Should I Invest in My Traditional, Roth, or Taxable Account?