The Opposite of Gutting It Out

Posted on 16-October-18 by Grumpus

My Gutting It Out post must have struck a chord with many of my readers. It prompted numerous comments, re-posts, and questions on the Book of Face. It continues to be one of my most read articles, and it even prompted a fellow Financial Independence (FI) blogger to write an article about my article. That’s pretty cool if you ask me, and a fairly large ego stroke too!

However, as popular as that article proved to be, I don’t want anyone to think that “gutting it out” is the only path I advocate. It’s not. Nor could it ever be, since the entire premise which surrounds my self-described Golden Albatross inflection point implies a choice that someone makes to stay or leave a pensionable job. Thus, if some people choose to stay and “gut out” a pensionable job, it means others don’t or won’t. It’s for those contemplating that alternative that I dedicate this post. Continue reading →

The Pension Series (Part 9): Pensions and U.S. Federal Taxes

Posted on 15-December-17 by Grumpus

***This is an updated article. See Post Script at the bottom***

Today’s topic comes from one of my Facebook group followers. I recently solicited my Golden Albatross group on subjects to research and write about, and Mr. Yankee responded with the following question:

Has there been discussion of how to shelter your pension benefits from federal tax? When I retire I expect to receive about $60,000 a year from my pension I’d hate to give a large portion of it back to the government.

I told Mr. Yankee I would look into it since I’d yet to conduct an in-depth analysis of pensions and taxes. It’s a bit premature considering the fact that U.S. tax law is undergoing its first major overhaul since the 1980s. Currently, the House and the Senate are working on reconciling their two different bills into one in order to approve and send to the President for signature. However, my research only shows one proposal in the House bill with the potential to impact this conversation in any meaningful way, and I believe I can address it appropriately. If something radical happens in the reconciliation process, I will simply update this article when the dust settles. Continue reading →

The Pension Series (Part 2): Worth vs. Worth It

Posted on 10-September-17 by Grumpus

Prologue

I’ll admit up front this article won’t be to everyone’s liking which probably isn’t a good way to start out a blog post if you want people to read it. However, there’s a likelihood that some readers will get no more than a few paragraphs in, and question what the hell any of this has to do with Financial Independence (FI) or pensions. They may even think all I’m trying to do is blow my own horn. I’m not, but I could see how it might appear that way if you don’t stick around to the end. Admittedly, I used this post as an opportunity to engage in some much-needed writing therapy. One of my Docs told me it would help to write about events from my career which contributed to my PTS. Thus, dealing with the topic of “worth vs. worth it” gave me the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. I’ll leave the determination of whether I successfully pulled it off up to you. Continue reading →