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Financial Independence
Financial independence is the point at which your investments will safely produce enough investment income to support your living expenses. The Financial Independence tab is designed to help you identify your “crossover point,” or the point at which you can withdraw enough from your investments every year (using the 4% rule) to support your lifestyle. […]
We improved the accuracy of the 2025 Financial Independence tab by fine-tuning two important variables: In 2024, we looked at the difference between your post-tax income and your planned spending, and assumed you were saving the rest for retirement. ❌ Why this wasn’t ideal: This estimate was a good rough projection, but many users save […]
This feature is intended to guide you as you make your Monthly Contributions Goals for saving and investing, based on your income and planned spending. Here’s how the number you see in this box is calculated: First, it looks at your post-tax income, including your paycheck contributions to investments. Then, it subtracts any spending you’re […]
There are a few places where it works better to use your net rental income, and other places where entering your nominal numbers is better (e.g., actual rents received, actual mortgage expenses, etc.), depending on what the feature is intended to do. Dashboard Tab “Add Names of Your Sources of Income” table. Give your rental […]
As my standard legalese: I am not a licensed tax professional, and this is not tax advice. Please consult your friendly neighborhood CPA and do your due diligence. This is intended to be a starting point for your #TaxSzn research. As I was reminded repeatedly by TurboTax’s 2023 ad campaign called “Don’t Do Your Taxes,” […]
If you’re a high earner in the market for an investment strategy that sounds more like a Transformer than a legitimate wealth-building option, then boy, do I have good news for you: The Mega Backdoor Roth IRA might be a contender for your tax-advantaged lineup. Before we talk about the “how,” let’s talk about the […]
As anyone who’s been in the same room as me when the topic of tax savings comes up knows, pre-tax investment vehicles are like my inner 12-year-old girl’s Justin Bieber. If my husband would let me put up a poster on our bedroom wall of the US’s tax-efficient trifecta (401(k), Roth IRA, HSA), I would. […]
If your instinctual response to that title was, “Wait, but aren’t those the same thing?”, your training is complete. I’ve successfully brainwashed you into the relentless pursuit of wealth. After all, like Jonathan Haidt says in his book The Happiness Hypothesis, “Those who think money can’t buy happiness just don’t know where to shop.” But […]
“Freedom without discipline is chaos.”—Cullen Hightower I heard from a reader the other day who’s in marital gridlock about the best way to manage their newfound high income. When they earned less, she said, they were in agreement about their strategy: They used dedicated savings accounts for discretionary purchases and a rollover strategy, in which […]
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Last year, my husband and I started a new financial tradition (okay, maybe it’s fairer to say I strong-armed him into it) in which I tap into the small, shameful part of me that’s still in awe of management consultants despite their well-documented crimes against humanity and I churn out a deck like I’m getting […]
There’s something stressful about consumption. It demands forethought, analysis—but it’s so often disguised as entertainment (#TargetRun! Women be shoppin’, amirite?) that we forget how much effort it takes. A few weeks ago, I was reminded of the year’s most acute variant of this feeling: “What’s on your list for Black Friday?” The question prompts a […]
Update: It’s come to my attention that the team at Copilot are ever the strategists and are working on an integration to import data from Mint in light of the news that Intuit is shuttering the platform. What did I tell you? User-friendly kings & queens. I should disclose upfront that I used to work […]
As my standard legalese: I am not a licensed tax professional, and this is not tax advice. Please consult your friendly neighborhood CPA and do your due diligence. This is intended to be a starting point for your #TaxSzn research. As I was reminded repeatedly by TurboTax’s 2023 ad campaign called “Don’t Do Your Taxes,” […]
Update: It’s come to my attention that the team at Copilot are ever the strategists and are working on an integration to import data from Mint in light of the news that Intuit is shuttering the platform. What did I tell you? User-friendly kings & queens. I should disclose upfront that I used to work […]
If you’re a high earner in the market for an investment strategy that sounds more like a Transformer than a legitimate wealth-building option, then boy, do I have good news for you: The Mega Backdoor Roth IRA might be a contender for your tax-advantaged lineup. Before we talk about the “how,” let’s talk about the […]
During my junior year of high school, I found myself in an unexpected situation where I had the highest grade point average in several of my classes. It wasn’t thanks to any sudden stroke of genius (my prefrontal cortex still had a way to go), but an accidental shift in my approach to studying. You […]
During my junior year of high school, I found myself in an unexpected situation where I had the highest grade point average in several of my classes. It wasn’t thanks to any sudden stroke of genius (my prefrontal cortex still had a way to go), but an accidental shift in my approach to studying. You […]
Last year, writer and activist Gabe Dunn came on The Money with Katie Show and said something insightful: “I can see some of [these personal finance experts] who, even if they started out as a ‘waitress’ or ‘a child of immigrants’…I know how quickly you can lose perspective. And it’s very quickly.” Their point was […]
When I originally published this post in February 2021, my thesis was pretty simple: Comparing your financial situation and decisions to the gals you wine down with on Bachelor Monday probably won’t net highly favorable results, because you’re selecting your “financial frame of reference” based on unrelated qualifications. As I revisit the idea in 2025, […]
A few years ago, I was going through cycle instructor training in Dallas. I entered into the process as a certified yoga sculpt instructor already, convinced that learning how to teach this other modality would last a few easy weeks at most before I’d find myself saving a horse and riding a stationary bike, with […]
¹must be willing to jump through a litany of loopholes and degrade oneself before the transfer portal gods. In the last week, I’ve seen a slew of headlines on the tails of American Express’s first-quarter earnings report, revealing that Gen Z and millennial users are accumulating their pricey, premium cards like student loans are in […]
This week on The Money with Katie Show, we revamped our patented (okay, it’s not patented, but it should be) travel rewards strategy. And lest you distrust the personal finance wench’s hot takes on travel rewards, I’m bringing in the big guns: Benét Wilson, former senior editor for The Points Guy. But how do you […]
Last updated Oct. 2021 Check out the Sapphire Preferred card here Disclosure: This content is not sponsored or endorsed by any of the card brands described here and is accurate as of the posting date, but some of the offers mentioned may have expired. Money with Katie is part of an affiliate sales network and […]
Last updated Oct. 2021 Check out the Sapphire Preferred card here Disclosure: This content is not sponsored or endorsed by any of the card brands described here and is accurate as of the posting date, but some of the offers mentioned may have expired. Money with Katie is part of an affiliate sales network and […]