The Fine Print
A retirement and early-retirement wiki. Reference articles for U.S. traditional retirees (60–70) and early retirees / FIRE (30–55), including those planning to retire abroad.
The name is the thesis: the money is in the detail nobody reads — IRMAA’s two-year lookback, 401(k) accounts that don’t aggregate, the 60-day COBRA fork, the portability election you make on a return with no tax due.
Not advice. Educational reference only. Decisions with real money should be confirmed against primary sources (IRS publications, SSA.gov, Healthcare.gov, CMS) or a fee-only CFP/CPA.
Where to start
Section titled “Where to start”The tables below are the full index, ordered the way the wiki is organised rather than the way a question arrives. If you have a question rather than a browse in mind:
| If you are… | Start at |
|---|---|
| Still working, with a date in the next five years | TR-01 — the runway, from T-minus-60 months to day one |
| Stopping before 65 | HC-01 — health cover is the bill that decides most early-retirement dates |
| Approaching 65 | HC-02 for Medicare, then SS-01 for when to claim |
| Turning a portfolio into a spending number | ER-01 — why five credible studies span 2.31% to 5.50% |
| Stuck on a term | FN-01 — the glossary |
| Chasing a figure | FN-02 — every number, with its source |
What this is, and how far along
Section titled “What this is, and how far along”41 articles written of 62 planned, across 11 pillars. Planned ones are listed unlinked, because articles cite each other by code and you will meet a code with no page behind it.
Every figure carries one of two marks, and the difference matters. ✅ means it was confirmed against a primary or multiply-corroborated authoritative source. ◻️ means high confidence but not verified at source — 26% of the 1,327 marks in this corpus. Neither mark is a substitute for checking your own case before acting, and each article states the month its figures were last checked.
Foundations & Key Numbers
Section titled “Foundations & Key Numbers”4 of 4 written.
| Code | Article |
|---|---|
| FN-01 | Glossary |
| FN-02 | Key Numbers 2026 |
| FN-03 | Policy Watch |
| FN-04 | The Order-of-Operations Map |
Approaching Retirement & Transitions
Section titled “Approaching Retirement & Transitions”4 of 4 written.
| Code | Article |
|---|---|
| TR-01 | The Five-Year Runway |
| TR-03 | One More Year, or Quitting Too Soon |
| TR-04 | Practice Retirement |
| TR-05 | Exit Logistics |
Healthcare Navigation
Section titled “Healthcare Navigation”8 of 8 written.
Social Security & Medicare Enrollment
Section titled “Social Security & Medicare Enrollment”5 of 5 written.
Early Retirement Mechanics
Section titled “Early Retirement Mechanics”7 of 7 written.
Overseas & Expat Retirement
Section titled “Overseas & Expat Retirement”1 of 5 written.
| Code | Article |
|---|---|
| EX-02 | U.S. Taxes Abroad: FEIE vs. FTC |
| EX-03 | FBAR, FATCA/Form 8938, and PFIC: the compliance trio that ruins expat portfolios (planned) |
| EX-04 | Healthcare abroad — brief needs narrowing to the U.S. side (Medicare’s non-coverage overseas, the return-to-US decision) before drafting (planned) |
| EX-05 | Keeping U.S. brokerage accounts as a non-resident — brief needs narrowing to the U.S. side (foreign banking is now out of scope) (planned) |
| EX-06 | Social Security abroad: totalization agreements and payment logistics (planned) |
Tax Optimization & Decumulation
Section titled “Tax Optimization & Decumulation”6 of 6 written.
Income Generation & Side Wealth
Section titled “Income Generation & Side Wealth”0 of 6 written.
| Code | Article |
|---|---|
| IN-01 | Geo-arbitrage: domestic and international cost-of-living plays (planned) |
| IN-02 | Consulting and 1099 work in retirement: solo 401(k)s, QBI, and self-employment tax (planned) |
| IN-03 | Rental income: real math after vacancy, capex, and management (planned) |
| IN-04 | Part-time work’s hidden benefits: ACA MAGI shaping, SS earnings record, employer health coverage (planned) |
| IN-05 | Annuities without the sales pitch: SPIAs, DIAs/QLACs, and when guaranteed income earns its cost (planned) |
| IN-06 | Dividend, bond-ladder, and TIPS-ladder income floors (planned) |
Estate Planning & Risk Management
Section titled “Estate Planning & Risk Management”2 of 7 written.
| Code | Article |
|---|---|
| EP-01 | The Core Document Stack |
| EP-02 | Trusts beyond the basics: when you actually need irrevocable structures — incl. incentive/milestone distributions and the psychology of inheritance on beneficiaries (planned) |
| EP-03 | Inflation hedging: TIPS, I-bonds, equities-as-hedge, and what doesn’t work (planned) |
| EP-04 | Insurance audit at retirement: what to drop (term life?), keep (umbrella), and add (planned) |
| EP-05 | Estate and Inheritance Taxes |
| EP-06 | Cognitive decline planning: guardrails on your own future self — incl. the non-professional trustee’s burden and dignified capacity transitions (planned) |
| EP-07 | Fair vs. equal: dividing an estate when equal shares create practical disasters — the family business, the illiquid house, the caretaking sibling, and unequal division defensible enough to survive the reading (planned) |
Lifestyle, Purpose & Community
Section titled “Lifestyle, Purpose & Community”0 of 6 written.
| Code | Article |
|---|---|
| LS-01 | Designing a week: routine architecture for the newly time-rich (planned) |
| LS-02 | Fitness and healthspan: strength training as the highest-ROI retirement asset (planned) |
| LS-03 | Solo retirement: community-building playbook (planned) |
| LS-04 | Couples in retirement: mismatched timelines, territory negotiation, and the 24/7 adjustment (planned) |
| LS-05 | Purpose portfolios: mentoring, boards, volunteering, encore projects (planned) |
| LS-06 | Relocation decisions: near the grandkids vs. near the sun — a weighted framework (planned) |
State Dimension
Section titled “State Dimension”4 of 4 written.
| Code | Article |
|---|---|
| ST-01 | The Six Ways Your State Changes the Playbook |
| ST-02 | “Retirement-Friendly States,” Honestly |
| ST-03 | Changing Domicile |
| ST-04 | State Quick-Reference Tables |
Not advice. Educational reference only. Decisions with real money should be confirmed against primary sources — IRS publications, SSA.gov, Healthcare.gov, CMS — or a fee-only CFP/CPA.
Dollar figures, thresholds, and brackets are stated for the plan year named in each article’s header, and tax and healthcare rules change annually. Check theLast verified date at the top of the page before relying on a number.