This article explores an often overlooked strategy. A market drop soon after retirement could force the retiree to sell investments. However, they might be able to use a Home Equity Line Of Credit (HELOC) to delay the sale. Interest rates tend to fall with recessions. Since HELOCs usually have variable interest rates, the debt could become less expensive when it’s needed most.

Supersavers often overlook opportunities. Some of those include: merit aid, Social Security funding, benefit claiming strategies, single stock exposure, target allocation, asset location, Mega Roth, home gain exclusion, personal liability, rental cash flow, lifetime tax minimization, penalties and interest, withholdingg, bunching donations, Donor-Advised Fund (DAF), giving income away, coverage limits, deductibles, prepaid discounts, umbrella, disability impact, federal estate tax, state estate and inheritance taxes, and step-up in basis.

Is it best practice to ignore Social Security when planning retirement

No!

Social Security benefits are huge!

Assume a household will receive $3,000 per month in after-tax Social Security benefits.

Replacing that income might require a $900,000 portfolio!

My goal? To help as many people as possible reach financial independence!

If anyone chooses to work, it should be because they want to, not because they have to.

Before launching Scaled Finance, I invested months to develop a complimentary financial independence course.

Since launching, I've settled into a routine of posting on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Mondays usually focus on images I create, which I hope you find insightful, inspirational, or both. Wednesdays are generally financial education videos. Fridays are normally polls.

How does a couple reach financial independence?

The math is relatively straightforward:

1. Start with total expected expenses.

2. Subtract any after-tax non-portfolio income.

3. Multiply the shortfall by 25.

The result is a rough estimate of the portfolio size needed in today’s dollars.

What is financial independence?

That’s the beauty of it. Everyone’s definition is different.

At its core, it's the ability to do what you like, when you like, and with whom you like.