RETIREMENT PLANNING, EXPLAINED.
Make your next retirement decision with more clarity.
Understand retirement income, Social Security, taxes and Medicare before you decide what to do next.
30 years of experience. Retired financial planner.
Quoted in Newsweek.
A retired financial planner and financial educator. I explain the rules, tradeoffs and next steps in plain English.
30 years of experience in financial planning. Meet Michael →Quoted in Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, U.S. News and Yahoo Finance.
Popular guides: Roth conversions · retirement income
SEE WHAT CHANGES THE ANSWER
Retirement calculators
How long will my money last?
Test spending, returns and a longer retirement.
Estimate my retirement runway Social Security timingCompare claiming ages
See how your benefit estimates change the picture.
Compare my claiming ages Roth conversionEstimate the tax tradeoff
Compare conversion amounts and planning assumptions.
Explore the Roth tax tradeoffA DIFFERENT WAY TO LOOK AT RETIREMENT
Your account balance is only part of the answer.
Start with the life you want to fund. Then ask how much of that spending is covered by Social Security, a pension or other reliable income.
The gap is the job your portfolio has to do. Two households with the same savings can have very different retirement plans.
Build your retirement income map →TRY ONE SIMPLE EXAMPLE
At a $7,000 target, the illustrative portfolio gap is $3,000 per month.
Illustration only: reliable income stays at $4,000 a month. Taxes, inflation, investment returns and account balances are not modeled. This does not determine whether you can afford to retire.
The static example is $7,000 spending minus $4,000 reliable income = a $3,000 monthly portfolio gap. Enable JavaScript to change the spending target.
KEEP CONNECTING THE DOTS
Keep seeing how the decisions connect.
Get the Financial Clarity Newsletter for retirement and money explanations that connect the rule, the tradeoff and your next question.
BEFORE YOUR NEXT MOVE
Retirement guides for the next question
Your savings are ready. Can you access them?
Understand the Rule of 55, 72(t) and other ways to bridge an early retirement.
Read the early-access guide
Know which Roth dollars come out first
Contributions, conversions and earnings follow different rules.
Understand Roth withdrawals
What can you do about IRMAA?
Separate income planning from the life changes that may support an appeal.
Explore your IRMAA optionsFROM THE MONEY LIBRARY
Latest retirement and Medicare guides
EXPERIENCE, EXPLAINED IN PLAIN ENGLISH
A planner’s perspective. An educator’s purpose.
I created Michael Ryan Money after 30 years of experience in financial planning. My job here is to help you understand how the decisions fit together, so you can ask better questions and make a more informed next move.
I’m retired from financial planning. This site provides financial education, not individualized advice. Advertising and affiliate relationships help support the work.
YOUR MONEY LIFE IS BIGGER THAN ONE DECISION
Explore the bigger picture.
Have a question for me? Email Michael directly.