Let’s not sugarcoat it, the path to financial independence is a grind. Even with an aggressive savings rate and an extended bull market run, you’re going to be at it for a while.

Setting the hard work aside, we also have to ask ourselves, what are we racing towards? Yes, of course, financial independence and freedom, but what would you do with that newfound free time?

This is where I’d like to insert the idea of mini-retirements. This intentional time off work can help us reenergize and explore what retirement life would look like. This is actually what our guest, Jillian Johnsrud, did. During her journey to financial independence, Jillian embraced 12 mini-retirements and now she coaches others on how to take a mini-retirement themselves.

I love the idea of mini-retirements. I’ve already taken one in 2020 and plan to take many more throughout my life. Looking back, it was one of the best decisions I made in my 20s but it didn’t come with some doubts. Most notably, is this temporary time off worth delaying financial independence?

This is a question I asked Jillian and what she told me surprised me….mini-retirements didn’t delay FI for her, they did the opposite. They expedited it. Stick around if you want to hear that story and more.

I hope you enjoy my conversation with the master of retiring often…Jillian Johnsrud.

Key Takeaways:

• The importance of taking breaks on your path to financial independence
• What a mini-retirement is…and isn’t
• Different intentions for mini-retirements
• How to propose a mini-retirement to your manager
• How to structure mini-retirements so they don’t feel wasted
• Crafting your mini-retirement story
• Reconciling embracing mini-retirements and delaying your path to financial independence
• How to reduce costs during a mini-retirement
• Creating your mini-retirement go-bag

More of Jillian:

Website: www.RetireOften.com

Retire Often podcast: www.retireoften.com/podcast/

More of The Struggle is Real:

Find show notes and more at https://www.tsirpodcast.com/

Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/tsirpod/

We always hear the importance of taking advantage of our 401K and IRA accounts. The tax advantages and employer match are too good to pass up on. But is this true for early retirees? If I’m planning on retiring in my 40s, should I be locking my money away in these accounts? How do I bridge the gap between early retirement and 59.5 - the age at which I can withdraw from these accounts penalty-free?

Well, the good news is that isn’t 100% true. There are ways to withdraw from these retirement accounts early without paying a 10% penalty and some of these strategies are fairly simple.

Sean Mullaney, President of Mullaney Financial & Tax and writer behind the informative blog, FITaxGuy.com, is here to share how to do this.

In this episode, we deep dive into a couple of the strategies to ensure that your money can be accessible to you if you retire before 59.5. Sean also shares a tax-efficient strategy for which accounts you should withdraw from first.

This is Sean’s 3rd appearance on the show. He also appeared in episodes 39 and 40 where we discussed what you need to know about taxes in your 20s and the mechanics of an HSA.

Every time Sean comes on the show I learn something new. Through this conversation, he actually changed my mind about how I am currently funding my Roth and Traditional accounts. He’s such a wealth of knowledge whenever it comes to the tax code and tax planning.

If you also want to learn from Sean, let’s get into it. I hope you enjoy my conversation with FI Tax Guy…Sean Mullaney.

The discussion is intended to be for general educational purposes and is not tax, legal, or investment advice for any individual. Justin and The Struggle is Real podcast do not endorse Sean Mullaney, Mullaney Financial & Tax, Inc. and their services.

Key Takeaways:

• A tax-efficient ladder for funding your life post-FI
• How to manage “uncontrolled income” in your brokerage account
• Long-term vs short-term capital gains and how they’re taxed
• Roth basis: contributions and conversions
• Other exceptions to withdrawing money penalty-free from your retirement accounts

Mentions:

Accessing Retirement Accounts Prior to 59.5: https://fitaxguy.com/accessing-retirement-accounts-prior-to-age-59-%c2%bd/

IRS Exceptions to tax on early distributions: https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/retirement-topics-exceptions-to-tax-on-early-distributions

IRS Publication 502: https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-502

More of Sean:

Blog: https://fitaxguy.com//

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SeanMullaneyVideos

More of The Struggle is Real:

Find show notes and more at https://www.tsirpodcast.com/

Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/tsirpod/

I love playing with compound interest calculators and one equation I’m routinely calculating is the number of years until I reach financial independence. Using the 4% rule, I multiply my living expenses by 25 to get my FIRE number. I use that, my current net worth and various contribution rates to predict when I’ll reach FI.

But then I started thinking about this equation. Instead of using my current expenses should I use an inflation-adjusted number that would more realistically match my future expenses? Also, now I’m second-guessing my average return rate. Does that include inflation or should I be adjusting that rate too?

All of a sudden, I’m a little turned around. Not knowing if the number in front of me is an undershot or overshot. I don’t want to be so far off the mark that my calculation isn’t giving me a realistic path to financial independence.

So what is the right way to account for inflation whenever running our numbers? Luckily Jesse Cramer is back so tell us the right way to go about this calculation.

Jesse has a way of simplifying topics. He is routinely doing this through his podcast, The Best Interest. Jesse takes complex financial topics and puts them into layman's terms. Jesse is so good at doing this that this is the 3rd time I’ve invited him on The Struggle is Real.

In this episode, we get straight into the topic of inflation and answer questions like why products get more expensive over time, 2 ways to correctly calculate your FI number, and how to protect your portfolio from inflation.

So if you’re ready for that, let’s get into it. I hope you enjoy my conversation with TSIR’s most frequented guest (for now)...Jesse Cramer.

Key Takeaways:

• How products and services get more expensive over time
• How inflation is measured
• 2 ways to calculate your FI number without mistakenly leaving out or double counting inflation
• Does the 4% rule account for inflation?
• How to inflation protect your portfolio
• How concerned a 20-something should be about inflation whenever retirement planning

Mentions:

Accounting for Inflation in Retirement and FIRE Planning: https://bestinterest.blog/accounting-for-inflation-in-retirement-and-fire-planning/

More of Jesse:

Podcast: https://bestinterest.blog/the-best-interest-podcast/

Blog: https://bestinterest.blog/

More of The Struggle is Real:

Find show notes and more at https://www.tsirpodcast.com/

Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/tsirpod/