https://jamesustby.com/One money question answered at a time. https://jamesustby.com/articles/installment-sale-capital-gains-taxhttps://jamesustby.com/articles/installment-sale-capital-gains-taxMon, 19 Oct 2026 06:00:00 -0400An installment sale lets a seller report gain as payments arrive. That can keep more gain in lower brackets, but a note over $5 million adds interest. https://jamesustby.com/articles/asset-sale-vs-stock-sale-taxhttps://jamesustby.com/articles/asset-sale-vs-stock-sale-taxSun, 18 Oct 2026 06:00:00 -0400An asset sale usually costs the seller more. It can turn part of the gain into ordinary income and, for a C corporation, tax the same gain twice. https://jamesustby.com/articles/exit-planning-business-owner-starthttps://jamesustby.com/articles/exit-planning-business-owner-startSat, 17 Oct 2026 06:00:00 -0400Exit planning is the work of turning a business into after-tax wealth on your terms. Many of the moves that matter need three to five years of lead time. https://jamesustby.com/articles/roll-401k-into-ira-retirehttps://jamesustby.com/articles/roll-401k-into-ira-retireFri, 16 Oct 2026 06:00:00 -0400Rolling a 401(k) into an IRA can widen choices and simplify withdrawals, but keeping the plan can win if you retire at 55 to 59 or hold company stock. https://jamesustby.com/articles/what-to-do-after-selling-businesshttps://jamesustby.com/articles/what-to-do-after-selling-businessThu, 15 Oct 2026 06:00:00 -0400Set aside the tax first, park the rest somewhere safe and boring, and give yourself 90 days to plan. On a $5,000,000 sale the tax can top $1.2 million. https://jamesustby.com/articles/financial-advisor-1-percent-fee-worth-ithttps://jamesustby.com/articles/financial-advisor-1-percent-fee-worth-itWed, 14 Oct 2026 06:00:00 -0400A 1 percent fee is worth it only if the planning, tax and behavior help you get is worth more than the dollars. Start by putting the fee in dollars. https://jamesustby.com/articles/married-couples-social-security-claiming-agehttps://jamesustby.com/articles/married-couples-social-security-claiming-ageTue, 13 Oct 2026 06:00:00 -0400For many couples, the higher earner waiting toward 70 matters most, because that check becomes the survivor's. Here is the math for one example couple. https://jamesustby.com/articles/how-to-value-business-before-salehttps://jamesustby.com/articles/how-to-value-business-before-saleSun, 11 Oct 2026 06:00:00 -0400Fair market value is what a willing buyer would pay a willing seller with full facts. Three approaches, a table, and the IRS rules that frame the work. https://jamesustby.com/articles/cash-balance-plan-owner-contributionhttps://jamesustby.com/articles/cash-balance-plan-owner-contributionSat, 10 Oct 2026 06:00:00 -0400A cash balance plan is a pension that can let an older, high-earning owner set aside far more than a 401(k) allows. Here are the 2026 limits and the math. https://jamesustby.com/articles/social-security-62-vs-67-how-much-you-losehttps://jamesustby.com/articles/social-security-62-vs-67-how-much-you-loseSat, 10 Oct 2026 06:00:00 -0400Claiming at 62 cuts your check by 30 percent for life if your full retirement age is 67. Here is the math, the break-even age, and who should claim early. https://jamesustby.com/articles/million-dollars-monthly-retirement-incomehttps://jamesustby.com/articles/million-dollars-monthly-retirement-incomeFri, 09 Oct 2026 06:00:00 -0400About $3,300 a month before tax at a 4 percent withdrawal rate, and the real answer depends on taxes, Social Security, and which year you retire. Here is the math. https://jamesustby.com/retire-how-much-do-i-need-to-retirehttps://jamesustby.com/retire-how-much-do-i-need-to-retireRoughly 25 times the annual income you need from your savings, after Social Security and any pension are subtracted. If you need $40,000 a year from your accounts, the target is about $1,000,000. That rule comes from a sustainable withdrawal rate of about 4 percent a year, and it is a starting point, not a verdict. https://jamesustby.com/retire-which-account-to-withdraw-from-firsthttps://jamesustby.com/retire-which-account-to-withdraw-from-firstUsually taxable accounts first, then traditional IRA and 401(k) money, then Roth last, with one big exception: in the years between retirement and the start of required minimum distributions, deliberately drawing or converting some traditional IRA money at a low tax rate often beats the simple order. The right sequence is a tax decision, not an investment decision. https://jamesustby.com/retire-when-to-take-social-securityhttps://jamesustby.com/retire-when-to-take-social-securityFor most married couples, the higher earner should wait as long as they can toward 70, and the lower earner can claim earlier. Every year you delay past full retirement age adds about 8 percent to the check for life, and the higher earner's check becomes the survivor's check. Single people with average health usually come out ahead waiting too, but the answer depends on health, other income, and whether you need the money to stop working. https://jamesustby.com/retire-how-to-read-your-tax-return-before-retirementhttps://jamesustby.com/retire-how-to-read-your-tax-return-before-retirementLook at five places: the income lines to see what you actually live on, Schedule B to see where your investments are held and what they pay, the retirement income lines, your taxable income to find your marginal bracket, and the foreign tax credit and Schedule A to spot what is missing. A planner can see most of a retirement plan's problems in a 1040 in ten minutes. So can you. https://jamesustby.com/retire-does-medicare-cover-long-term-carehttps://jamesustby.com/retire-does-medicare-cover-long-term-careNo. Medicare covers short rehabilitation after a hospital stay, not the ongoing help with daily living that most people mean by long-term care. That cost is paid by you, by long-term care insurance, or, once assets are nearly gone, by Medicaid. Every retirement plan has to pick one of those three on purpose, because not choosing is choosing the first one. https://jamesustby.com/pre-retire-am-i-saving-enough-to-retire-at-60https://jamesustby.com/pre-retire-am-i-saving-enough-to-retire-at-60Find the number first: annual retirement spending minus Social Security and pension, times 25. Then compare what you have today, grown at a reasonable rate to age 60, against that number. The gap divided by the years left is the extra you need to save each year. Most people who do this at 50 find the gap is closable. Most people who do it at 58 find it is not, which is why the exercise is worth doing now. https://jamesustby.com/w2-401k-or-roth-ira-firsthttps://jamesustby.com/w2-401k-or-roth-ira-firstIn this order: the 401(k) up to the full employer match, then a health savings account if your plan allows one, then a Roth IRA up to the limit, then back to the 401(k) until it is maxed, then a regular brokerage account. The match is free money, the HSA is the only account that is never taxed in or out when used for medical costs, and the Roth gives you a tax-free bucket you will be grateful for at 65. https://jamesustby.com/owners-how-does-my-business-become-my-retirementhttps://jamesustby.com/owners-how-does-my-business-become-my-retirementOnly if you answer four questions on purpose: how you are paying yourself and how much of it is being saved outside the business, which retirement plan you have for yourself and your key people, who runs or buys the business when you stop, and whether the business and your personal assets are protected from each other's creditors. Most owners have answered none of them, and the business is both their largest asset and their only one. https://jamesustby.com/start-what-to-do-with-your-first-real-paycheckhttps://jamesustby.com/start-what-to-do-with-your-first-real-paycheckFour things, in this order, and then stop thinking about it: collect the full 401(k) match, build one month of expenses in a savings account and keep adding until it is three, open a Roth IRA and automate a monthly contribution into a broad index fund, and get term life and disability coverage if anyone depends on your income. That is the entire plan for the first few years. Everything else is noise.