Investor's Handbook

Practical frameworks + free tools for investing, personal finance & building wealth.

Learn the framework. Run the model. Make the decision. ↓

[Investor's Handbook @InvestorsHndbk]

Investor's Handbook helps you make better financial decisions.

Learn the framework.
Run the model.
Make the decision.

Get the free tools and weekly newsletter:
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Read the publication:
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[Investor's Handbook @InvestorsHndbk]

Two hypothetical families. Same employer, same two plans.

Family A, typical year ($3,000 of care): HDHP $7,404 vs PPO $9,450

Family B, typical year ($16,000 of care): HDHP $11,604 vs PPO $10,750

The dividing line on this menu: about $7,460 of medical spending.

[Investor's Handbook @InvestorsHndbk]

Comparing an HDHP and a PPO without the HSA is comparing the wrong prices.

Payroll HSA contributions skip federal income tax, most state tax, and 7.65% Social Security and Medicare tax.

At a 22% bracket and 4% state tax, $4,000 contributed saves $1,346.

[Investor's Handbook @InvestorsHndbk]

Run it with your own benefits guide. The free Full-Year Cost Calculator shows each plan's cost, your breakeven and your cash gap.
https://t.co/FrtxffmWAj

[Investor's Handbook @InvestorsHndbk]

Open enrollment asks you to compare two numbers: premiums and deductibles. Neither one is what a health plan costs you. 🧵

[Investor's Handbook @InvestorsHndbk]

Decision rule: HDHP cheaper in every scenario, PPO cheaper in every scenario, or "depends on your year." Then the guardrail: if the HDHP's maximum exceeds your cash, the cheaper plan may still be the riskier one.

[Investor's Handbook @InvestorsHndbk]

HDHP or PPO? The premium is the wrong number to compare.

Weekly Framework #17: The Full-Year Cost Test.

Compare both plans across a light, typical and heavy year, including the HSA, and see where the answer flips. Free calculator inside.
https://t.co/UrvQuMAwMn

[Investor's Handbook @InvestorsHndbk]

The premium is the only part of your health plan you know in advance.

That's exactly why it shouldn't decide between an HDHP and a PPO.

Thursday: The Full-Year Cost Test, plus a free calculator for open enrollment.

[Investor's Handbook @InvestorsHndbk]

This week's common mistake: weighting information by how loud it is instead of what it cost to produce.
A scheduled stock sale. A headline salary. A tuned backtest.
vs.
Someone's own cash. Money actually kept. An exit written before the losing streak.
Ask who paid for the signal.

[Investor's Handbook @InvestorsHndbk]

Before you dismiss a fact that contradicts your view, ask two questions:

Why doesn't it fit? Has the price already moved?

If you can't answer the first, you haven't earned the right to ignore it.

[Investor's Handbook @InvestorsHndbk]

A salary is a number you can compare.

A savings rate is a decision you have to make before the money arrives.

Only one of them builds wealth.

[Investor's Handbook @InvestorsHndbk]

Most financial information is cheap to produce. The useful kind usually cost someone something.

This week: why an insider's purchase says more than a sale, what separates income from wealth, and the four unglamorous parts of every surviving strategy.
https://t.co/UrvQuMAwMn

[Investor's Handbook @InvestorsHndbk]

I built a free RMD Forced Income Calculator. It shows:

Your RMD age and first required withdrawal Your forced income at your first RMD, at 85 and through 90 Whether RMDs push you into a higher bracket, and when A side-by-side Roth conversion scenario

https://t.co/ZtOWhK70u1

[Investor's Handbook @InvestorsHndbk]

The years between retiring and your first RMD are often the lowest-income years of your adult life.

That makes them the cheapest time to decide what the IRS schedule will do to you later.

After RMDs start, the required amount must come out before any Roth conversion.

[Investor's Handbook @InvestorsHndbk]

Retirement plans start with spending.

RMDs start with your balance and your age.

When the second number passes the first, your taxable income is no longer set by your budget.

[Investor's Handbook @InvestorsHndbk]

Two hypothetical couples, both 58, both planning to withdraw $50k a year.

$800k in pre-tax savings: first RMD at 75 is $34,528. No pressure.

$1.6M: first RMD is $92,078, which is $42,078 more than planned. By 85, $121,810.

Same budget. One moves from the 12% to the 22% bracket

[Investor's Handbook @InvestorsHndbk]

Required minimum distributions = balance ÷ an IRS divisor that shrinks every year.

At 75 you must take about 4.1% of your pre-tax balance. At 85, about 6.3%. At 90, about 8.2%.

A growing balance divided by a shrinking number adds up fast.