For years, the big worry about 529 college-savings plans was “what if my kid doesn’t use all of it?” Pull the money out for anything but education and you’d owe tax plus a 10% penalty on the earnings. SECURE 2.0 changed that. Starting in 2024, you can convert a 529 to a Roth IRA for the same beneficiary — turning leftover college money into a tax-free head start on retirement. It’s a genuinely great feature, but the fine print is strict, so let’s walk through exactly how it works.
Continue reading “How to Convert a 529 to a Roth IRA (2026 Rules)”Tag: FIRE
TSP Roth Conversion: What Changed in 2026
For years, federal employees who searched for a TSP Roth conversion hit the same wall: you couldn’t actually do one inside the Thrift Savings Plan. Your only path was to roll traditional TSP money out to a traditional IRA and convert it there. That changed on January 28, 2026. The TSP now lets you convert traditional balances to Roth right inside your account, and for a lot of feds chasing early retirement, it’s a big deal.
Continue reading “TSP Roth Conversion: What Changed in 2026”A Wealth of Common Sense: Book Review
There’s a certain type of personal finance book that makes you want to close it halfway through and go simplify your portfolio immediately. “A Wealth of Common Sense” by Ben Carlson is one of those books. It doesn’t try to teach you a complicated system or sell you on a strategy you’ve never heard of. The entire argument is: you’re probably doing too much, the complexity isn’t helping, and here’s why simplicity tends to win.
FU Money
Hello, brave souls and fellow seekers of the almighty FU Money. You’ve stumbled upon my little corner of the internet where I share tales of my quest for the ultimate financial freedom. If you’re expecting a dry, step-by-step guide, you’ve taken a wrong turn somewhere. But if you’re here for a sprinkle of wit on a bed of honest finance advice, grab your favorite beverage and settle in.
Selling Tradelines: My experience
Update, September 2026: this post covers my first three years. For the full picture there’s five years of numbers here. In 2026 I also closed my direct store, so I now sell only through brokers.
In the past three years, my financial landscape has been significantly reshaped by an unexpected (ad)venture: selling tradelines. This journey wasn’t just a sideline hustle; it became a pivotal part of my financial strategy, offering insights into credit markets, personal finance, and the dynamics of credit score improvement. In this post, I’ll share my firsthand experience, the lessons learned, and the strategies that worked (and didn’t) in the world of tradelines. Whether you’re considering selling tradelines yourself or simply curious about this niche financial practice, join me as I unpack the layers of this journey.
