Decision Library

Every article points back to the gap report.

This archive is organized by retirement decision, not by date. Pick the decision you are stuck on, read the short shelf, then come back and check whether your income gap clears.

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Educational information only. This site does not provide financial, tax, legal, insurance, or investment advice.

Decisions, not headlinesEducational onlyLinked back to the gap report

Decision shelves

Six decisions the gap report depends on.

Each shelf collects articles that help one calculator input become a real answer. Read a shelf, then run the report with sharper assumptions.

Target retirement age

Pin a target date before doing math on it.

Articles that help readers commit to an age, a year, or a window so the gap report has a fixed end-of-paycheck date to plan against.

Check if you can retire early

Healthcare bridge

Cover the years before Medicare.

The bridge between leaving the paycheck and turning 65 is usually the most expensive surprise. These pieces frame ACA, COBRA, and HSA decisions.

Check if you can retire early

Social Security timing

Claim early, claim later, or claim spousal.

Decision content on filing age, survivorship, spousal strategy, and breakeven math. Pairs directly with the gap report's guaranteed-income inputs.

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Withdrawal and the 4% rule

Decide what comes out, and in what order.

Sequence-of-returns risk, safe withdrawal rates, Roth conversion ladders, and bucket strategies framed as decisions, not opinions.

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Income gap math

Translate spending into a monthly shortfall.

Essential vs flexible spending, inflation assumptions, and how to size the gap the portfolio actually has to fill.

Check if you can retire early

Full chronological index

Every curated article, newest first.

A flat, search-friendly index for readers who arrive from a query and want to scan dates. The shelves above are still the recommended way in.

May 1, 2024

Blog

The Ten Commandments of Early Retirement

Explore our detailed guide on achieving early retirement, featuring essential strategies for financial independence and a fulfilling post-work life.

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Retirement Decision Articles | Early Retirement Dude