Retirement
Pensions and planning for later life
Retirement
23 posts
The Last $400 of the Roth IRA Band — the Cliff the $200 Floor Creates
One dollar of income costs $200 — and two IRS pages give different answers.
The Traditional IRA Deduction Bands — Same Rule, Widths Reversed
A single filer loses the deduction first and fast; a joint filer loses the contribution first.
The 78-83 Social Security Break-Even — Re-Run, It Is Three Numbers
“Around 78 to 83” was never a range. Name the comparison and it lands on 78y8m, 80y4m or 82y6m.
Social Security Withheld for Working — It Comes Back at Full Retirement Age
Withheld months are erased from the reduction count. Claim at 62 with an FRA of 67 and the benefit climbs from 70% to 75% to 80%.
Korean Retirement Pension Early Withdrawal — Enough to Pledge, Not Enough to Withdraw
The grounds are a closed list in the Enforcement Decree. But the pledge list and the withdrawal list differ, and university fees, weddings and funerals appear only on the first.
What Health Insurance Costs After You Retire — and Three Deadlines You Can't Undo
Voluntary continuation is exactly double what you paid while employed (325,392 won a month on a 4m salary). The comparison that counts is against regional enrolment.
Divided and Survivor Pensions — What Happens After Divorce or Loss
The divided pension's five years do not start at divorce — the provision says “from the time all the requirements are satisfied.”
401(k) vs Roth IRA — 2026 Limits and Income Bands, Read Off the IRS Pages
We opened five IRS pages to pin down the 2026 numbers — and found two of them contradicting each other.
Get up to ₩1.48M Back Just for Saving: Pension Savings & IRP (2026)
The common line that an IRP needs “six months of treatment plus 12.5% of wages” does not match the text. The 12.5% test belongs to DC plans; the general IRP article carries no such threshold. Articles 2, 14 and 18 of the Decree, side by side.
Bridging the Pension Gap — Income & Health Insurance Before It Starts
Retire at 60, pension at 63–65. How to bridge the gap without an early-pension cut.
Retirement Prep by Age — Your 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s
Habit in your 30s, accelerate in your 40s, review in your 50s, design withdrawals in your 60s.
How Much for Retirement — Adequate Living Cost & the Shortfall
Adequate: ~1.976M won single, ~2.981M couple. Compute the gap vs your pension to see the plan.
The US 401(k) Explained: Limits, Match, Roth vs Traditional (2026)
The employer match is an instant 100% return. 2026 limit $24,500, Traditional vs Roth, rollovers.
US IRA: Roth vs Traditional Explained (2026 Limits & Income Rules)
Pay tax now or later. 2026 limit $7,500, Roth income limits, and the order to save.
US Social Security Explained: 62 vs 67 vs 70, and the Korea Agreement
~30% less at 62, ~24% more at 70. The 40-credit rule and the US-Korea totalization agreement.
The Art of Drawing Down — Korea's 15M Won Rule and Withdrawal Strategy
Everyone explains how to save into a pension. Almost nobody explains how to take it out — where tax varies threefold.
Claiming a Korean pension early or late - 70% against 136% (2026)
The source describes a scheme for undoing an early claim. And even an on-time pension is cut for five years if your income is high.
Six ways to raise a Korean pension - back-payment stops at 119 months (2026)
The source revealed an ‘under ten years’ ceiling on back-payment, and a childbirth credit that from 2026 counts the first child with no cap.
Korea's three pension tiers - two open at 55, one at 65, leaving a ten-year gap
Opening the Easy Law text tier by tier and overlaying the start ages: workplace and private pensions open first, the state pension a decade later.
Korea's Housing Pension — Mortgage Method or Trust Method (2026)
The method comes before the amount. “Automatic spousal succession” is not true of the mortgage method.
Korea's 43% pension replacement rate is a reversal, not a rise (2026)
Opening the NPS formula showed that the constant equals the replacement rate times 0.03, exactly. And the start age is set by birth year, not calendar year.
DB vs. DC Retirement Pensions in Korea — Which Should You Pick?
Does the company invest it, or do you? Plus how IRP fits in.
Korea's Basic Pension 2026 - halve the couple threshold and it is exactly 80%
The Easy Law text prints the formula with its statutory citations. Working it shows the Basic Pension is untouched until the National Pension passes a line.