Chapter 1 of 2
The Coordination Problem
Dan and Dana map their combined finances for the first time. They discover they are both contributing to Traditional 401(k)s despite being in the 35% bracket, they have $45k sitting in a savings account earning 0.4%, and they have never run a backdoor Roth. The model shows the annual tax cost of their incoordination.
Key Insight
By optimizing their 401(k) allocations, executing backdoor Roth contributions, and deploying idle cash, Dan and Dana can improve their after-tax retirement wealth by an estimated $380k over 20 years — without changing their lifestyle.
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