The Senior Desk · Circle It in Red
Articles — the Red Pencil
Every piece Max has written, one trap circled in red at a time. Plain-language education on Medicare, Roth space, and retirement income. Free to read, nothing for sale.
A note on who Max is. Max is a cartoon owl. He is not a financial advisor, insurance agent, or tax professional, and nothing here is personalized advice. When a question turns personal, he does not answer it — he teaches the general version and points you to a licensed conversation, which is automated and says so before it says anything else.
The Third Door: the 401(k) limit most people never find
Your 401(k) has two limits, not one. The gap between them is the mega backdoor Roth — how it works, who it fits, and the trap that quietly turns it into a tax bill.
The Cliff Two Years Back: how a good year raises your Medicare premium
IRMAA is a Medicare surcharge set by your income from two years ago — and it is a step, not a slope. How the cliff works and how to see it coming.
Half the Household, Same Income: the tax cliff a widow walks into
When one spouse dies, the survivor keeps most of the income and loses the joint brackets. The widow's cliff, and the planning window that closes with the first death.
You Can't Pour Just the Cream Out: the backdoor Roth and the blender
The backdoor Roth looks clean until an old rollover IRA blends into it. The pro-rata rule, in plain English, and the one move that fixes it.
The Account That Outlives the Bill: the HSA nobody uses right
A health savings account is the only triple-tax-advantaged account there is — and most people spend it exactly wrong. How to use it, and the Medicare cutoff that ends it.
Meet the traps these pieces keep circling in the rogues’ gallery, or start with the plain-language learn hub.