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Brightcom Retirement Planning

Make sense of your 401(k), IRA, and Social Security, and turn savings into income that lasts.

The retirement questions everyone has, answered plainly.

Reader discussion board

Readers comparing notes on the decisions this site writes about: when to file for Social Security, what to do with accounts left behind at old jobs, and what the first years of spending savings actually feel like. Nobody posting here can see your full financial picture, so treat every thread as one household's story, not a recommendation. Threads close on their own once 60 days pass without a reply.

Claiming Social Security

Sixty-two, seventy, or somewhere in between.

Turning 62 in September. Everyone online says wait until 70, but nobody online is me started by gary1957, May 22, 2026

4 replies · 430 views · last reply by gary1957, Jun 16, 2026

Old 401(k)s and rollovers

Accounts left at former jobs, and what to do with them.

Left my hospital job in January. Three old accounts, three companies, three different answers started by PattyRN, Oct 14, 2025

4 replies · 380 views · last reply by PattyRN, Nov 2, 2025

Living off savings

The strange first years of spending instead of saving.

Turn 73 in November. Two accounts, two different RMD numbers, and nobody will tell me when this actually starts started by richard1953, May 6, 2026

5 replies · 390 views · last reply by richard1953, Jun 11, 2026

Retired October 31st. Market dropped 6% in November. Did I just break my own plan? started by DebbieFL, Dec 3, 2025

4 replies · 470 views · last reply by DebbieFL, Jan 20, 2026