Author: Ward Williams

A good fraction of my clients want help controlling their spending as part of our financial planning process. Designing smart ‘systems’ around yourself is far more successful than ‘willpower.’ I have terrible diet discipline when it comes to food already in my home. If it’s there, I will eat it. My discipline has to be at the store: I must avoid buying the bad food in the first place. Financial temptation is similar.

Prerequisites: Before doing ANY of the steps here, I highly recommend you fix your spending to a single, monthly limit. You should also have paid off all your high-interest debt.

Credit Cards Best Practices

Use debit cards for all discretionary spending (or all spending!)

Only use your credit cards for recurring subscriptions that you can’t overspend on like Netflix, utilities, insurance premiums, etc. Set all your credit cards to autopay for the full balance (or at least autopay for the minimum balance if you are carrying a balance and can’t pay it off in full yet. Aggressively pay down the balance anytime you get extra cash.)

Next, physically freeze your credit cards in water in your freezer. That way, if you have an emergency– a true emergency!– you can thaw them out and use ’em, otherwise, they’re not in your wallet and not ready to use online.

Then, do the digital version of this by removing your credit card info from all online accounts, including Amazon, Walmart.com, Costco.com, Venmo, Paypal, ride-share and food delivery apps and sites like Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Etsy, Ebay, etc.

Don’t allow any overdrafts from your own debit card spending at the point of sale: ask your bank to decline any transactions that would bring your balance below zero at the point of sale, but allowing any recurring transactions you might have set up to go to debit (another reason I like using credit cards for recurring expenses.)

Disable cash advances on your existing credit cards

Some of my clients have learned to use cash advances. If you think you’ll be tempted by this feature of your credit card, try to disable it.

Some companies may let you either cancel the ability to use cash advances or at least drastically reduced the limit (sometimes to $0, or at least to something like $100.)

Freeze your credit so that you can’t open new credit cards

FYI, this step is a good one if you’re tempted to open up credit cards at points of sale like a department store. If you’ve ever opened up a store card for the ‘carrot’ of 0% APR or a discount on a big purchase, you need to do this. Store cards suck and tempt you to spend more, so don’t open ’em!

Links at all three credit agencies to freeze your credit (you need to do EACH one):

Transunion

Experian

Equifax

IMPORTANT: Just remember that if you are going to get a loan (auto loan, mortgage, student loan) or have a credit check run on you– like for a rental unit– you’ll need to un-freeze your credit later.

Cut anything you don’t need to survive

Any subscription that you don’t need to live should be cut. Right now. Tell yourself you’re going on a one month vacation from these services, and anything you really miss will be repurchased in 30 days. Cable TV? Ax it and use free streaming services. Netflix? Gone. Mooch off someone else’s or use the library’s free services. Read a book, watch a DVD, use free streaming apps like Tubi, Pluto, or Freevee, browse YouTube, but don’t pay for anything for 30 days!

Pest control service, lawn care, monthly massages? Call and ask them to hold off for a month (make sure they won’t charge you.) Set out your own ant traps, pay a teenager to mow the grass for cheap, or do it yourself, and skip the body work for just one month.

At the end of the month, re-purchase anything you really couldn’t do without, and finish cancelling anything you can.

Clothe and feed yourself for free

Use Facebook Buy Nothing groups or free stuff on NextDoor/OfferUp/Facebook Marketplace/Craigslist for clothes, furniture and other things.

Government benefits

Find a local food pantry for food, and see if you qualify for Federal, state, or local government benefits like SNAP (aka food stamps) or Medicaid for you or your kids. If you don’t qualify for Medicaid (or Medicare if you’re 65+) and don’t have health insurance through work, make sure to see if you get a subsidy via healthinsurance.gov (aka Obamacare.) Subsidies for utilities are often available as well, like this from Seattle and King County, Washington.

States like Washington have centralized sites to help connect you with resources. Use those to see what you can get.

Draw bright spending lines

Decide which categories you aren’t going to spend on at all, or what your hard limits are for those categories. Substitute free or cheap options instead. Entertainment is a good one to get for free. See my savings tips for other ideas, as well as the 4 main ways I save money over the long run.

Remember: this is (probably) only temporary until you achieve some short-term goal like getting out of debt or sticking to a fixed budget consistently. You can do the fun stuff LATER once you’re on solid ground!

Write down a list of things you are postponing until you’re in better financial shape. Post it somewhere as motivation and a reminder that you’re not missing out entirely, just delaying gratification.

Invest the money before you can spend it

While I prefer setting a spending limit and investing the rest, you can also do the reverse: set a savings goal and spend the rest. Amp up your retirement savings at work to your 401(k) or HSA, and consider an auto-withdrawal to fund a Roth IRA. Use direct deposit to send part of your check to an account that you have the willpower to avoid touching.

Disclaimer: I’m a Registered Investment Advisor, but not a tax professional. This is neither personalized investment advice nor tax advice: consult a tax pro or your own investment advisor for your particular situation.

Backdoor Roth IRA

The backdoor Roth IRA is just a strategy for people who cannot contribute to a Roth IRA otherwise because their income is too high (per the IRS’s Roth IRA contribution income limits.) If you can already contribute to a Roth IRA, then you’d just do that, and there would be no need for you to do the backdoor version. For those with high incomes who are already maxing out their 401ks & HSAs at work (because that’s probably the first place you should put your investment money), but want to save even more tax-advantaged dollars for retirement, the backdoor Roth IRA is the way to go.

Step #0 (if necessary) – Move any pre-tax IRA money into a 401k

You should first either rollover all existing pre-tax IRAs (SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, Traditional IRAs, pre-tax Rollover IRAs) to your 401k, if possible, to avoid having to convert pre-tax Traditional IRA money to Roth IRA and pay income taxes on it, OR just be willing to pay those taxes in order to get more into your Roth IRA (smart when that income would still put you in a lower-than-usual-or-in-retirement tax bracket.) The key is that you must have NO money in any traditional, rollover, SEP, and SIMPLE IRAs (401(k)s, 403(b)s, 457(b)s, Roth IRAs, or inherited IRAs are all ok) by the end of the tax year (Dec 31st) of the year you CONVERT (not contribute) the IRA money to Roth IRA.

Therefore, it is critical that you DO SOMETHING with any IRA balance you have PRIOR to December 31 of the year in which you do a Roth conversion of after-tax money. You should also do this before you make your non-deductible contribution to any Trad IRA, since (I believe, but am a little confused on this) that this alone with mean you can’t ONLY convert the non-deductible contribution later.

Later in this article, I’ll describe the exact options you have for what to do with this money.

(Be careful also if you make the backdoor Roth conversion early in the year, and then forget about it and create a Trad IRA balance by the end of the year (by, say, rolling an employer 401k to Trad IRA.))

If you DON’T have a 401k that you can push the Trad IRA funds into, BUT you happen to currently be in an HSA-eligible health insurance plan AND will keep it for at least the next 12 months, you can do a once-in-a-lifetime rollover from your IRA to your HSA up to the annual HSA limit ($4,150 for individuals / $8,300 for couples in 2024.) Whatever you rollover to your HSA will count against any other HSA contributions you made for that tax year, and unlike regular HSA contributions, it must be completed during the CALENDAR year for that tax year.

Then, NEVER rollover any old 401ks to Trad IRAs again! Roll them into your current employer plan, if has good investment choices, or a Solo 401k if you’re a sole employee in your own business, or just keep them where they are at your old employer.

Step #1 – Make your non-deductible Trad IRA contribution

Once you’ve confirmed that you have no pre-tax IRA money out there, make your (non-deductible) contribution for the year to a regular Traditional IRA.

Step #2 – Convert to Roth IRA

Wait about a week or so, then convert that Traditional IRA full account balance (should be little to no interest if you’ve kept it in cash) to a Roth IRA at the same firm.

Backdoor Roth IRA FAQ

Q: If I’m married, does it matter if my spouse has Traditional IRAs when I do my own backdoor Roth?

A: No, the IRS treats each spouse’s IRAs as separate, so you only have to worry about your own IRAs for the purposes of a backdoor Roth. Per Kitces,

[A] husband and wife’s IRA accounts are not aggregated together across the marital unit (although the husband still aggregates all the husband’s IRAs, and the wife aggregates all the wife’s IRAs). Nor are an individual’s own IRAs aggregated together with any inherited IRA accounts on his/her behalf. And any existing Roth IRAs – and the associated after-tax contributions that go into Roth accounts – are not aggregated either.

In addition, any employer retirement plans – e.g., from a 401(k), profit-sharing plan, etc. – are not including in the aggregation rule. However, a SIMPLE IRA or SEP IRA, both of which are still fundamentally just an “IRA”, are included.

Q: How much can I convert to Roth?

A: As of writing there is no limit on how much you can convert from tax-deferred savings to your Roth IRA in a single year.

Q: When can I access my non-deductible IRA conversions once they’re in the Roth IR?

A: You can withdraw those non-deductible aka after-tax contributions at any time for any reason with no taxes or penalties. Any earnings must generally stay in the Roth IRA until you’re 59.5 to avoid the 10% penalties & taxes (and also have had any Roth IRA open for at least 5 years.) If you convert any pre-tax IRA amounts, you must wait 5 years before withdrawing the converted amount.

Step #3 – At tax time, input your 1099-R data correctly

If you do your own taxes, make sure to tell the IRS exactly how much of your 1099-R distribution from your Traditional IRA was non-taxable when you converted it to your Roth IRA. If you had no pre-tax IRA money when you made your non-deductible contribution, then ALL of that contribution was non-taxable. If you had a little interest/investment gain on the money, that part will be taxable as regular income and the rest won’t be. Again, consult your tax pro or do your own tax homework to confirm for your situation.

Mega Backdoor Roth 401ks

What is the mega backdoor Roth?

The mega backdoor Roth is a 401k plan open that lets those who want to contribute more Roth dollars than the IRS max of $23,500 (2025) into their ‘regular’ 401k options (pre-tax or Roth) allows.

How much can you put into the mega backdoor Roth?

The IRS sets a maximum 401k contribution limit of $70,000 in 2025. That limit comprises three pieces: your employer contribution, your employer’s contribution, if any, and your after-tax (mega backdoor Roth) contributions. So, if you’re maxing our your pre-tax at $23,500 and make $150,000 and your employer matches a straight 5% of your salary ($7,500 = 0.05 * $150 K), then you can contribute $70,000 – $23,500 – $7,500 = $39,000 to your after-tax and then convert it to Roth.

Does your plan support mega backdoor Roth?

If your 401k plan allow ‘after-tax contributions’: check your ‘Contributions’ page. You should see both pre-tax or Roth options, then a 3rd option called something like ‘after-tax’. If you have this option AND the Roth option, it’s a good bet your employer’s 401k plan supports megabackdoor Roth conversions.

If you can’t contribute either after-tax OR to a Roth, then you probably can’t do this, but either call your plan provider (e.g.: Fidelity) or dig through the Summary Plan Description to be sure. Calling is best.

Convert your after-tax 401k contributions to Roth

Call your plan provider or check the contributions page on their website to see if you can set up automatic Roth conversions of any future after-tax contributions. If you already have after-tax contributions, ask your 401k provider to convert the after-tax portion to Roth, and sweep any accumulated (pre-tax) earnings on that after-tax portion into your pre-tax 401k, if possible (or, convert it also to Roth, taking the income tax hit on the amount of earnings.)

What to do with old after-tax contributions from prior 401k

If you have after-tax contributions from an old employer 401k that you either never got around to converting to Roth, or just couldn’t, you should be able to move the after-tax part to a Roth IRA, the pre-tax part and any earnings on that after-tax part to your new employer’s 401k (or a Traditional IRA, but that’s less optimal if you want to make backdoor Roth IRA contributions as described above.)

It’s VERY IMPORTANT to handle both the pre- and after-tax portions in your 401k at the same time by calling your provider. If you screw this up, you could have created negative tax implications for yourself.

Usually your after-tax contributions will be converted to the Roth 401k, but sometimes your 401k will actually kick them out to your own Roth IRA. This is fine too, but may not be something you have to periodically call the 401k provider to do, which is annoying.

Mega backdoor Roth 401k FAQ

Q: When can I withdraw my converted after-tax Roth principal?

A: I think at the very least (check this! I’m not sure yet!), if you leave your employer/retire, you should be able to withdraw the converted principal at any time with no penalties or taxes, so long so you were converting after-tax amounts, once you roll it over to a Roth IRA first. (I believe you can NOT do this while it’s in the Roth 401k because the IRA doesn’t let you withdraw just the after-tax basis, but rather would deem any withdraw from the Roth 401k to have a pro rata mix of earnings and contributions, but check this yourself!)

For moving money into either a Roth 401 or Roth IRA from your 401k after-tax portions, the amount(s) you might have in Trad IRAs aren’t relevant (i.e.: the ‘cream in the coffee’ rule doesn’t apply since it’s a 401k and not an IRA conversion.)

To read more: https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/investing/mega-backdoor-roths-work

At 41 years old, I FINALLY dragged my out of shape body to my first Brazilian jiu jitsu (BJJ) lesson at a local BJJ gym near my neighborhood. BJJ is a skill I’ve wanted to learn for some time for fitness and self-defense purposes, and one that I want my kids to learn. It seems to be ‘the’ martial art for practical use, although one could make the case for learning other fighting sports including boxing, wrestling, or other grappling arts like judo. This post will be a guide of things that helped me along me new-to-BJJ journey. Keep in mind that they are from a complete beginner who knows very little– except what’s been helpful for me– so please chime in on the comments if you have things to add!

Find a gym and sign up for classes

Find a local BJJ gym near you that will be close enough that you’ll go consistently. Every class near me seemed to offer a free first class, so go ahead and try before you buy!

My gym had an intro set of classes for 6 weeks, two nights per week for an hour-ish per night for $250 + tax, and they threw in a free rash guard. I really liked the idea of a structured set of lessons that started & ended on specific dates, so that was great for me.

There were a few newbies + some more experienced folks that came for the first hour and stayed for the next ‘advanced’ class hour, working more on their own without the instruction and support that us newbies received.

Get your BJJ clothes

Your teacher will tell you what you need, which will either be a gi (about $100 or less for some intro brands), or if doing no-gi BJJ like my intro was, a short- or long-sleeve rash guard and grappling shorts or spats. At my gym, everyone was in rash guard + grappling shorts with a few ladies in spats (aka compression tights.)

Per Definitive’s website “wear a tighter fitting athletic shirt, either short or long-sleeve, and a pair of shorts and/or leggings. Tank tops are not recommended since it is best to be more covered than less covered. For shorts, try to wear ones with no pockets, and if the shorts are looser, wear spandex shorts or leggings underneath.”

Prepare for class

Dress appropriately (see above) with no pockets/zippers/buttons for people to get hurt by.

Hygiene

Take a shower/be clean. Brush your teeth beforehand so your breath is ok. I try to mop my sweaty brow between exercises for the benefit of my partners… Keep your fingernails & toenails cut short so you don’t scratch people.

Make sure your gym clothes are laundered in between classes so your clothes don’t stink either.

No shoes on the mat! You’ll be in bare feet on the mat. Flip flops up to the mat so you can step back into them before going to the bathroom etc.

Etiquette

Seems like US-based BJJ is very informal, but ask your instructor for any gym-specific tips like any traditional stuff (bowing, say) and titles to address people by (professor, sensei, master, or just first name like at my gym?)

Show up and learn!

Do as much practice as you can. For me, the exercises and movements were brand new and unnatural, and I needed plenty of help and from the instructor to give me the basics. Like any physical sport or hobby, ya just gotta do it a lot to start to figure it out and know what it should feel like. It’s a lot of hip movement on the mat, which is not how I’m used to moving for other sports I played.

Get your BJJ friends to practice with you too

I’m lucky to have a couple friends & family members who are long-time BJJ folks. I try to hit them up for advice and practice when I see them.

Optional: supplemental videos, guidance, and workouts

I found it instructional to watch some intro videos and read some guides for new BJJ students.

Written guides

Helpful reddit r/bjj post for white belts, and the r/bjj beginner’s guide wiki.

Some useful excerpts from the above: “Knowing how a technique works will allow you to apply it properly. Knowing why you squeeze your thighs together for an armbar will reveal how exactly the techniques work and will ingrain it in your brain”.

Belt system

If you’re interested in learning about the belt system in BJJ, this and this are helpful, or wikipedia.

Videos

What to know before your first class (Gracie JJ Ohio) – includes etiquette tips

6 techniques to know (Rener Gracie)

3 BJJ principles: #1 Keep your elbows in; makes you stronger w/ them close to your body, and try to get the other guys’ elbow away from their body.

#2 Inside position: your limbs inside the other person.

#3: structure and frames: resisting opponents moves w/o using any strength, usually because you’re using your own skeleton. Keeping your skeleton aligned against your opponent, or with the ground, so opponent is trying to push through your skeleton into the ground.

3 important techniques for a white belt (that’s you, Beginner!)

‘Complete Guide’ to Beginner’s BJJ

Do some complementary fitness training

I’ve always liked weight-lifting, so I’m trying to get back into lifting as well as doing some more cardio like strenuous hiking. My abs/core were super weak when I started, so do some sit-ups/crunches/pull-ups/push-ups if you wanna strengthen that up!

Weight-traininG

I highly recommend this set of youtube videos with Mark Rippetoe & Art of Manliness. Form is critical to injury-free lifts, which at my age is a key concern! I do a mix of dead lifts, squats, overhead press (OHP), rows, and bench. If you have space for a barbell and weights, you can do dead lift, OHP and rows and any auxiliary work like curls, without even having a bench or squat rack.

Principles I’ve learned so far

• Distance-management: you generally want to be either ‘all the way out, or all the way in’ in order to not be in a position where someone can strike you.
• Inside grips: When taking ‘grips’ (hands on people), you generally want the inside position, like inside someone’s bicep, or hands underneath their armpits, or on their wrists. If you have two hands on someone’s arm, you want your inside hand to be on their wrist/furthest ‘down’ their arm.

Most of the ‘reading’ I do these days is via audio book. With two small kids and plenty of household chores and driving to do, audio books let me ‘get something done’ without requiring hands & eyes, or full attention… Start with your local library and download the Libby app— most libraries use that— to play them on your phone.

Where to start?

Search your local library for titles and click on any with a digital audiobook download. (Libraries have them on CD too if you’re old school, but digital is so much easier and often instantaneous.)

Recommended books

For fiction, consider the Modern Libraries Top 100 novels list*.

For non-fiction, try their non-fiction list.

*I wouldn’t start with Ulysses, though, unless you know what you’re in for, and it’s probably better to read it physically, with a pile of explanatory notes nearby. Author Henry James left me exasperated, as did Faulkner’s ‘A Light in August’, but otherwise I’ve enjoyed most everything on the list.

Best readers

The vast majority of the professional voice actors recording books are excellent, and some are just superb. You’ll find readers for whom you will listen to anything they’ve read. George Giudall (American) was that person for me when I first started listening to audiobooks in my mid-20s. His Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gilgamesh, and Don Quixote are all fantastic.

David Case (British) is also excellent. Case’s War and Peace and Flashman papers are among my favorites. In general, stay away from authors reading their own stuff, unless you REALLY like the author or the book. Most authors are mediocre readers, and even the authors who do a great job as an amateur sound like a bottom-tier professionals. Like any other acting or theatrical skill, there’s no competition between pros and amateurs in voice acting.

Nadia May’s (British) Anna Karenina is great. She’s a wonderful narrator who has such a thoughtful voice, and did some D.H. Lawrence books that I loved, as well as Howard’s End by E.M. Forester.

Rudyard Kipling’s Kim was read fantastically by Ralph Cosham. His narration and voices for various nationalities and characters were pitch-perfect. Cosham also narrated Orwell’s Animal Farm.

Audio books for kids

There are many audio books out there for kids too. Perfect for a long roadtrip and avoiding screens. The full cast Harry Potter is well-regarded, and Stephen Fry’s rendition of Harry Potter is great (or Jim Dale’s: Seattle library link), as is Fry’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which might be good for teens and young adults.

Archive.org has lots of audio too

You can find free MP3 downloads (or streaming) from archive.org too. I mostly use Archive for ‘old time radio’, but I’ve found renditions of kids’ audio books like this Winnie the Pooh voiced by Norman Shelley. This Arthur Conan Doyle adventure short story– Lost World— about travel to an island with dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures was surprisingly engaging and good for kids or adults.

Librivox, a community of artists and amateurs that read audio books for free, has many recordings on Archive too. I applaud their mission and all of the creators, but many of the narrations aren’t very good compared to the pros. An exception is Clive Catterall‘s narration of Doyle’s medieval historical fiction, Sir Nigel (on Spotify too). (Catterall is also professional.)

Get started listening to books

Make it a goal to log into your local library system and check out or put one audio book on hold, download the Libby app to your phone or computer, find some headphones and start listening.

Happy ‘reading’!