MISSING COMMA

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YOU RAN THE NUMBER.

You’re Ahead. Here’s How to Stay There.

Most guys who run that calculator see a gap. You didn’t. That’s worth something.

That surplus didn’t happen by accident. Somewhere along the way you fed the account when it would have been easier not to. Give yourself credit for that.

Here’s the part nobody likes to think about. The surplus rests on a few assumptions: steady returns, inflation behaving itself, and you working until the age you typed in. Those are reasonable guesses. They’re still guesses. 2008 didn’t ask anybody’s permission, and neither does a layoff at 58.

A surplus gives you options. Income gives you more of them.

Guys who are ahead tend to focus on protecting the pile. That makes sense. But there’s another lever most of them never pull: a second stream of monthly income that doesn’t depend on the market or an employer.

Here’s what that’s worth, using the same 3.5% withdrawal rate the calculator uses.

EXTRA MONTHLY INCOME: $1,000

DOES THE SAME JOB AS: $342,857 in savings, in today’s dollars

Rough math, pre-tax, and not financial advice. $1,000 a month times 12, divided by 3.5%.

An extra $1,000 a month could mean retiring a few years early, or leaving the portfolio alone during a bad market instead of selling low. Or just sleeping better. Pick the one you’d actually use.

Free Guide - 24 pages

UnF*ck Your Retirement

I wrote this for guys staring at a gap, so parts of it are aimed at them. But the core idea applies to you too: retirement runs on monthly income, not the size of the account. You already have the discipline most of these businesses require. The guide shows you where to point it.

Five ways to build income at this stage, and the downside of each: part-time work, consulting, courses, affiliate, and network marketing.

How to vet an opportunity, including the one question that sorts real businesses from time sinks. Useful if you’ve been pitched before, and you probably have.

What’s realistic at 90 days, 6 months, and a year, so you can decide whether it’s worth your evenings.
Why month

Why monthly income matters more than the balance, even when the balance looks good.

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A Quick Word from Me

I'm not a financial advisor. I'm a 60-something guy from Caldwell, Idaho who spent decades running convenience stores.

I thought I had the money thing figured out. I bought real estate on a lot of borrowed money, and 2008 taught me that leverage cuts both ways. My retirement account did what it was supposed to, but I hadn't fed it enough, early enough. My portfolio was still missing a comma. That's a hell of a thing to face in your fifties.

Cutting expenses helped some, but it was never going to close the gap by itself. What I needed was more income. This guide is what I learned the hard way, and the mistakes are in there too.

Steve Norris
Missing Comma

What to Do Tonight

Write down the age you’d quit if money weren’t the deciding factor.

Not the age you typed into the calculator. The real one.

Read “What to Look For, What to Avoid” first.

It’s the section most likely to save you time, and some of the money you’ve worked hard to keep.

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Missing Comma is written by Steve Norris, who is not a registered representative, financial planner, or tax professional. Nothing here is investment, tax, or legal advice. Income figures in the guide are illustrations, not promises, and depend on your own effort.