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MDRN Wealth Fee-Only Fiduciary Financial Planner, Tax Advisor & Investment Advisor Specializing in Retirement & Early Retirement Planning

10/15/2026

Wealthy investors quietly upgraded this strategy 👀

The traditional Buy, Borrow, Die playbook had a real problem: borrowing against your brokerage account through margin or a securities-backed line of credit could cost you 10 to 11% in interest, and in most cases, that interest wasn't even deductible.

So high-net-worth investors found a better way.

It's called a box spread, and it allows you to borrow from the options market instead. Current rates through this approach run around 4.8 to 4.9%, which is already a significant improvement. But the real kicker is how the IRS categorizes it: the interest is treated as a capital loss on your tax return.

For someone in a high tax bracket, the effective borrowing cost drops even further once you factor in that tax benefit.

And here's what surprises most people: you don't need to be Bezos or Musk to use this. If you have roughly $100,000 to $150,000 in a non-retirement brokerage account, this strategy could potentially work for you.

Buy, Borrow, Die isn't dead. It just got smarter.

1) 'Registration as an investment adviser does not imply a certain level of skill or training.' 2) 'The information in this brochure has not been approved or verified by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission or by any state securities authority.' 3) Additional information available on SEC's website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov. 4) CRD number: 323177. 5) Fee-only disclosure: compensation comes solely from transparent fee charged — no commissions, no hidden incentives.

MDRN Wealth LLC is a financial advisor serving Professionals and business owners who want to retire early — well before the traditional retirement age of 65.

10/10/2026

Early retirees: taxes aren't your biggest bill 👀

Most people planning for early retirement spend months optimizing for taxes in year one. And while taxes matter, there's a cost that routinely doubles the tax bill for single early retirees, and almost nobody is planning for it.

Health insurance.

A single person in early retirement might owe $6,000 to $7,000 in taxes for the year. Their health insurance premiums? Closer to $14,000 to $15,000, and that's before co-pays.

But here's what most people don't realize: the accounts you pull from in early retirement directly affect how much you pay in premiums. Pull from the right accounts in the right sequence, and you could potentially bring your annual health insurance costs down to $1,000 or $2,000. Play it really well, and you might get to near zero.

That single strategy shift can outperform almost anything Roth conversions would have done in year one of retirement.

If you're planning an early retirement, this is worth watching before you lock in your withdrawal strategy.

1) 'Registration as an investment adviser does not imply a certain level of skill or training.' 2) 'The information in this brochure has not been approved or verified by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission or by any state securities authority.' 3) Additional information available on SEC's website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov. 4) CRD number: 323177. 5) Fee-only disclosure: compensation comes solely from transparent fee charged — no commissions, no hidden incentives.

MDRN Wealth LLC is a financial advisor serving professionals and business owners who want to retire early.

10/09/2026

Chasing dividends in retirement can wreck your portfolio. 🚨

Here's the part most investors overlook: a high dividend yield doesn't mean much if the value of your investment is quietly eroding at the same time.

Picture putting $100,000 into something paying an 8% dividend. You collect $8,000 a year in income, and it feels like a smart move. But if that $100,000 drops to $70,000 in value, you haven't won. You've lost 30% of your principal while chasing a payout.

That's the trap. Many early retirees fixate on yield and completely miss what's happening to the actual investment underneath.

A total return approach looks at the full picture: portfolio growth, dividends, interest, and fees all together. Because the number that actually matters isn't how much income your portfolio throws off. It's what your account is truly worth once everything is accounted for.

Before building a dividend-heavy retirement strategy, ask yourself one question: how does this affect my total return?

1) 'Registration as an investment adviser does not imply a certain level of skill or training.' 2) 'The information in this brochure has not been approved or verified by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission or by any state securities authority.' 3) Additional information available on SEC's website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov. 4) CRD number: 323177. 5) Fee-only disclosure: compensation comes solely from transparent fee charged — no commissions, no hidden incentives.

MDRN Wealth LLC is a financial advisor serving professionals and business owners who want to retire early.

10/08/2026

Retire November 1st and pay $0 for health insurance. 👀

Most early retirees assume they have to start paying for COBRA the moment they leave their job. At $1,500 to $2,000 a month, that is a painful surprise.

But there is a 60-day enrollment window most people never use strategically.

When you lose employer coverage, you have at least 60 days before you have to formally enroll in COBRA. During that window, if something happens and you need care, you can still retroactively activate coverage. So you are not unprotected, you are just not paying yet.

Here is how the November 1st strategy works:

Retire November 1st. Skip COBRA payments for November and December. On January 1st, enroll in an ACA marketplace plan during Open Enrollment. If nothing goes wrong, you paid nothing for two months of coverage. If something does go wrong, retroactively enroll in COBRA and still get covered for that period.

And with smart tax planning in place before you retire, your ACA premium in the new year could be surprisingly low, or possibly zero.

The timing of your retirement date is a financial decision most people never think about.

Registration as an investment adviser does not imply a certain level of skill or training. The information in this brochure has not been approved or verified by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission or by any state securities authority. Additional information available on SEC's website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov. CRD number: 323177. Fee-only disclosure: compensation comes solely from transparent fee charged — no commissions, no hidden incentives.

MDRN Wealth LLC is a financial advisor serving professionals and business owners who want to retire early.

10/03/2026

Roth conversions in early retirement? More hype than help. 👀

Everyone loves the idea of tax-free money — and Roths really are great. But just because you've retired early and landed in a lower tax bracket doesn't mean a Roth conversion automatically makes sense for your situation.

There are three reasons this strategy gets overrated for early retirees:

The break-even can take 20 to 25 years. In many cases, you won't actually benefit from the conversion until your 70s or 80s. That's a long time to wait for a payoff.

Conversions raise your taxable income — and that's a big deal before age 65. Higher income in early retirement can spike your health insurance premiums and eat into the tax efficiency you've worked hard to build.

The RMD argument is overblown for most people. The pitch is usually that Roth conversions reduce Required Minimum Distributions later in life. But unless you have around $5 million or more concentrated in pre-tax accounts, RMDs probably aren't going to be the burden people make them out to be.

Roth conversions do make sense for the right person in the right situation — but that's a much smaller group than the financial internet would have you believe.

Watch the video for the full breakdown.

1) 'Registration as an investment adviser does not imply a certain level of skill or training.' 2) 'The information in this brochure has not been approved or verified by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission or by any state securities authority.' 3) Additional information available on SEC's website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov. 4) CRD number: 323177. 5) Fee-only disclosure: compensation comes solely from transparent fee charged — no commissions, no hidden incentives.

MDRN Wealth LLC is a financial advisor serving professionals and business owners who want to retire early.

10/02/2026

Most early retirees miss this income opportunity 👀

If you've spent your career as a high performer, your expertise doesn't stop being valuable the moment you retire.

Consulting in early retirement can generate real income with surprisingly little effort, and it doesn't require rebuilding a business, launching a marketing campaign, or going back to a corporate environment.

The approach that works best is simpler than most people expect. It involves a type of platform many high earners have never considered, and it can connect your knowledge directly to people willing to pay well for it.

You don't even need a formal business structure to get started.

And here's the part that often surprises people: even modest consulting income can unlock legitimate business tax deductions, including home office and mileage write-offs, making the financial upside even better than it looks at first glance.

Watch to see exactly how this works and whether it could be a fit for your early retirement plan.

1) 'Registration as an investment adviser does not imply a certain level of skill or training.' 2) 'The information in this brochure has not been approved or verified by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission or by any state securities authority.' 3) Additional information available on SEC's website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov. 4) CRD number: 323177. 5) Fee-only disclosure: compensation comes solely from transparent fee charged — no commissions, no hidden incentives.

MDRN Wealth LLC is a financial advisor serving Professionals and business owners who want to retire early — well before the traditional retirement age of 65.

10/01/2026

Year one of early retirement can quietly cost you thousands. 💸

Here's why: you didn't retire on January 1st. You likely worked most of the year, received a PTO payout, and your income stayed higher than expected. So starting to sell stocks or pull from your IRA right away means paying taxes at one of your highest rates ever.

There's a smarter approach called Buy, Borrow, Die.

Instead of selling assets and triggering taxable events while your income is still elevated, you borrow against your portfolio at an interest rate lower than your effective tax rate. You preserve your investments, avoid the tax hit, and bridge the gap through that first year.

Then, when year two arrives and your income has dropped significantly, you pay off the loan at a much lower cost than the taxes would have been.

The result: a smoother tax picture across the transition into early retirement, instead of one painful spike in year one.

Watch the full video to see exactly how this works.

Registration as an investment adviser does not imply a certain level of skill or training. The information in this brochure has not been approved or verified by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission or by any state securities authority. Additional information available on SEC's website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov. CRD number: 323177. Fee-only disclosure: compensation comes solely from transparent fee charged — no commissions, no hidden incentives.

MDRN Wealth LLC is a financial advisor serving professionals and business owners who want to retire early.

09/26/2026

Early retirement has a hidden danger most people ignore 🚨

You've saved enough to walk away from work early — but what happens when something expensive breaks right after you retire?

If your only option is a large withdrawal from a pre-tax IRA, you could trigger serious tax consequences: a surprise tax bill and health insurance premiums that spike far beyond what you budgeted.

There's a tool that acts as a financial safety valve — one that sits in your back pocket, costs nothing to hold, and carries zero debt unless you actually use it.

But here's the critical detail most people miss: you have to put it in place before you leave your job. Once W-2 income is gone, getting approved becomes a much steeper climb.

If early retirement is part of your plan, this is one move worth making while you still can.

1) 'Registration as an investment adviser does not imply a certain level of skill or training.' 2) 'The information in this brochure has not been approved or verified by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission or by any state securities authority.' 3) Additional information available on SEC's website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov. 4) CRD number: 323177. 5) Fee-only disclosure: compensation comes solely from transparent fee charged — no commissions, no hidden incentives.

MDRN Wealth LLC is a financial advisor serving Professionals and business owners who want to retire early — well before the traditional retirement age of 65.

09/25/2026

Starting a business in retirement could save you thousands 💡

Most people think entrepreneurship is a young person's game. But for early retirees, launching a small business could be one of the smartest financial moves you make.

Here's why: a business gives you access to a Solo 401(k), even if it never generates a single dollar of profit.

Once that account is open, you can roll over funds from an existing IRA or 401(k). From there, you may qualify to take a tax-free loan of up to $50,000 directly from the plan.

That one move could:
• Place you in the 0% capital gains bracket
• Open the door to tax-efficient Roth conversions
• Significantly reduce your health insurance premiums

Early retirement creates a narrow window where your income is lower and your flexibility is higher. The right strategy during this period can shape the rest of your financial life.

A repayment plan is required, and the business needs to be legitimate, but for the right person, this tool can be a game-changer.

Registration as an investment adviser does not imply a certain level of skill or training. The information in this brochure has not been approved or verified by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission or by any state securities authority. Additional information available on SEC's website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov. CRD number: 323177. Fee-only disclosure: compensation comes solely from transparent fee charged — no commissions, no hidden incentives.

MDRN Wealth LLC is a financial advisor serving professionals and business owners who want to retire early.

09/24/2026

Billionaires borrow to avoid taxes. Here's the catch 👀

The "Buy, Borrow, Die" strategy sounds like a loophole only the ultra-wealthy can access, and honestly, they've been using it for years.

The idea: instead of selling your investments and triggering a capital gains tax bill, you borrow against your portfolio and live off that money tax-free.

But here's the part most people skip over: you still need a plan to pay it back.

Even Bezos and Musk have a repayment strategy. For someone in early retirement, that means budgeting incremental stock sales over the next 24 to 36 months to gradually pay down the securities-backed line of credit.

The sweet spot? Making those sales slowly enough to stay within the 0% capital gains bracket, so you're not creating the exact tax event you were trying to avoid in the first place.

The strategy is legitimate. But the ex*****on is everything.

1) 'Registration as an investment adviser does not imply a certain level of skill or training.' 2) 'The information in this brochure has not been approved or verified by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission or by any state securities authority.' 3) Additional information available on SEC's website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov. 4) CRD number: 323177. 5) Fee-only disclosure: compensation comes solely from transparent fee charged — no commissions, no hidden incentives.

John Damion Boyd is a financial advisor.

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606 Venice Boulevard Ste 107
Los Angeles, CA
90291

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Wednesday 8am - 6pm
Thursday 8am - 6pm
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