Finances
I use beancount to organize and keep track of finances. The beancount files are tracked in https://github.com/andyreagan/finances. The details here are all generally sensitive so I won't note where bank accounts are, etc etc.
I keep my files in ../finances/README.html.
TODO Monthly account review finances
Credit card payments, checking balances, investment contributions. finances.html personal-finance.html
TODO Annual financial review finances
Review allocations, insurance, beneficiaries, tax prep readiness.
Jump over to file:///Users/andyreagan/finances for that one.
Beancount
Like org-mode, beancount relies on plain text files. This has the pro/con of relying on a basic editor.
I'm using v3 now, which I mostly use through fava (formerly bean-web).
Double entry account is a really great mental model for accounting.
Gnucash
This could be a useful tool to track things.
See GnuCash: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41699730.
Assorted resources
- Financial skills training: https://quantus.finance/
- YC startup offering low cost customer ETF indexes: Double.finance
FinBodhi: https://finbodhi.com/landing
personal finance app to track, understand and plan your finances
Looks like an online version of fava, says it uses double entry and also that you data only lives in a local sqlite database. Takes uploads of CSV, PDF, etc, but not all obvious on how to get set up. Drops you into a blank dashboard, for starters.
- https://jch.app/ Another online vis, you have to upload your CSV from PersonalCapital.
- https://www.lunchflow.app/ Syncing for banks, didn't load either Fidelity of Vangaurd… (got an error).
Financial Advice
Jason + Eric
From I worked with Jason Cummings and Eric Krumm. When they were at a MassMutual firm we used RightCapital tool and now with Principal we use eMoney. The other big tool in the space is moneyguidepro.
Nick Perrella
Met with Nick through LearnLux on , a tool/service provided by my employer. He was really really great, helped me set up some stuff.
Here's my notes from that meeting.
- Meeting
As a recap, here was the general take-away from our conversation:
- Retirement
- The mega backdoor Roth feature in your MassMutual 401(k) allows you to
contribute more than the standard $23,500 personal contribution limit
in 2025. This Fidelity article explains the limits in more detail (still
showing 2024 limits, but still a helpful visual).
- Note: In general the process includes 1) contributing after-tax to your 401(k) up to an 8% max, and 2) contacting Fidelity afterwards to "convert" the after-tax money to the Roth part of the plan.
- Also, we discussed that in 2025 a new employer contribution will be added to
your 401(k). Here is an overview of the match and the new "annual retirement
contribution" from the employee communications sent last year:
- Company match: Just like today, MassMutual will match the first 5% of eligible pay you contribute to your 401(k) each pay period.
- Annual retirement contribution: Even if you don't contribute, MassMutual will provide an annual 401(k) contribution equal to 5% of your eligible pay as long as you stay with the company through the end of the plan year (Dec. 31). This will be credited to your account in Q1 of the following year, and you can choosehow it’s invested.
- The mega backdoor Roth feature in your MassMutual 401(k) allows you to
contribute more than the standard $23,500 personal contribution limit
in 2025. This Fidelity article explains the limits in more detail (still
showing 2024 limits, but still a helpful visual).
My response:
Nick, super helpful, thanks again.
We briefly discussed whether maxing out the personal 401k contribution before the end of year was limiting company match, and concluded it wasn't. I thought about this more and convinced myself that this was, in fact, limiting the company match. They'll match up 5% per paycheck as you say below, so in order to the maximum match, I need to be contributing at least 5% per paycheck. If you earned 23,000/5%=470K per year, simply contributing 5% per paycheck would mean they match all the way to your personal max contrib. Since I'm less than that, I need to contribute more than the 5% so that I'll hit my own max, but also not so much that I do so before the end of the year (10% was too much).
Redacting the second half because it's sensitive to total income.
More notes from Nick:
- Retirement