Tax Basics: A Beginners Guide to Taxes | E39 Sean Mullaney - The Struggle is Real: Pursue Financial Independence While Enjoying the Present

A month ago, I went to Instagram and asked what money topics you’d like to learn more about. To my utter surprise, taxes had the most votes.

I figured side hustles, investing, even budgeting would attract more attention but maybe I failed to realize the desire you had to learn and feel more confident about this perplexing topic.

I went looking for a guest that had a deep understanding in this field but could also explain terminology and foundational concepts in a simplistic, engaging way.

In my experience, this isn’t the traditional profile of a tax professional but my guest today will deliver on that promise.

Sean Mullaney is the President of Mullaney Financial & Tax where he provides financial planning services to individuals and families. His credentials include a Bachelors in Accounting from Georgetown University, a certificate in Financial Planning, a law degree, a CPA designation, and spending the last 20 years working with corporate or individual taxes which include stops at Deloitte, PwC, the IRS, and now his own practice.

Sean is a glorified tax nerd in the best way possible. Since he apparently can’t get enough of tax, he also created a blog, FITaxGuy.com, where he writes about the intersection of tax and financial independence.

This episode will include both breadth and depth on a myriad topics related to taxes including tax brackets, standard vs itemized deductions, retirement accounts, and more.

Friendly reminder: this discussion is general and educational in nature and does not constitute tax, investment, legal, or financial advice with respect to any particular individual or taxpayer. Please consult your own advisors regarding your own unique situation.

Key Takeaways:

[9:17] What are the tax deductions you see on your paycheck?

[15:46] How do tax brackets work in the US?

[19:01] Standard deduction vs itemized deduction

[22:57] What is the difference between a 401K and IRA?

[36:31] How does vesting work?

[41:17] How do you open up an IRA?

[50:30] Why is FI important to Sean?

Favorite Quotes:

[6:14] “Tomorrow hopefully I will be better than I am today but all I can do today is do my best.”

[29:18] “The right answer starts with I’m paying attention to this stuff and I'm going to be intentional about how I do my retirement savings.”

[57:49] “Nobody is on their deathbed thinking, you know I didn’t save enough in my HSA.”