Episode 180

full
Published on:

8th Oct 2025

Optimal Tax Strategies for Your Early Retirement | E180 Cody Garrett & Sean Mullaney

It might have been monsters under the bed, shadows in the corner, or creepy dementors from Harry Potter. We all had irrational fears growing up.

Mine was creepy dolls. After watching a movie called Teacher’s Pet, I became so terrified of dolls that my dad had my sister box up hers and store them in the basement.

I’ll be honest, I’m still not a huge fan of dolls, but I’ve mostly outgrown that fear. Along the way, though, I’ve picked up some new ones like running out of money, being left without health insurance, and probably the biggest of all… taxes.

I’ve been saving and investing with the fear that Uncle Sam will take a huge chunk of my money. That mindset has me padding my investment accounts and inflating my FI number. But after reading Sean Mullaney and Cody Garrett’s book, Tax Planning To and Through Early Retirement, I’m starting to rethink that - and I think you should too.

To help us all navigate this, I invited Sean and Cody to walk us through strategies to optimize taxes before and during early retirement. We’ll cover things like which accounts to deplete first, how to control your taxable income through strategic selling, ways to minimize sequence-of-return risk, and even how you could pay almost nothing in taxes some years without cutting expenses.

If you want practical strategies for optimizing taxes on your path to early retirement, this episode is for you.

I hope you enjoy my conversation with Mr. Measure Twice and the FITaxGuy…Cody Garrett and Sean Mullaney.

Key Takeaways:

  • How to fund an early retirement lifestyle tax-free with drawdown strategies.
  • Which investment accounts to tap first to optimize your retirement withdrawals
  • How to sell specific brokerage lots to precisely manage taxes and cash flow
  • A drawdown approach that protects against the sequence of returns risk in retirement
  • How to maximize ACA premium tax credits for affordable early retirement healthcare
  • When to use Roth and HSA withdrawals for tax-efficient income flexibility


Mentions:

Selling Specific Lots in Fidelity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cft7dLLP7_U&feature=youtu.be


More of Sean & Cody:

Check out the book “Tax Planning To and Through Early Retirement”:: https://www.measuretwicemoney.com/book

Cody’s website: https://measuretwicefinancial.com/

Sean’s website: https://fitaxguy.com/


More of FI Minded:

Email Justin at Justin@FIMinded.com

Connect with Justin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinleepeters/


The discussion is intended to be for general educational purposes and is not tax, legal, or investment advice for any individual. Justin and the FI Minded podcast do not endorse Sean Mullaney, Mullaney Financial & Tax, Inc. and their services.

Next Episode All Episodes Previous Episode

Listen for free

Show artwork for FI Minded - Financial Independence, Early Retirement & Lifestyle Design

About the Podcast

FI Minded - Financial Independence, Early Retirement & Lifestyle Design
Achieve Financial Independence & Have Fun Doing It
Pursuing financial independence, financial freedom, or early retirement often leads to the same questions: How do I become financially independent? How much should I save? What happens after I reach FI?

FI Minded helps you use money to create more freedom, without turning your entire life into a financial optimization project.

Host Justin Peters explores the decisions behind building a flexible, work-optional life, from reaching financial independence and navigating Coast FI and Slow FI to spending your money, changing careers, stepping away from work, and figuring out what comes after FI.

Each episode combines practical personal finance with conversations about early retirement, lifestyle design, work, spending, healthcare, self-employment, and life after financial independence. The goal isn't simply to reach FI as quickly as possible. It's to make progress toward financial freedom while actually enjoying your life along the way.

On FI Minded, you'll learn how to:
- Reach financial independence without burning out
- Build a flexible, work-optional lifestyle
- Navigate Coast FI, Slow FI, and other paths to FI
- Make smarter decisions about spending and saving
- Prepare financially and emotionally for early retirement
- Figure out what life can look like after financial independence
- Think through the tradeoffs behind major money and lifestyle decisions
- Make progress toward financial independence while actually living your life.

Some of our past guests include Carl Jensen (1500 Days), Jeremy Schneider (Personal Finance Club), Nick Loper (Side Hustle Show), Andrew Giancola (The Personal Finance Podcast), Jordan Grumet (Earn & Invest), Rachael Camp (Work Optional), Jillian Johnsrud (Retire Often), Sean Mullaney (FI Tax Guy), Jill Sirianni (Frugal Friends), Jackie Cummings-Koski (Catching Up to FI), Joel Larsgaard (How to Money), Cody Garrett (Measure Twice), Jesse Cramer (Personal Finance for Long-Term Investors), Jess (The Fioneers), Chris Hutchins (All The Hacks), Diania Merriam (EconoMe), Andy Hill (Marriage Kids Money), Fritz Gilbert (Retirement Manifesto), Maggie Tucker (Inside Out Money), Cody Berman (The Financial Independence Show), Joe Saul-Sehy (Stacking Benjamins), Doug Cunnington (Mile High FI), and and others helping you rethink how to approach financial independence.
Support This Show