Nicolas Straut
Personal finance writer, former Forbes contributor and This Week in Fintech writer
About Nicolas
Nicolas Straut writes the guides and builds the calculators on Tweed. He has spent eight years writing about money and building content for fintech companies including NerdWallet and North One Business Banking, and was a contributor at Forbes. He holds a BA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from The King's College.
He is not a financial advisor and not a CPA, and is decades from retirement himself, so nothing here comes from the experience of living off a portfolio. What Tweed offers instead is narrower and easier to check: the primary document, the arithmetic done correctly, and both shown on the page.
How these pages stay accurate
Every factor, limit and threshold here is checked against the IRS, the SSA or CMS rather than against other retirement blogs, each page carries the date its figures were last verified, and a correction gets a dated note at the bottom of the page rather than a quiet edit.
Latest articles
Traditional IRA
What is a traditional IRA?
The 2026 contribution limit, exactly when your contribution is deductible, and what happens when it is not.
Published
Roth IRA
The key differences between a Roth and traditional IRA
Contribution limits, deductions, RMDs and early withdrawals compared, then how to work out your own break-even tax rate.
Published
Roth IRA
6 best Roth IRA accounts
Fidelity, Charles Schwab, Robinhood and more compared on account minimums, fees and investment selection.
Published
Roth IRA
What is a backdoor Roth IRA?
How the two-step nondeductible-contribution-then-conversion sequence works, the pro-rata rule, and how to report it on Form 8606.
Published
Roth IRA
What is a mega backdoor Roth?
How the 401(k) after-tax-then-conversion strategy works, the 2026 dollar limits, and whether your plan actually allows it.
Published
Retirement planning
What is FIRE (financial independence, retire early)?
The savings-rate math behind the crossover point, the 25x-33x target, and how to reach retirement money before 59½.
Published
Roth IRA
What is a Roth IRA?
The 2026 contribution and income limits, exactly when your five-year clock starts, and the order withdrawals actually come out in.
Published · 11 min read
Broker reviews
Is Robinhood worth it in 2026?
Fees, safety, and whether the $5-a-month Gold subscription pays for itself.
Published
Advisor reviews
Empower review 2026
What the free dashboard does, what each paid tier costs, and how it compares to Betterment and Wealthfront.
Published
Retirement planning
How much money do you need to retire?
The 25x rule, the 4% withdrawal rate, and how to turn a spending number into a savings target.
Published · 11 min read
Get in touch
Found an error or have a question? Corrections get a dated note at the bottom of the page rather than a quiet edit.