Traditional 401k/IRA: When Pre-Tax Makes Sense

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Most people spend a lot of time obsessing over what to invest in.

Very few people think seriously about where those investments should live — and that mistake can cost you tens of thousands of dollars over a lifetime.

In this episode, Tyler breaks down account placement strategy — the unglamorous, aggressively unsexy topic that quietly determines how much of your money you actually get to keep. Because just like real estate, with investing it’s all about location, location, location.

This isn’t about finding the perfect fund.
It’s about putting the right investments in the right accounts.

In this episode, Tyler covers:

• The three main types of investment accounts — tax-deferred, tax-free, and taxable — and what each one is actually for

• Why taxes matter more than most people realize, and how bad account placement creates avoidable tax bills

• Which investments belong in retirement accounts (and which absolutely don’t)

• How access and liquidity should shape where your money lives, especially if you want flexibility before retirement

• Why volatility feels different depending on the account, and how to use that to your psychological advantage

• Real-world examples showing how small placement changes can save real money over time

Along the way, Tyler explains why “max everything and figure it out later” isn’t always smart, how over-locking money can quietly limit your life choices, and why the goal isn’t tax perfection — it’s alignment.

Alignment between your accounts, your investments, your time horizon, and the life you actually want to live.

This episode isn’t about optimizing every dollar with spreadsheets and IRS tables.
It’s about not making preventable mistakes.

Put tax-inefficient investments where they’re protected.
Put volatile investments where you’re less likely to panic.
Put short-term money where you can actually reach it.

And stop throwing money into random accounts and hoping it works out.

If this episode helped something click — or made you realize you might want to move a few things around — leaving a quick review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify genuinely helps. It helps other people find the show and keeps this whole project going.

As always, the goal isn’t perfection.
It’s getting one step closer to alignment.

Hope this gives you something to think about this week.