
In this second episode of The Divorce the IRS Podcast, Jimmy Miller expands on what it really means to “divorce” the IRS and why taxes play a much bigger role in your financial life than most people realize.
Jimmy begins with a simple truth: no one enjoys paying taxes—especially surprise tax bills. While many people celebrate refunds, few realize refunds are often just their own money returned without interest, or even a loan they’ll repay later. This episode tees up future conversations that challenge common assumptions about taxes, refunds, and wealth.
One of the biggest reasons Americans struggle to build lasting wealth isn’t lack of effort—it’s lack of planning. Jimmy explains how taxes quietly undermine wealth creation over time. On average, Americans work more than 100 days each year just to cover their federal tax burden, even more when state taxes are included. This reality helped create “Tax Freedom Day,” when the nation has earned enough to pay its total tax bill.
This episode introduces the core philosophy of the podcast: real financial success requires modern, forward-thinking planning that looks beyond this year or next. It means saving and investing with a lifetime tax lens, deliberately minimizing what you owe the IRS during your life and even after it.
Jimmy explains that the show is built to help listeners identify and avoid “tax time bombs”—hidden traps in the tax code that can derail retirement plans, reduce income, and create painful surprises later in life. These traps often come from well-intentioned but incomplete advice and rules that quietly benefit the IRS more than the individual.
Listeners get a preview of what’s coming, including:
Jimmy also emphasizes that while strategies can be implemented at any stage, time is your greatest advantage. Contribution limits and tax rules reward early planning—the sooner you start, the more control you can have over your tax future.
The episode closes with tax facts, including total taxes collected annually, money left unclaimed by non-filers, and the reality that U.S. citizens are taxed on worldwide income—even when living abroad.
This podcast is educational and designed to give you the foundational knowledge to make better decisions and avoid preventable mistakes. With the right planning, Jimmy believes many people can approach—or even achieve—a 0% federal tax bracket in retirement.
If you want to understand how taxes truly impact wealth and learn how to take control of your lifetime tax picture, this episode sets the foundation for everything that follows.
Disclosure
Baobab Wealth and Baobab Wealth Abroad are DBAs of Baobab Wealth, LLC, a Florida Registered Investment Advisor. This podcast is for general educational purposes only and should not be considered legal, tax, or investment advice. Always consult a qualified tax professional or licensed financial advisor regarding your personal
Although it would be great to help everyone achieve financial independence, the truth is, like everyone, we have limited time and capacity. Thus, we like to focus our work on those we can serve best with our expertise.
First, we are only looking to work with those seeking a long-term, trusted relationship with a fiduciary financial advisor and have specific goals and ideas for their future. We enjoy working with those who strive to be and do better than average.
Our most valuable work is done for those in the retirement ‘Red Zone’, where getting it right is crucial to long-term financial success. This is the 10 years leading up to your retirement (financial independence) date as well as the first 5 years of retirement.
We are comprehensive financial planners, but specialize in tax-efficient retirement income planning. If you want to understand the best way to create a safe, increasing and predictable income you can’t outlive, we are the right firm for you. We best serve savers who have accumulated between $250K and $3M of investable assets.
If you also want to pay the IRS the least amount of tax and achieve (or be as close as possible to) the 0% tax bracket (yes, this is absolutely possible) in retirement, we are probably the right firm to work with. We wrote the book on this subject and you can learn more at www.Divorce-The-IRS.com.
You don’t want the cookie cutter advice you have realized is offered at most financial planning firms these days and would prefer a personalized plan that reflects your specific dreams and goals. You would like to see choices in how your retirement income could be structured and not just offered one solution or product. You tend to be more optimistic than pessimistic.
If this sounds like you, and your situation, we invite you to schedule a friendly introductory meeting with us to learn more and explore the possibility of a partnership.
If you would like to request a physical copy of the Divorce the IRS Retirement Kit, please fill out the form below. Want to save the trees? Consider scrolling through all of the same resources on this page instead.
To project the salary of a 30-year old woman currently earning $85,000, we used a women-specific salary curve from Morningstar Investment Management LLC, a registered investment adviser and subsidiary of Morningstar, Inc., which includes the impact of inflation. We added up her projected salary each year over her 40-year career.
We projected the salary of a 30-year old woman currently earning $85,000 and one earning $110,500 (assuming a 30% raise) using a women-specific salary curve from Morningstar Investment Management LLC, a registered investment adviser and subsidiary of Morningstar, Inc. We sum up both projected salaries over 40 years, in today’s dollars, and calculate the difference.
The banking account results assume a 1% long-term average annual cash return over 40 years.
The low end of the range assumes that you invest 20% of your salary ($85,000 currently) with a financial advisor in a diversified mutual fund portfolio comprised of 60% equity and 40% bonds, which is rebalanced to this allocation each year. Fees include average mutual fund fees and an assumed advisory management fee of 1%. The high end of the range assumes that 20% of your salary is invested with Baobab Wealth in a diversified low-cost ETF portfolio comprised of 91% equity to start and growing more conservative towards the end of the investment horizon (40 years). Fees include those for the recommended ETFs and Baobab Wealth’s fee of 0.50%.
We assume salary growth based upon a women-specific salary curve provided by Morningstar Investment Management LLC, and that you save 20% of your salary each year. These results are determined using a Monte Carlo simulation—a forward-looking, computer-based calculation in which we run portfolios and savings rates through hundreds of different economic scenarios to determine a range of possible outcomes. The results for the low end of the range reflects a 70% likelihood of achieving the amount shown or better, and the high end of the range reflects a 50% likelihood of achieving the amounts shown or better. All results include the impact of inflation, and estimated taxes paid on dividends, interest, and realized capital gains.
The results presented are hypothetical, and do not reflect actual investment results, the performance of any Baobab Wealth product, or any account of any Baobab Wealth client, which may vary materially from the results portrayed for various reasons.
Flip the pages with your mouse.
Please fill out the details below and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Please fill out the form below to get started.
"*" indicates required fields
*We respect your privacy and will never give your information to any third party.
Please fill out the form below to receive access to the ultimate guide for navigating the complexities of living abroad.
"*" indicates required fields
*We respect your privacy and will never give your information to any third party.
Please fill out the form below to receive the first chapter of Divorce the IRS: How to Defuse Your Biggest Tax Time Bombs Before You Retire in your email.
"*" indicates required fields
*We respect your privacy and will never give your information to any third party.