About PenaltyFreeRetire

Who built this

Alphashift (Pty) Ltd is a company that focuses on providing useful online services across the globe.

Why this site exists

Retirement planning in the US is buried under layers of jargon, paywalled tools, and upsells. If you want to know how a Roth conversion ladder actually works, or whether the Rule of 55 applies to you, you will find that every search leads to a 3,000-word article that never gets to the point or a calculator behind a sign-up wall.

That motivated us to build this site: calculators that give you an answer in under a minute, with no account required. If you want to save a scenario, you can. If you do not, your data never leaves your browser.

What we believe

Retirement planning should not require a finance degree. Free tools should actually work without extracting your email address first. And no one should have to sit through a sales pitch to understand whether they can access their money early without penalties.

We do not upsell. There are no gated features. The calculators are free and will stay that way.

The calculators

Right now the site has three tools:

• Roth Conversion Ladder — see how much you can convert each year and when the money becomes accessible
• HSA Triple Tax Advantage — project the long-term value of maxing out your HSA
• Rule of 55 — check whether you qualify for penalty-free withdrawals if you separate from service at age 55 or older

These were built because they are key factors impacting your retirement funds and related tax implications.

The blog

We write about early retirement, tax strategy, and related topics. The posts are published through Sanity CMS and are as direct as we can make them.

Get in touch

If you find a bug, have a suggestion, or want to correct something we got wrong, use the contact form. We read every message.