Plain-English breakdowns of the things nobody taught you .

Reviewed May 2026First job

Phase 00 · Starting out

For your first real paycheck.

Day-one decisions for someone new to the workforce. The stuff nobody taught you in school — whether your first income is a W-2 paycheck or a 1099 gig.

Guide · 5 min read

Guide to First Paycheck

Walk away knowing exactly where every dollar of your first paycheck goes — what's withheld, what's yours, and where to put what's left.

Reviewed June 2026Self-employed

Guide to Gig Work

Gig pay arrives whole because four jobs an employer did quietly are now yours: health, taxes, a cash buffer, retirement. How to pick them up.

Reviewed June 2026What to avoid

Avoid the costly mistakes

The expensive mistakes worth dodging.

The handful of moves that set beginners back the most — mostly about not handing money away — and the fix for each.

Guide · 6 min read

Guide to Common Money Mistakes

The six money mistakes that set beginners back the most — from skipping the match to timing the market — and the one move that fixes each.

Reviewed May 2026Thinking tools

Phase 01 · Thinking tools

Shortcuts you reach for before the math.

Mental models that turn money questions into something you can answer in your head — Rule of 72, real returns, the cost of waiting.

Guide · 17 min read

Guide to Mental Models

Reason about money in your head — twelve shortcuts worth keeping for the times you have to decide without a spreadsheet open, and the math behind each.

Reviewed May 2026Foundation

Phase 02 · Foundation

Cover what could derail you.

Before stacking money, make sure one bad week can't undo everything — the cash buffer, the debts eating it, the right coverage, and the account that doubles as a stealth retirement vehicle.

Guide · 9 min read

Guide to Emergency Funds

Know exactly how big your emergency fund should be, where to keep it, and the habits that quietly drain it — so a surprise bill never becomes a crisis.

Read the guide→Guide · 11 min read

Guide to Debt Payoff

Build a payoff plan you'll actually finish — the three tiers of debt, the avalanche vs snowball math, and how to weigh debt against the employer match.

Reviewed May 2026Foundation

Guide to Student Loans

Federal vs private, why a paused balance grows, and where student debt lands in the order of operations — pay it down or invest, decided by the rate.

Guide to Credit Scores

What moves a credit score and what doesn't — reading your report, the balance habit that matters most, fixing errors, and how long rough patches last.

Reviewed June 2026The one rule

Guide to Insurance

Sort what you need from what to skip — health, renters, auto, disability, and term life, not whole life or extended warranties.

Read the guide→Guide · 11 min read

Guide to HSA

Turn an HSA into a stealth retirement account — the triple tax advantage, who's HDHP-eligible, the 2026 limits, and the receipt strategy that pays off later.

Reviewed May 2026Triple tax advantage

Guide to Mortgages

Understand your mortgage before you sign — fixed vs ARM, points, PMI, escrow, and the amortization curve almost everyone reads wrong.

Read the guide→Guide · 8 min read

Guide to Mortgage Refinancing

When refinancing your mortgage pays off — the break-even test that beats the rule of thumb, and the reset-the-clock trap the savings hide.

Read the guide→Guide · 14 min read

Guide to Buying a Car

How to buy a car without getting taken: where dealers really profit — financing and the F&I room — the 20/3/8 rule, and the buyer's playbook.

Reviewed June 2026Big purchase

Reviewed May 2026Strategy

Phase 03 · Investing

Where the money actually goes.

The strategy you're already using, what you actually own when you invest, why it grows over time, and the funds inside the account.

Guide · 8 min read

Guide to Dollar Cost Averaging

Invest on a schedule so one bad guess can't sink you — what dollar-cost averaging is, when it beats lump sum, and why you're likely already doing it.

Guide to Owning Stocks

What a share of stock actually is: fractional ownership of a real business, plus why companies issue it, market cap, exchanges, and indexes.

Guide to Why Markets Rise

Why the stock market climbs over the long run: companies earn more over time, and price follows earnings — a trend, not a promise.

Read the guide→Guide · 8 min read

Guide to When Markets Fall

Drops, corrections, and bear markets are how the market normally behaves. What each one means, how often they come, and why staying invested beats dodging.

Guide to Speculation vs. Investing

Speculation and investing look identical on the same app but run on opposite engines. How to tell a bet from an investment, and where a bet fits.

Guide to Investment Vehicles

Know what to buy inside a 401(k) or brokerage — stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, index and target-date funds, plus the fees that decide your outcome.

Reviewed May 2026For parents

Phase 04 · Goals & generosity

For the people and purposes beyond you.

The retirement account your teen can't yet open for themselves. Education for the next generation. Giving as a line item, not a leftover. And a plan for what you pass on.

Guide · 6 min read

Guide to Teen Roth IRA

Open the highest-leverage account there is for a working teen — what counts as earned income, why it beats a 529, and how to set up a Roth IRA step by step.

Read the guide→Guide · 11 min read

Guide to 529 Plan

Leftover 529 money isn't trapped — since 2024 you can roll it into your own Roth IRA. Here's the rollover, the 2026 limits, and what to do with a balance.

Reviewed May 2026Roth rollover

Reviewed June 2026Two incomes, one household

Guide to Marriage

How married couples structure money — joint, separate, or hybrid — size a shared pot by the budget instead of paychecks, and keep talking as a team.

Reviewed May 2026Stewardship

Guide to Giving

Give in a way you can sustain — set a baseline rate, automate it, and use the tax tools that stretch each dollar: donor-advised funds, QCDs, appreciated stock.

Reviewed May 2026Generations

Guide to Estate Planning

Who inherits what you leave, who raises your kids, and the beneficiary forms that quietly override your will — estate-planning basics for your 20s and 30s.

Reviewed May 2026SECURE 2.0

Phase 05 · Retirement accounts

The accounts that quietly do the heavy lifting.

Workplace plans, IRAs, and the Roth-vs-Traditional tax-timing decision you make inside them.

Guide · 12 min read

Guide to 401(k)

The one 401(k) decision that matters is the percent you set in the benefits portal — set it right and the rest of the plan falls into place.

Reviewed May 20265 account types

Guide to IRA

Five IRA types exist, but for most young savers the Roth is the one that matters. Why it wins, who can contribute, and when the other four apply.

Reviewed May 2026Tax strategy

Guide to Roth vs. Traditional

Make the Roth vs. Traditional call with confidence — when each one wins, why your tax bracket drives it, and why Roth often beats the math on paper.

Reviewed June 2026Starting late

Guide to Catching Up

Started late on retirement? You can't buy back the years, but a late start has stronger levers than a 25-year-old's — and one bet that undoes them.

Reviewed May 2026Retirement income

Phase 06 · Retirement income

When the paycheck stops.

Social Security — when to claim, how it's taxed, how it fits the plan — how real spending bends across retirement, and the strategies for drawing the portfolio down without running dry.

Guide · 11 min read

Guide to Social Security

Know when to claim Social Security — how Full Retirement Age works, spousal benefits, how it's taxed, and where it fits in your retirement withdrawal plan.

Reviewed June 2026Spending by age

Guide to Retirement Spending

Retirement spending isn't a flat line — it bends. The go-go, slow-go, and no-go years, the spending smile, and what the curve means for the 4% rule.

Reviewed June 2026Drawdown strategies

Guide to Withdrawal Strategies

The 4% rule says how much to withdraw, not what to do when the market drops. How guardrails, bucketing, and a fixed rate each answer that — and which fits you.

Start here · No question too basic

The questions you'd rather not ask

Plain answers to the money questions beginners are most afraid to ask out loud — each pointing to the lesson, guide, or tool that goes deeper.

Reference · Plain English

Glossary of terms

One-sentence definitions for every term used across the guides and calculators — accounts, tax timing, investing, debt, retirement.

Reference · A to Z

Subject index

The back-of-book index — every topic on the site, with its guide, calculator, and chart anchors gathered into one row.

Gallery · Visualizations

Every chart in one place

120 figures across the site, grouped by shape — bar, line, donut, flow. Click any card to land on the chart in context.