Guided · Roadmap

Where does your next dollar go?

The Money Order of Operations tells you what to do with each dollar — match, debt, emergency fund, Roth, HSA, 15%, goals, debt, wealth — in order. Answer one question at a time, or jump to the full roadmap, and it lines your situation up against the standard sequence: which step is next, which are done, and which you can skip.

If regular giving is part of your plan, set that percentage first and run this walkthrough on what's left — the guide explains why.

Background Read the order-of-operations guide

Sample answers loaded — change any to make them yours.

Before the steps

First, the basics.

The order below starts after the essentials are handled. So before step 1: write a budget, keep a roof over your head, the lights on, and food on the table, cover necessary health care, and make at least the minimum payment on every debt. Those keep you standing; the steps build wealth on top.

If regular giving is part of your plan, set that percentage first and run these steps on what's left — the guide explains why.

Your call from here

The foundation is built.

Past the standard order, two common directions — pick the one that's you:

Chasing early retirement? Max every account you can — the rest of the 401(k), the mega-backdoor Roth if your plan allows it — then keep going in a taxable brokerage.
Nearer-term goals? Match each pot to its timeline: money you need within ~3–5 years stays safe; money 5+ years out can take more risk for more growth.

See your full roadmap for where every dollar lands, in order.

Your next move

Your next dollar: —

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Open the tool →

Your full roadmap (last tab) shows every step, in order — done, next, and skipped.

Answer what you know — leave anything unsure on the default. Your roadmap updates as you go.

Do you have at least $1,000 (or your highest deductible) saved, separate from checking?

A buffer for surprise bills, so they don't land on a credit card.

Yes No

Does your job offer a 401(k) match?

Money your employer adds to your retirement account when you contribute (401(k), 403(b), and similar).

Yes No Not sure

Are you contributing enough to get the full match?

Most plans require a set contribution (often about 6% of pay) to capture all of it.

Yes — getting all of it Some, not all None / not contributing

Any debt with an APR above ~7%?

Credit cards, payday loans, and some private student loans — the expensive kind.

Yes No

Do you have 3–6 months of expenses in cash savings?

Enough to cover rent, food, and bills if your income stopped for a while.

Yes — fully funded Partial — building it No

Is your health plan an HSA-eligible HDHP?

A high-deductible health plan that lets you open a Health Savings Account.

Yes No Not sure

Are you contributing to a Roth or Traditional IRA?

A retirement account you open yourself at a provider — separate from your work plan.

Yes No

About what % of your gross income goes to retirement savings?

Your contributions only (not the match) — across 401(k), IRA, and HSA.

6%

Big medium-term goals in the next 5–15 years?

A house, kids' college, or a business — things you'll save toward that aren't retirement.

Yes No

Any moderate-rate debt in the ~4–7% band?

Some auto loans and federal student loans. A judgment call — investing usually edges it out, but a guaranteed payoff is its own return.

Yes No

Any low-interest debt under ~4%?

A mortgage or low-rate auto loan — where paying extra rarely beats investing.

Yes No

Your sequence

Based on your answers, start here.

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Sequence matters more than effort. Each step builds the floor the next one stands on.

The chip beside each step is the return on your next dollar — the bigger it is, the more it costs to skip ahead. A shield or clock marks the steps that protect or depend on timing rather than earn.

The full reasoning behind this sequence is in the Money Order of Operations guide. Each step links to the calculator or guide that goes with it.

How this works

One unfunded step at a time.

The order isn't a to-do list you tackle in parallel. It's a sequence of cliffs: you fund step n until it's done, then move to step n+1. The whole point is to avoid the most expensive mistake in personal finance — saving for the wrong thing first.

Match always wins. Step 2 (capture the 401(k) match) is the only step with a deadline that ticks every paycheck. Even mid-debt-payoff, even mid-emergency-fund, you keep contributing to the match. The 50–100% guaranteed return beats every other option below.
Steps stay funded. Once an emergency fund is full, you don't drain it to pay extra mortgage. Once you're at 15%, you don't drop to 8% to fund a vacation. The order is also a defense against undoing your own work.
Drop back when life changes. If you blow through your emergency fund on a real emergency, drop back to step 4 and rebuild it before resuming higher steps. The order survives setbacks because it's about what's currently unfunded, not "where you've been."

Plain English

Don't try to do every step at once. Pick the lowest unfunded step and feed it until it's done. The walkthrough above tells you which one that is, given your answers.

Why this isn't a budget

A budget tells you where money goes each month.

The order of operations tells you where your next dollar goes — across months, across years, across life stages. They're complementary, not competing.

The budget is the discipline of allocating each paycheck. Tools: Budget builder.
The order of operations is the strategy that decides what those allocations are aimed at. Tools: this walkthrough, plus the calculators below.
The two work together: the budget answers "how much"; the order of operations answers "for what."

Next step

Read the full guide for the reasoning.

The walkthrough condenses the order into action. The full guide explains why each step sits where it does — the math, the tradeoffs, and the common mistakes at each step.

Read the full guide → Talk through it with someone