Education
How much will college actually cost?
Hold everything constant and change one field — assumed cost inflation — and the shortfall runs from $39,000 to $236,000. Why a…
Retirement
Are you leaving employer match on the table?
Most retirement questions are genuinely hard. This one has an exact answer available today, depends on nothing you cannot change this afternoon,…
Housing
Is it cheaper to rent or buy right now?
The lines cross in year four on these numbers — but change the appreciation assumption from 2% to 3.5% and the answer…
Savings
What is a good savings rate?
Your savings rate takes ten seconds to work out and governs everything else. Beating the 3% national figure, though, is not the…
Career
Is this job offer actually worth it?
A 24% raise into a 24% more expensive city is not a raise. Here is how to compare two offers on total…
Debt Strategy
Which debt should I pay off first?
Avalanche or snowball is the wrong first question. Run both and look at the gap between them — it is usually smaller…
Housing
How much house can we afford?
A lender answers how much it will lend you, not how much you should spend — and the 28% rule quietly hands…
Debt Strategy
Should I pay off my mortgage or invest?
Run the comparison on your actual loan, at today's actual rate — and see exactly what the comparison leaves out.
Career
Am I underpaid?
The average salary for your job is close to useless — the spread inside a single job title is wider than the…