Getting Started

Is $1 million enough to retire, or is $3 million the new benchmark? See how withdrawal rates, Social Security, FIRE math, inflation, and spending flexibility set your real number.

Yes, count your home and cars in net worth, but not in your FIRE number. Learn the four-net-worth framework, how home equity funds retirement, and the house-rich, cash-poor trap.

The most heavily marketed financial products are often the most profitable for the seller. Learn the five marketing tactics, six risk lenses, and a hurdle calculator to evaluate any product.

Half of Americans can't afford a $400 emergency? The Fed's 2025 data says 63% would pay it with cash. Here's what it really shows, and how to build true liquidity.

AUM is not inherently bad, and hourly is not inherently good. Learn the three dimensions investors confuse (fiduciary, compensation source, billing method), what the academic evidence actually shows, and where commission-driven sales models like Edward Jones fit. Includes an interactive Advisor Fee Compass.

Answer 7 questions and see where you are on the 7-camp climb from budget to summit. A modern, personalized take on the r/personalfinance flowchart with 2026 IRS limits and Summitward tool deep-links.

A trillion-dollar IPO with a 5% public float is not the same as a trillion-dollar IPO with 90%. Free-float adjustment, seasoning rules, and the methodology differences between CRSP, S&P 500, and Nasdaq-100 decide how much exposure your index fund actually takes. Includes a Mega-IPO Index Impact Calculator.

HML is the academic version of value investing: a transparent, rules-based long-short factor that asks whether cheap stocks outperform expensive ones. What the evidence says, how it differs from AQR and Avantis, and a Value Tilt Pain Test calculator.

The 2010 $75k plateau was an oversimplification. PERMA-V, time affluence, and how to use your portfolio to fund a good life, not just to maximize net worth. Includes a Time Affluence Calculator.

Most people expect investing to be about having an opinion. Systematic investing is about having a process. The evidence, the levels ladder, and the friction calculator that quantifies how small mistakes compound.

$47.5B in credit card rewards earned in 2024, but $160B in interest was paid. Where rewards fit in a plan, who should optimize, and who should not.

Account labels are wrappers; risk and return live at the household level. Reichenstein after-tax, Viceira human capital, the asset-location 80/20, and a Household X-Ray calculator with location flags.

Markowitz's portfolio choice for individual investors. Two-asset variance with correlation, the 'correlations go to one' supplement, the marginal-fund test, and a portfolio impact calculator.

Nick Maggiulli's six wealth levels, the 0.01% rule, UBS distribution data, and the liquidity / age / geography corrections peer book reviews skip. With total-vs-liquid calculator.

JL Collins's FU Money is enough accessible wealth to refuse a bad deal without your life falling apart. Five autonomy levels, the Fed and Vanguard data, and a runway stress-test calculator.

AQR tested 196 buy-the-dip rules; most lost. Vanguard, Dimensional, PWL, and Morningstar agree. The empirical case for investing today, with a cost-of-waiting calculator.

Nick Maggiulli's accumulation rule, what it gets right, the savings-vs-returns crossover most peer posts miss, and which dollars it doesn't apply to. With calculator.

Med, law, and MBA students often save little or borrow during school. Here's the academic case (Choi, Carroll), the risks, and the middle ground.

58% of U.S. stocks since 1926 lost to Treasury bills lifetime. Just 4% account for all stock-market wealth. Here's why broad diversification wins mathematically.

The 3-6 month rule is lazy. BLS data shows unemployment duration varies by industry. A job-risk matrix and sizing calculator for your household's real income-shock risk.

Your first 90 days as an investor. Prioritize spending, open the right account, pick two index funds, and let compounding do the heavy lifting. Evidence-based, no jargon, with an interactive compound interest calculator.

Calculate your personal FIRE number from your spending and safe withdrawal rate. Reference tables for FIRE numbers by spending level, a savings rate timeline chart, and three fully worked examples at different income levels.

How does your net worth compare? See average and median net worth by age group from Federal Reserve data, understand percentile rankings, and learn the metrics that matter more than the number itself.

Everything you need to know about FIRE: how to calculate your number, types of FIRE, the five pillars of financial independence, and how to build a plan that actually works.

Calculate your Coast FIRE number with step-by-step formulas, comprehensive tables by age, and three worked examples. Find out if you have already reached Coast FIRE and what to do next.

Net worth is the single most important measure of financial health. Learn what to include, how to calculate it, which tracking method fits your style, and how to turn raw numbers into a plan for financial independence.

Coast FIRE is the point where compound growth alone will carry your portfolio to financial independence. Learn the math, see worked examples by age, and understand how it compares to Barista FIRE and Lean FIRE.

Compare the two most popular debt payoff strategies side by side. Learn the math behind avalanche and snowball methods, see how extra payments accelerate your timeline, and explore when investing beats paying off debt.

Your FI number is the portfolio size that lets you stop working. Learn how to calculate it from your spending and safe withdrawal rate, and explore Lean, Comfortable, and Fat FI tiers.

Your net worth is only half the picture. CEFR measures whether your assets can actually cover your future liabilities, from mortgages to healthcare.