College Savings
How Much to Actually Save for College
Full funding is not the default. A newborn example compares 25%, 50% and 100% targets, then prices the retirement trade-off.
4 min read
Tag
Calculator
19 posts
Passive Income
Dividend Income: The Arithmetic
A 6% yield can compound to less than a 1.5% yield at the same total return. Work through cash income, annual tax and the final sale.
5 min read
Passive Income
How Much You Need Invested for $500 a Month
$500 monthly needs $150,000 at a 4% withdrawal rate or $187,500 at a 3.2% dividend yield. Neither figure includes tax or guarantees the income.
5 min read
Banking
CD Ladders, Explained
A ladder buys the longer rate while keeping a rung maturing every year. On the rates available now it earns nothing over a good savings account, and here is the arithmetic that shows when it would.
6 min read
Editor's pick
Debt PayoffGuide
Avalanche vs Snowball: What Each One Costs You
The avalanche saves more money. The snowball gets finished more often. On four real balances that difference is $552.79 and one month, and here is when $552.79 is worth paying.
10 min read
Investing
Expense Ratios: What 0.85% Actually Costs You
0.85% sounds like nothing, and for the first year it is: about $19. Over thirty years of $400 a month it is $70,624, which is more than fourteen years of the contributions themselves.
7 min read
Editor's pick
SavingGuide
The Emergency Fund, Sized Honestly
Every article says three to six months. None of them says three to six months of what, and on one household that reading is worth $10,410. The sizing test, worked at two incomes.
11 min read