Personal finance, explained with real numbers.
Vanguard's 2023 paper is the one everybody cites. In US data it found that putting a lump sum to work immediately beat splitting it into three monthly installments 66.4% of the time. The number that …
Continue Reading about Dollar-Cost Averaging vs Lump Sum: The Windfall Question →
A dollar you stop spending is worth exactly one dollar. A dollar you earn on the side is not. Before a cent of income tax, self-employment tax takes 15.3% of 92.35% of your net earnings — 14.13 cents …
Continue Reading about Side Income vs Cutting Costs: The Tax Math →
The American Council of Life Insurers, tabulating NAIC regulatory data in its 2025 Fact Book, puts the voluntary termination rate for individual life insurance in the United States at 5.8 percent in …
Continue Reading about Term vs Whole Life: Mechanics, Costs, and Lapse Risk →
You can defer the full 2026 limit of $24,500 into your 401(k) and still finish the year with less employer match than a coworker who contributed less than you did. That is not an edge case. It is the …
Continue Reading about 401(k) Employer Match: True-Ups, Vesting and the 2026 Caps →
In June 2026 the Atlanta Fed's Wage Growth Tracker put 12-month wage growth for people who had changed jobs at 4.1%, and for people who had stayed in the same job at 3.4%. A gap of 0.7 percentage …
Continue Reading about How to Negotiate a Raise: The Numbers to Bring →
The average deductible in an ACA Marketplace plan rose about $1,027 per person for 2026, to $3,786 — a 37% jump from $2,759. KFF, which published the figure on 2026-05-19, calls it the steepest …
Continue Reading about Deductible vs Premium: Finding Your Own Break-Even →
