Lessons you can touch.
Most personal finance writing is text. Ours is a workshop. Drag the dials, change the assumptions, and see the math redraw in real time.
Every chart on this site is reproducible. Click any number and we'll show our work.
The magic of compounding
Drag the rate and compounding frequency. Watch a $10,000 deposit balloon — or barely budge. See exactly why a small rate change reshapes a 30-year balance.
Open lesson →15-year vs 30-year mortgage
Enter your home price and down payment. See the monthly payment gap, the lifetime interest gap, and which loan actually fits your life.
Open lesson →The true cost of a credit card balance
Pick a purchase, set your APR, and watch a $3,000 charge balloon into $7,000+ if you only pay the minimum. Then see how to escape.
Open lesson →Debt consolidation with a HELOC
Stack up your card balances, tell us about your home, and watch a HELOC collapse years of minimum payments into a fixed schedule at half the rate.
Open lesson →Pay yourself first
A take-home pay slider that shows how 1%, 5%, or 15% saved every month quietly compounds into a fortune across a career.
Open lesson →Make your kid a millionaire
Pick a target — $1M, $3M, $5M — and see exactly what it takes as a one-time deposit at birth, a monthly check, or a yearly birthday tradition.
Open lesson →529 plans: start early, pay less
Pick a school type, dial in the runway, and watch the gap between what you contribute and what's actually in the account on day one of freshman year.
Open lesson →What are mortgage points?
Pay cash at closing, get a lower rate for life of the loan. Drag the dials to see when the math works in your favor — and when points are a trap.
Open lesson →Best cities to retire in 2026
16 popular US retirement cities, four cost levers each, and a national distribution curve. Pick your profile, weight what matters, and see where every city actually lands.
Open lesson →FSA vs HSA: which account saves you more?
Compare flexible spending and health savings accounts side by side. Run your own numbers in the tax calculator and let the decision framework pick the right account for 2026.
Open lesson →CD early withdrawal: is breaking your CD worth it?
CD early withdrawal penalties usually cost 60 to 365 days of interest. Run the penalty calculator, scan the table, and use the break-even analyzer to decide if you should break or stay.
Open lesson →HELOC vs HELOAN: which way to tap your equity?
Size your borrowing power against CLTV limits, compare interest-only HELOC payments to amortizing HELOAN payments, and let a 3-question decision tool pick the right product.
Open lesson →Refinance break-even: formula, trap, and verdict
Closing costs divided by monthly savings tells you when a refi pays off — but it hides the term-reset trap. Run the calculator, see the trap, and weigh no-closing-cost loans honestly.
Open lesson →