Investing
How a 401(k) employer match works — and what it costs to skip it
A match is your employer contributing alongside your own deferrals, typically 50 cents to a dollar per dollar up to a set percentage of pay — the only…
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Investing
Investing begins where debt and reserves end. Coverage sets an order of operations: high-interest balances first, employer retirement matching next, then broad low-cost funds. Contribution amounts, account types and tax treatment are explained plainly. For households with a modest surplus deciding where the next hundred dollars belongs.
A deliberately plain approach for households: what to clear first, which accounts come next, and why simplicity beats most alternatives at this stage.
Investing
What is a Roth IRA — and who should open one?
A Roth IRA is funded with money you have already paid tax on, grows untaxed, and comes out tax-free in retirement — $7,500 can go in for 2026.
Investing
ETF vs. mutual fund: what actually differs
Both pool money into one diversified basket — the differences are when they trade, what they cost, and how taxes land in a regular brokerage account.
Investing
What is an index fund, and why beginners start there
An index fund buys the whole market — or a big slice of it — in one purchase, which makes it the simplest way to own hundreds of companies without picking any…
Investing
How to start investing with $100
Fractional shares and commission-free brokers removed the old entry fees — today $100 is a real start, and the habit matters more than the amount.