How Much Should Be in an Emergency Fund?
Three to six months is the standard answer and it is too vague to act on. What the number depends on, why the first target should be much smaller, and where to keep money you might need on a Tuesday.
Finance
Personal Finance
BudgetingSaving MoneyEmergency FundsDebt ManagementRetirement
The 50/30/20 Budget Rule
A simple way to split your income between needs, wants and saving — worked through on three income levels, and what to do when the numbers do not fit.
Inflation, Explained With the Actual Numbers
Inflation is not just prices rising — it is your money losing value. Here is what it does to savings over ten years, and how to work out your own real return.
Compound Interest, Explained With the Actual Numbers
Compound interest is simple arithmetic that produces results most people find hard to believe. Here is the formula, worked examples, and why starting ten years earlier beats saving three times as much.
Divorced Spouse Social Security Benefits — The Ten-Year Rule
If the marriage lasted ten years you may be able to claim on an ex-spouse's record. It costs them nothing, they are not told, and one rule lets you claim before they have even filed.
When to Claim Social Security — 62, Full Retirement Age, or 70
Waiting earns about 8% a year, guaranteed, which is unusual. The break-even arithmetic, why it is the wrong question for married couples, and the two situations where claiming at 62 is right.
How Your Social Security Benefit Is Actually Calculated
Three steps turn a working life into a monthly cheque — 35 years of indexed earnings, a weighted formula, then an adjustment for when you claim. Where the zeros come from and what you can still change.
Social Security Spousal Benefits — Who Qualifies and How Much
Up to half your spouse's benefit, but only at your own full retirement age, and only once they have filed. The rules, the one thing waiting past 67 will not buy you, and how it interacts with your own record.