How Much Extra Should You Pay on Debt Each Month? The Real Math
This is the question I get more than almost any other. People know they should throw extra money at their debt. What they don't know is how much extra...
Does Inflation Reduce Your Debt? The Real Math on Inflation vs. Your Balances
There's a popular idea floating around: inflation is actually good for people in debt. You borrowed yesterday's expensive dollars and you pay back...
Real Return After Taxes and Inflation: How to Calculate What Your Money Actually Earns
You see 5% on a savings account and your brain hears "I'm making 5%." You're not. Between taxes on the interest and inflation eating the dollars, your...
Debt Payoff Calculator: How to Use One to Cut Months Off Your Loan
Most people carrying debt have never actually seen what an extra $100 a month does. They have a feeling it helps. They've heard it helps. But they've...
Extra Payments on a Mortgage: What $200 a Month Actually Saves
Extra payments on a mortgage are one of the few money moves where the math is completely boring and completely powerful. You don't need a refinance, a...
Inverted Yield Curve and Your Debt: What It Means for Your Payoff Plan
If you've been hearing the phrase "inverted yield curve" on the news and wondering whether it has anything to do with your credit card balance or your...
Behind on Your Car Payment? How to Avoid Repossession
Auto loan delinquencies have been climbing, and a car payment is a different kind of debt than a credit card. Miss a credit card payment and you get a...
Bare-Bones Budget: How to Calculate Your Emergency Fund Number
Most emergency fund advice starts with the wrong math. Someone tells you "save three to six months of income," you multiply your paycheck by three, you...
Dollar Cost Averaging While Paying Off Debt: How to Start With $100 a Month
Most advice gives you two choices: attack your debt with everything you have, or invest for the future. If you've got a credit card at 22% and a car...
How Long to Pay Off $10,000 in Credit Card Debt (Real Math at 10% and 24%)
If you're carrying around $10,000 on a credit card, the first question is usually the simplest one: how long is this going to take? Your statement...
Stock Market Crash and Your Debt Payoff Plan: What to Do (and What to Ignore)
Every few months the headlines line up the same way: the market is crashing, there's a war somewhere, there's a storm, and everything is falling apart....
Pay Off Debt With Your Take-Home Pay: How to Build a Plan Around What You Actually Keep
Most debt payoff advice starts with your salary. That's the wrong number. Nobody pays a credit card with gross pay. You pay it with what lands in your...
Market Correction Checklist: How to Protect Your Debt Payoff Plan When Stocks Drop
A market correction is uncomfortable, but it's not rare. Historically, markets have seen roughly one correction a year, with an average decline around...
How to Pay Off Credit Card Debt Fast When Prices Keep Rising
Here's the squeeze a lot of people are in right now. Groceries, insurance and rent all cost more than they did a few years ago. Your paycheck didn't...
Borrow Against Assets to Pay Off Debt? The Real Math
There's a strategy that gets sold hard online: don't sell your investments, borrow against them. Take a loan against your stocks, your gold, your...
Lump Sum Payment on a Car Loan: What a $500 or $5,000 Bonus Actually Saves
Most advice about paying off a car early assumes you can add the same amount every month forever. That's great if your budget allows it. But a lot of...
Car Payment Deferment vs. Voluntary Repossession: How to Choose When You Can't Pay
Repossessions have been climbing — recent reporting put them up 23%. Most of those didn't happen because someone decided to stop paying. They happened...