FinExplained shows the math behind every money decision.
Original research, tested calculators, and step-by-step playbooks that show the math behind every number, with no signup and no ads. We would rather show you a boring number with its arithmetic attached than a confident one without.
Everything we cover
Nine topics, each one a hub that gathers the original research, the calculators, and the step-by-step guides that belong to it.
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Housing & Mortgages
Buying, financing, and owning a home: affordability, amortization, closing costs, property taxes, and the rent vs buy decision.
38 resources
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Real Estate Investing
Rentals and short-term rentals as investments: cap rate, cash flow, DSCR loans, BRRRR, and honest Airbnb underwriting.
13 resources
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Retirement & FIRE
Retirement targets and the path to them: the 4 percent rule, FIRE numbers, 401(k) and IRA decisions, and Social Security.
13 resources
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Investing
How money compounds and how to reach a goal: contribution math, index funds vs alternatives, and options income strategies.
4 resources
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Taxes
How US federal taxes work in practice: brackets, capital gains, withholding, and what new tax law means for your refund.
4 resources
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Debt & Credit
Paying debt down faster: payoff order, credit card math, balance transfers, student loans, and car financing.
5 resources
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Saving & Emergencies
Cash you can reach when life changes: emergency funds, savings vehicles, inflation, and one-income resilience.
10 resources
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Income & Paycheck
What your paycheck really pays: take-home math, FICA, severance, overtime and tips, and withholding.
4 resources
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Net Worth & Benchmarks
Where you stand against real data: net worth, 401(k) balances, and retirement savings by age, from the Fed's own surveys.
6 resources
Or start from the decision you are facing
Featured research
We publish original data studies with the sources named, the method shown, and the numbers free to download and reuse.
FinExplained data study Data year 2022
Average and Median Net Worth by Age: How Do You Compare?
$192,900 Median US household net worth
The median US household net worth was $192,900 in the Fed's 2022 survey, while the average was $1,063,700. See both by age and what the gap means for you.
Source: Federal Reserve Bulletin, Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2019 to 2022 (Table 2)
Read the full study More on Net Worth & Benchmarks
Study updated
How do you compare?
Population benchmarks from federal survey data, and the calculator that turns each one into your own number. Averages are skewed by the top; the median is usually the honest comparison.
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How does my net worth compare?
$192,900
Median US household net worth
Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances 2022, in 2022 dollars
Find your net worth percentile Read the study behind this number
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Is my 401(k) balance normal?
$44,115
Median 401(k) balance
Vanguard, How America Saves 2026, year-end 2025 participant data
Project your 401(k) balance Read the study behind this number
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Am I saving enough for retirement?
$87,000
Median retirement savings, among households that have any
Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances 2022, in 2022 dollars
Check whether you are on track Read the study behind this number
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What would financial independence cost where I live?
$1,742,405
Median metro FIRE number at a 4 percent withdrawal rate
BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 and Census ACS 2024, across 75 metros
Calculators that show their work
Every calculator states its formula, its assumptions, and a worked example, so you can check the answer instead of taking it on faith.
- Mortgage Calculator Estimate your full monthly mortgage payment (PITI) including property tax, homeowners insurance, PMI, and HOA, plus total interest and an amortization schedule.
- Paycheck Calculator Estimate your take-home pay by state after federal income tax, FICA, and state tax. 10 states
- 401(k) Calculator Project your 401(k) balance at retirement from your contributions, the employer match, expected return, and salary growth, including the match as free money.
- Compound Interest Calculator See how an investment grows from a starting amount plus regular contributions, with an optional yearly contribution increase, in today's dollars and after tax.
- Home Affordability Calculator Find out how much house you can afford from your income, debts, and down payment, using the standard 28/36 debt-to-income rules and full monthly housing costs.
- HELOC Calculator See how much you can borrow against your home equity at your lender's CLTV cap, plus the interest-only draw payment and the payment shock at repayment.
- FIRE Calculator Find your financial independence number and how many years until you reach it, modeled in today's dollars using the 4% rule.
- Airbnb ROI Calculator Estimate a short-term rental's cap rate, cash-on-cash return, cash flow, and total return from your nightly rate and occupancy, with STR expenses included.
- Auto Loan Calculator Estimate a car loan's monthly payment, total interest, and total cost from the price, your down payment and trade-in, the sales tax, the rate, and the term.
Playbooks for one decision at a time
Each guide walks a single money decision end to end, with a worked example and the calculator that runs its math.
- Layoff Runway: How Long Your Money Actually Lasts How to compute your runway after a layoff from savings, severance, and unemployment benefits, the date pressure that creates, and what actually extends it.
6 min read Reviewed
Run the numbers with the Layoff Runway Calculator - Who Pays the Real Estate Commission Now? (NAR Settlement) How real estate commissions work after the NAR settlement: who pays, how the split flows from total fee to agent take-home, and a worked 24,750 example.
6 min read Reviewed
Run the numbers with the Real Estate Commission Calculator - Is the 4% Rule Still Safe? Bengen Now Says 4.7%, Morningstar Says 3.9% Your FIRE number is roughly annual spending times 25, but the safe withdrawal rate is contested. Here is how to find yours and pick a rate that lasts.
6 min read Reviewed
Run the numbers with the FIRE Calculator
Latest and recently updated
- Data study Charlotte Housing Market: The State Line Is the Biggest Number on Your Purchase What Charlotte home prices, a property tax that changes across the NC-SC state line, the SC 4% filing trap, and falling rents mean for buyers in 2026. Updated
- Data study Dallas-Fort Worth Housing Market: The Tax Bill Resets When You Buy What Dallas-Fort Worth home prices, a property tax that resets to full value when you buy, cross-county tax gaps, and hail insurance mean for buyers in 2026. Updated
- Data study Miami Housing Market: Priced by Global Capital, Carried by Local Incomes What Miami home prices, a condo market split between distressed and compliant buildings, cash buyers, and record insurance mean for buyers in 2026. Updated
How we keep our math correct
Correctness is the whole point. Here is how we earn your trust on every number.
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Tested math
Money math runs on decimal.js and is checked against known-correct values, to the cent.
Read the methodology -
Named and sourced
A named author, stated assumptions, cited primary sources, and a last-updated date on every guide.
How we verify -
Kept current
Tax tables, benchmarks, and city data refresh on a schedule, and corrections are published in public.
See our sources
About FinExplained
- What is FinExplained?
- FinExplained is a personal finance education site built around three formats: original data studies on how American households actually save and invest, calculators that show their formulas, and playbooks that walk through a single money decision. It is free to read, with no signup and no ads.
- What can you do on FinExplained?
- You can run a calculator and see the formula behind the answer, compare your own numbers against population benchmarks from federal survey data, read a playbook that works through one decision end to end, or download a study's underlying dataset as a CSV and reuse it with attribution.
- What topics does FinExplained cover?
- Nine topics: housing and mortgages, real estate investing, retirement and financial independence, investing, taxes, debt and credit, saving and emergencies, income and paychecks, and net worth benchmarks. Each topic hub gathers the studies, calculators, playbooks, and glossary terms that belong to it.
- Does FinExplained publish original research?
- Yes. The data studies are original analyses built from primary sources such as the Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances, Census Bureau ACS, and BEA regional price data. Each study states its method, publishes its dataset as a CSV under CC BY 4.0, and offers its charts as embeds.
- Is FinExplained financial advice?
- No. Everything here is education, not personalized financial advice. The calculators produce estimates from the inputs you give them and the assumptions each page states in full. Your situation, taxes, and timing will differ, so treat every figure as a starting point for a decision you make yourself.
Who is behind FinExplained
Built by Sam Sage, an investor with more than 20 years of hands-on experience who runs an options wheel strategy and verifies every calculator against authoritative sources.