Data study Net Worth & Benchmarks Average and Median 401(k) Balance by Age: How Do You Compare? (2026 Data) Vanguard's year-end 2025 data puts the average 401(k) balance at $167,970 and the median at $44,115. See both by age and what the gap means for you. Data year 2025. Vanguard, How America Saves 2026 (25th edition, year-end 2025 data) 19 min read · Updated July 2026
Playbook Retirement & FIRE How Much Is a 401(k) Match Worth Over a Career? A common 50% match up to 6% of pay compounds to about $278,443 over 30 years in our engine's default scenario. The math, the formulas, and the catch: vesting. 4 min read · Updated July 2026
Playbook Net Worth & Benchmarks Liquid Net Worth vs Total: Which Number Should You Plan With? Total net worth is the scoreboard; liquid net worth is what you could spend soon. What counts in each, a worked household, and which one to plan with. 4 min read · Updated July 2026
Data study Net Worth & Benchmarks Average and Median Net Worth by Age: How Do You Compare? 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. Data year 2022. Federal Reserve Bulletin, Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2019 to 2022 (Table 2) 18 min read · Updated July 2026
Data study Net Worth & Benchmarks Net Worth Percentile by Age: Where Do You Rank? See the 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th, and top 1 percent net worth thresholds for 13 age brackets from the 2022 Fed survey, with and without home equity. Data year 2022. DQYDJ, Net Worth Percentiles by Age (estimates from the 2022 SCF public-use microdata) 8 min read · Updated July 2026
Data study Net Worth & Benchmarks Average and Median Retirement Savings by Age: How Do You Compare? The median household with retirement accounts holds $87,000. Across all households it is $13,000. Both are the 2022 Fed survey. See both by age. Data year 2022. Federal Reserve, Survey of Consumer Finances interactive data tool (2022 wave, retirement accounts by age) 16 min read · Updated July 2026
Playbook Retirement & FIRE 2026 Contribution Limits: What You Can Put Into Your 401(k), IRA, and HSA Every 2026 contribution limit in one place: $24,500 for a 401(k), $7,500 for an IRA, $4,400 or $8,750 for an HSA, plus catch-ups and the new Roth rule. 7 min read · Updated July 2026
Playbook Saving & Emergencies CD or High-Yield Savings? When Locking Your Rate Actually Wins A CD beats a high-yield savings account only when you can leave the money alone and rates are falling. The lock decision, the penalty math, and the ladder. 5 min read · Updated July 2026
Data study Retirement & FIRE How Much Money You Need to Reach FIRE in America's Largest Metro Areas (2026) What early retirement costs in the 75 largest US metros in 2026: estimated FIRE numbers from $1.5 million to $2 million, built from BEA and Census data. Data year 2024. BEA, Regional Price Parities by state and metro area (2024 metro RPPs, December 2025 release) 13 min read · Updated July 2026
Playbook Saving & Emergencies How Much Should You Save for College? The 529 Math by Starting Age The 529 monthly target by starting age: $643 at birth vs $2,312 at 14 for the same school. Coverage goals, tuition inflation, and the Roth escape hatch. 6 min read · Updated July 2026
Playbook Housing & Mortgages How Property Taxes Are Calculated, Why Bills Rise, and When to Appeal Property tax is taxable value times your area's effective rate. How the bill is built, why it climbs without a rate change, and when an appeal makes sense. 5 min read · Updated July 2026
Playbook Income & Paycheck Severance Pay: What to Expect, How It Is Taxed, and What You Keep Severance commonly runs one to two weeks of pay per year of service, and withholding shrinks the check. The formula, the tax math, and what you keep. 5 min read · Updated July 2026
Playbook Income & Paycheck Is Overtime Tax Free Now? How the OBBBA Overtime and Tips Deductions Work OBBBA created federal deductions for overtime and tips through 2028. See the caps, who qualifies, why your paycheck did not change, and what FICA still takes. 9 min read · Updated July 2026
Playbook Taxes Quarterly Taxes for 1099 Workers: What to Pay and What to Set Aside The safe harbor sets what you must pay each quarter. Your real tax sets what you should save. Both numbers worked through, plus the 2026 deadlines. 6 min read · Updated July 2026
Playbook Retirement & FIRE How Much Retirement Income Will Your Savings Actually Pay? Every $100,000 of retirement savings pays about $333 a month at a 4 percent withdrawal rate. The three levers that move your number, ranked with engine math. 5 min read · Updated July 2026
Playbook Retirement & FIRE The Roth Conversion Ladder: Your 401(k) Money Before 59 and a Half, Without the Penalty Convert traditional money to Roth each year, wait five tax years, and the converted amount comes out penalty-free. The ladder, the clocks, and the tax math. 7 min read · Updated July 2026
Playbook Saving & Emergencies Save or Invest? A Five-Year Rule That Settles Most of It Money you need within about five years belongs in savings; money with a longer runway belongs invested. The horizon rule, the math, and the exceptions. 5 min read · Updated July 2026
Playbook Income & Paycheck 2026 Social Security Wage Base: The $184,500 Line That Changes Your Paycheck The 2026 Social Security wage base is $184,500. What FICA takes at every income, why paychecks jump past the cap, and the two-job refund rule. 8 min read · Updated July 2026
Playbook Taxes 2026 Tax Brackets Explained: Why a Raise Never Taxes All of Your Income at a Higher Rate The 2026 federal tax brackets and why a raise never taxes your whole income at a higher rate. Marginal vs effective rates, with worked examples from the engine. 7 min read · Updated July 2026
Playbook Taxes Will OBBBA Increase My Tax Refund? How to Update Your W-4 Without Guessing OBBBA may lower your 2026 tax, but your paycheck will not change by itself. How withholding works, when to update your W-4, and how to avoid an April surprise. 8 min read · Updated July 2026
Playbook Retirement & FIRE Your First RMD: The April 1 Trap and the IRS's Rising Withdrawal Schedule RMDs start at 73 (75 if born 1960 or later): last year's balance divided by an IRS factor. Why delaying your first one to April 1 can double a tax bill. 5 min read · Updated July 2026
Playbook Debt & Credit The SAVE Plan Is Gone: How to Pick Your Next Student Loan Plan in 90 Days SAVE ended March 2026 and RAP is live. Learn your 90-day deadline, whether to pick RAP or IBR, and what happens to interest and forgiveness credit. 11 min read · Updated July 2026
Playbook Debt & Credit Should You Buy or Lease a Car? How to compare buying and leasing a car fairly, what a money factor really means, and the hidden cost of leasing that the monthly payment never shows. 5 min read · Updated July 2026
Playbook Investing The Wheel Strategy: How the Options Income Cycle Actually Works The wheel sells cash-secured puts then covered calls for premium income. Here is the full cycle, the real return math, and the downside risk it hides. 5 min read · Updated July 2026
