Where to start
Weighing a big money decision
A job offer, a bonus, a big purchase, or a life change.
Here's where to start — a calculator to run the numbers, a plain-English guide, and a short lesson with a first move. Which lesson fits depends on where you are.
Compare job offers on total value — wage, match, bonus, vesting — not just base pay.
Open the toolGuideGuide to Mental ModelsReason about money in your head — twelve shortcuts worth keeping for the times you have to decide without a spreadsheet open, and the math behind each.
Read the guideFor starting outI got my first job offer.Score a job offer's true value (wage plus benefits), know when full-time is worth the trade, and open the Roth IRA that needs no employer.
Take the lessonA few years inI'm getting a $15K bonus, inheritance, or tax refund.Run the windfall through the order of operations instead of disappearing it into checking.
Take the lessonBuilding for othersWe just got married.Pick a money structure together — joint, separate, or the yours/mine/ours hybrid — and set a standing money date so the plan keeps up with your life.
Take the lesson