Guides to credit scores, car loans, mortgages, savings, debt and retirement, with free calculators and original data. The math is worked out in the open, and every figure is sourced and dated.
By Varun Attri42 primary sourcesLatest guide Oct 6, 2026Editorial standards
The usual advice is to keep credit card balances under 30% of your limits, but people with 800-plus scores average just 7%. Here's how credit utilization is calculated per card and overall, what to use on any limit, and how to lower the balance your issuer reports.
A good credit score is generally 670 or higher on the standard FICO scale of 300 to 850. Here's what the ranges actually mean, the average American score, the number you need for a house or car, and how to move up.
How much house you can afford comes down to your income, debts, and down payment - not just the sticker price. Here's a clear, salary-by-salary guide, the 28/36 rule, and the real costs most buyers forget.
A 401(k) and a Roth IRA both help you retire richer, but they're taxed in opposite ways - and using them in the right order can add tens of thousands to your nest egg. Here's the plain-English difference and which to fund first.
Not sure how much to put in your 401(k)? Here's a simple, step-by-step framework - from grabbing your full employer match to the 15% target - plus how much that works out to per paycheck at any salary.
A 401(k) employer match is free money your company adds to your retirement account when you contribute. Here's exactly how matching works, what a "3% or 6% match" really means, and how to make sure you never leave a dollar of it behind.
Simple and compound interest sound similar, but one quietly makes you far richer (or poorer) over time. Here's the difference, with real numbers.
APR and APY look almost identical, but one shows what you earn and the other what you pay — and the gap between them can quietly cost or make you real money. Here's the difference in plain English, with examples.
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