Starting out

Health Insurance Basics: Deductibles, Copays and Out-of-Pocket Maximums

Four numbers decide what a health plan costs you in a bad year. Premium is only one of them, and it is rarely the one that matters most.

The metal tier describes how costs are split, not how good the care is. Silver carries a subsidy the other tiers do not.

The HSA is the real argument for a high-deductible plan, and it is a strong one — if you can fund it.

State minimum liability limits were set decades ago and have not kept up with the cost of a serious crash.

Your landlord's policy covers the building. It covers nothing of yours, and none of your liability.

You are not trying to beat the market. You are trying to own it cheaply and not interrupt it.

For most people a single low-cost target-date fund beats a portfolio they built and stopped maintaining.

The employer match is the highest guaranteed return available to most working Americans, and it is routinely left on the table.

You pay tax now so that decades of growth come out untaxed later. For younger savers that trade is usually favourable.

The account comes before the fund, and the emergency fund comes before both.