Term Life Insurance: What It Costs and Who Actually Needs It
Term life is the default recommendation for most households with dependants, and the reason is arithmetic: you are buying pure coverage with nothing bolted on.
Young family
How Much Life Insurance Do You Need?
Rules of thumb get you to the right order of magnitude. Your balance sheet gets you to the right number.
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.
Homeowners Insurance: Replacement Cost, Exclusions and Getting the Limits Right
The most expensive mistake in a homeowners policy is insuring the market value of the house instead of the cost to rebuild it.
Emergency Fund: How Much and Where to Keep It
An emergency fund is not an investment. It is the thing that stops one bad month from becoming a debt spiral.
529 Plans: Tax-Free Growth for Education Costs
Federal tax-free growth for education, plus a state deduction in many states, with real flexibility if plans change.
Sinking Funds: Turning Surprise Bills Into Monthly Ones
Most "emergencies" are not emergencies. They are predictable costs nobody budgeted for monthly.
Saving for a House Deposit
The down payment is not the number. Closing costs, reserves and moving costs are the rest of it.
Joint Accounts: How Couples Can Structure Money
There is no correct structure. There is only the one you have both agreed to explicitly.
Savings Accounts for Children
The account you choose decides who controls the money at eighteen, and how financial aid treats it.