Articles
Long-form writing on the small math, ignored regulations, and quiet defaults that quietly compound to make or break a financial life.
Four things a debt payoff spreadsheet has to get right
Most free debt payoff spreadsheets get the ordering right and the arithmetic wrong. The rollover, the interest timing, the per-debt minimums, and the one case where no plan works at all.
What invoice factoring actually costs
The advertised rate is a discount fee, not an APR. Here is the arithmetic that turns a 3% fee on 30-day terms into the number your bank would quote you.
Freight factoring rates, broken down by industry
Trucking pays different factoring rates than construction, staffing, or medical receivables. What drives the spread, and what a fair quote looks like in each.
Recourse vs non-recourse factoring: cost and risk
Non-recourse costs more and covers less than the name suggests. What credit risk actually transfers, and when the cheaper option is the right one.
Biweekly Pay Breaks Monthly Budgets: The Fix
Biweekly paychecks land 26 times a year, not 24. Your monthly budget is doing math that breaks twice a year. Here is the calendar fix that works.
What the Federal Reserve actually does to your mortgage rate
The Fed sets the overnight rate. Your mortgage tracks the 10-year Treasury. The spread between them is where your monthly payment actually lives.
Roth vs Traditional IRA: the income-bracket decision tree
Use your 2026 marginal tax bracket to pick Roth or Traditional IRA. Real IRS numbers, real phase-outs, and the 22% pivot most savers miss.
The 4% rule isn't a rule. Here's the math behind it.
Bengen's 1994 paper. The Trinity Study. What the numbers actually say, and why Bengen himself walked the 4% number up to 5% decades ago.
Coast FIRE, explained with a real calculation
Coast FIRE is the point where your invested savings will compound into a full retirement number without another dollar added. Here is the math, with worked examples.
Sinking funds, emergency fund, HYSA: which holds what
Sinking funds, emergency fund, and a high-yield savings account do three different jobs. Merging them into one bucket is where most budgets break.
Why the math says avalanche, and why most people still need snowball
The avalanche method saves the most interest on paper. The snowball method finishes more often in practice. The Kellogg research, the worked math, and the hybrid that actually works.
What changed in the 2026 retirement contribution limits
IRS Notice 2025-67 set the 2026 limits. The 401(k) deferral rose to $24,500. SECURE 2.0 mandatory Roth catch-up kicks in January 1. Full table inside.
Tax-loss harvesting at $50k vs $500k income
Same $10,000 harvested loss. About $510 in tax savings at $50k income. Over $3,800 at $500k. Why TLH is wildly over-marketed to low brackets.
The freelancer's quarterly tax cheat sheet
The four 2026 due dates, the IRS safe harbor that beats every tax calculator, self-employment tax math, and the exact percentage of every invoice to set aside.