Personal finance

How a household reads and plans its own money. These lessons start with the personal balance sheet and cash flow, then cover budgeting, emergency funds, paying down debt, insurance, retirement saving and inflation, the line between tax planning and tax evasion, and how to set goals and test them against an uncertain return.

An invented household carries the mechanics so every number can be checked. Data from the Federal Reserve, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the New York Fed, the OECD and the Social Security Administration show how real households compare, Progressive and Allstate show how insurers are measured, and S&P 500 returns from 2000 to 2024 test a savings goal.

8 lessons, about 3 hours 10 minutes of reading in all. Start at the top and go in order.

After this module you will be able to

• build a personal balance sheet and cash flow and see why net worth changes by more than the amount saved
• turn a budget into needs, wants and a saving target and size an emergency fund
• compare the avalanche and snowball ways of paying down debt
• explain what insurance covers, what a deductible does and how an insurer is measured
• project retirement saving after inflation and see how time and the return change it
• tell tax planning from tax evasion
• write a goal with an amount and a date, fit several goals into one budget and test a goal against historical returns

The lessons

1. Net worth and cash flow24 minBuild a personal balance sheet and cash flow, see why net worth changes by more than you save, and compare with Federal Reserve data.
2. Budgeting and trade-offs22 minHow to build a budget, tell needs from wants, and see trade-offs in dollars, with a live calculator and US household spending data.
3. Emergency funds and goals22 minHow big an emergency fund should be, how long it takes to build, and how sinking funds work, with a calculator and Federal Reserve data.
4. Paying down debt24 minCompare the avalanche and snowball methods on four debts, with a live calculator and New York Fed and Federal Reserve data.
5. Insurance fundamentals24 minHow premiums, deductibles and limits work, with a live calculator and the 2025 results of Progressive and Allstate.
6. Retirement planning26 minHow savings compound, why the real return matters and how a pot becomes income, with a live calculator and Fed and SSA data.
7. Tax planning and evasion22 minLawful tax planning versus avoidance and evasion, how tax bands and marginal rates work, and OECD data on tax on wages.
8. Goals and uncertainty26 minTurn a financial goal into a monthly amount, then test it against real US stock history and a savings account with a live calculator.

Start with the first lesson