How Investment Gains Are Taxed
Capital gains, dividends, cost basis, and the tax forms your brokerage sends. What you owe when you sell investments in a taxable account, and how to owe less.
topic
investing
25 guides
What Is A 529 Plan?
How 529 college savings plans work: the tax breaks, what counts as a qualified expense, state deductions, financial aid impact, and what happens to leftover money.
Am I Behind on Retirement Savings?
Age-based retirement savings benchmarks, how to catch up if you're behind, and what actually matters more than hitting the exact target.
What To Do With Your Money First
A step-by-step priority order for where to put your money — from grabbing free employer match to maxing tax-advantaged accounts to investing the rest.
How To Maximize Your Tax-Advantaged Accounts
The right order to fill your 401k, Roth IRA, HSA, and brokerage account to extract the most tax savings from every dollar you invest.
Should I Invest or Pay Off Debt?
How to decide whether to put extra money toward investments or debt payoff, using interest rates as the key threshold — with a clear decision framework.
What To Do When the Stock Market Drops
How to respond when the market falls — and why the most important thing most investors can do is nothing.
What To Do When You Suddenly Have a Lot of Money
A step-by-step guide to handling a windfall — inheritance, bonus, tax refund, or settlement — without making decisions you'll regret.
The 4% Rule: How Much Do You Need to Retire?
The most widely used framework for sizing a retirement portfolio — where the 4% rule comes from, what it actually guarantees, and when to adjust it.
FIRE: Financial Independence, Retire Early
FIRE is a strategy for making work optional well before traditional retirement age. Here's how it works and whether it's realistic for you.
How To Start Investing for Beginners
A practical first-investor guide: what to do before investing a dollar, where to put money in the right order, what to pick first, and what to avoid.
How Compound Interest Works
Why money grows faster over time, how compound interest builds on itself, and why starting early can matter more than how much you invest.
What Is A 401k?
A beginner-friendly explanation of 401k retirement accounts, employer matches, taxes, vesting, and investment choices.
What Is A 403b?
A beginner-friendly explanation of 403b retirement plans for public schools, certain nonprofits, and tax-exempt organizations.
What Is A Bond?
What bonds are, how interest and maturity dates work, why prices and rates move in opposite directions, and where bonds fit in a portfolio.
What Is A Brokerage Account?
What a taxable brokerage account is, how it differs from retirement accounts, and when it may be useful.
What Is A Mutual Fund?
How mutual funds pool investor money, what active vs. passive management means, and which fees to check before putting money in.
What Is A Roth IRA?
What a Roth IRA is, how it differs from a traditional IRA, contribution and income limits, and what to know before opening one for the first time.
What Is A Stock?
A beginner-friendly explanation of stocks, ownership, dividends, stock prices, and the risk of losing money.
What Is An ETF?
A simple explanation of exchange-traded funds, how they differ from mutual funds, and what to check before investing.
What Is An Index Fund?
What index funds are, how they track a market index, and why low fees and built-in diversification make them a smart starting point.
What Is An Option?
A cautious beginner explanation of call options, put options, expiration, strike price, and why options are risky.
What Is Investing Time Horizon?
How your investing timeline affects risk, cash needs, asset allocation, and whether money should be invested at all.
What Is Investment Risk?
A plain-English explanation of investment risk, including market risk, inflation risk, concentration risk, and why risk depends on your timeline.
Where Should I Keep My Money?
How to decide what money belongs in checking, savings, cash, retirement accounts, and taxable investing accounts.