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
taxes
14 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.
Do I Need To File A Tax Return?
How to tell whether you need to file a federal income tax return, and why filing can still be worth it even when it is not required.
Standard Deduction vs Itemized Deduction
How the standard deduction and itemized deductions work, why most first-time filers take the standard deduction, and when itemizing can make sense.
W-2 vs 1099: What Is The Difference?
How W-2 employee income and 1099 contractor income differ for taxes, withholding, benefits, and filing your return.
What To Do If You Owe Taxes And Cannot Pay
What to do if your tax return shows a balance due: file anyway, pay what you can, avoid bigger penalties, and set up an IRS payment plan.
Your First Real Job: A Financial Checklist
A step-by-step checklist of every financial decision to make when you start your first full-time job — benefits, taxes, savings, and more.
What Is an RMD?
What required minimum distributions are, when they start, how they are calculated, and what happens if you miss one.
How To File Income Taxes For The First Time
First time filing taxes? Documents to gather, free filing options, how to handle W-2 and 1099 income, and what to expect after you submit.
How To Handle Taxes as a Freelancer
What changes about taxes when you work for yourself: self-employment tax, estimated payments, deductible expenses, Schedule C, and when to get help.
What Is a Roth Conversion? And Should You Do One?
How converting a traditional IRA or 401(k) to a Roth works, why low-income years are the ideal time to do it, and what the backdoor Roth is for higher earners.
What Is A Tax Bracket?
How federal income tax brackets work, why a raise does not mean you take home less money, and what marginal vs effective tax rate means.
What Is A W-4?
What the W-4 form does, how it affects tax withholding, when to update it, and what happens if you fill it out wrong.
What Is Social Security?
How Social Security works, what FICA taxes on your pay stub fund, how your benefit is calculated, and why it matters even when retirement feels far away.