Simplifying finance for everyone!
Target-date funds for retirement should probably be the default investment for far more people. Most Americans do not want investing to become a hobby. They want to know what to buy, how much to contribute, and whether they can automate the whole thing. For many people, a low-cost target-date fund answers all three questions. Want … Read more
Set it and forget it investing should actually be simple enough to forget. Our normal Simple Finance Bytes portfolio uses just two investments—90% VTI and 10% VBIL—but even that requires some basic portfolio management. If you want the absolute simplest setup we would recommend, there is another option: one low-cost target-date fund for your long-term … Read more
The Simple Finance Budget sends 20% of your take-home pay to Savings & Investing. This savings priority order tells you what that 20% should fund first, so you are not trying to tackle six different financial goals at once. The answer is not to divide it evenly between six different goals. Use a simple savings … Read more
Budgeting does not need dozens of categories, a complicated spreadsheet, or an app that makes you account for every cup of coffee. The Simple Finance Budget uses one clear rule: 50% of your take-home pay goes to Needs, 30% goes to Wants, and 20% goes to Savings & Investing. That is the starting point, and … Read more
Gas prices are already hitting household budgets harder. Now borrowing costs are moving in the wrong direction too. On September 16, the Federal Reserve raised its target range for the federal funds rate by 0.25 percentage point, to 3.75%–4.00%. If you saw the headline and wondered what the Fed interest rate hike means for your … Read more
Knowing how to avoid financial scams is becoming more important as Americans lose more money to fraud each year. The Federal Trade Commission says consumers reported losing $15.9 billion to fraud in 2025 across 3 million fraud reports, with imposter scams alone generating more than 1 million reports. The scams keep changing. One week it … Read more
The new iPhone is here, and no, you probably do not need one. Apple just announced the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, starting at $1,199 and $1,299. They bring real improvements, including a new 48MP Fusion Main camera with variable aperture, the A20 Pro chip, and battery-life gains. That still does not … Read more
Sinking funds are a great idea in theory. You know an expense is coming, so instead of waiting for the bill and scrambling to pay it, you save a little money ahead of time. The problem is what happens next. Car repairs get a sinking fund. Holidays get another. Then come home maintenance, annual bills, … Read more
Free checking accounts should do more than avoid a monthly fee. I have personally used every institution in this comparison, including PenFed, Navy Federal, First Tech/DCU, Alliant, Capital One, Ally, Schwab, and Fidelity. Some are still part of my financial system today. Others are accounts I have used in the past. My first recommendation for … Read more
You are not imagining it. Your paycheck used to stretch further. The same grocery order costs more. The same night out costs more. And yet you keep hearing that the economy is doing fine. Here is the piece nobody explains clearly: the economy actually is doing fine, just not for everyone at the same time. … Read more