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    Financial Scenarios

    Real financial situations, explained. Find the one that matches where you are.

    1Age 22-28

    Starting Your First Real Job

    Landing your first real job is exciting - and financially overwhelming. Most people in this stage are earning a paycheck for the first time, dealing with benefit elections they barely understand, and trying to figure out whether to pay off debt or invest.

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    2Age 30-42

    Making Good Money But Feeling Behind

    You're earning well, maybe more than you ever expected, but it still doesn't feel like enough. Life got more expensive - kids, mortgage, cars, vacations - and somehow saving still feels hard.

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    3Age 22-35

    Student Loans vs. Investing: What Do You Do First?

    With 45 million Americans carrying student loan debt, this is one of the most-asked financial questions in the country - and the answer is almost never simple..

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    4Age 27-45

    Planning to Buy a House in the Next 2-3 Years

    Buying a home is the largest purchase most people will ever make - and the financial planning around it starts 2-3 years before the purchase, not 2-3 months..

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    5Any age

    Scared to Start Investing

    Investing feels complicated, risky, and like something other people do. But the cost of not investing - inflation eroding cash over time - is easy to overlook, and starting is simpler than the financial industry makes it seem.

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    6Age 28-45

    Big Income Jump: You Just Crossed Into a New Tax Bracket

    A raise, promotion, or new job pushed your income significantly higher. Your tax strategy just became much more important.

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    7Any age

    Self-Employed or Running a Side Hustle

    Being self-employed opens up a set of retirement and tax strategies that W-2 employees simply don't have access to. Many self-employed people never use the options available to them.

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    8Any age

    Got a Big Bonus, Commission Check, or Windfall

    A large bonus, commission payout, inheritance, or other windfall is one of the highest-leverage financial moments in your life - if you handle it intentionally. People approach a windfall in different ways, from spending it to saving it to investing it.

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