Paycheck guide
How to calculate take-home pay
A worked example of take-home pay on a $100,000 salary: gross, federal withholding, FICA, state tax, and the pre-tax deductions that change the answer.
Guides
Financial guides that connect to working calculators
Read practical financial guides that explain paycheck, mortgage, debt, loan, investment, and retirement calculator concepts, with links back to the tools.
Paycheck guides
5 guides
Paycheck guide
Gross pay is what you negotiated, net pay is what arrives. Why three people on the same $100,000 salary take home different amounts.
Paycheck guide
How federal paycheck withholding works
What each W-4 entry actually does to your paycheck, traced through the IRS Publication 15-T worksheet with the arithmetic shown at every step.
Paycheck guide
Salary and hourly paychecks differ in exactly one step. See how each gross figure is built, why biweekly is not semimonthly, and why overtime weeks overwithhold.
Paycheck guide
Bonus paycheck tax calculator explained
Why a $1,000 bonus arrives as about $703. The 22% supplemental rate, the flat and aggregate methods, and the $1 million threshold, with the arithmetic shown.
Mortgage guides
5 guides
Mortgage guide
A $400,000 mortgage at 6.5% costs about $2,528 a month — and $2,167 of the first payment is interest. Here is where every dollar goes.
Mortgage guide
Mortgage amortization explained
On a 30-year mortgage you do not pay more principal than interest until around year 19. Here is why, and what the schedule actually shows.
Mortgage guide
Extra mortgage payments explained
An extra $200 a month on a $400,000 mortgage cuts about five and a half years and $111,000 of interest. Why timing matters more than size.
Mortgage guide
Mortgage taxes, insurance and PMI
A $2,528 mortgage payment can be $3,212 of actual housing cost. Where property tax, insurance and PMI sit, and how to get rid of PMI.
Mortgage guide
Closing costs typically run 2% to 5% of the price — $8,000 to $20,000 on a $400,000 home. What is a fee, what is prepaid, and what you can negotiate.
Debt payoff guides
4 guides
Debt guide
How to pay off credit card debt
$5,000 at 22% APR clears in 52 months on a fixed $150. On the minimum payment it takes decades. The difference is the payment structure, not the amount.
Debt guide
Fixed payment vs minimum payment
The same $100 first payment clears a card in 4 years if you fix it, or 21 if you let it shrink. One decision, made once.
Debt guide
Balance transfer fee explained
A 3% fee on $5,000 costs $150 upfront and saves roughly $900 in interest over an 18-month 0% promo — if you clear it in time.
Debt guide
Debt consolidation pros and cons
Consolidation can cut a $470 payment to $380 and still cost you more. The trap is comparing monthly payments instead of total cost.
Loan guides
4 guides
Loan guide
Loan repayment schedule explained
A repayment schedule shows what a payment figure hides: how much is interest, when that flips, and what you still owe if you sell early.
Loan guide
A 9% loan with a 3% origination fee has an APR of about 10.3%. Why the two numbers differ, and when APR still misleads.
Loan guide
Four numbers set a personal loan payment: amount, rate, term and fees. Stretching a $20,000 loan from 3 years to 7 cuts the payment 40% and doubles the interest.
Loan guide
A $30,000 car can mean $33,600 financed once tax, fees and negative equity are counted. What the sticker price leaves out.
Investing and retirement guides
4 guides
Planning guide
$10,000 at 7% becomes $76,000 over 30 years. Simple interest would give $31,000. The $45,000 difference is compounding, and it is almost all in the final decade.
Planning guide
Investment return with contributions
$500 a month at 7% for 30 years reaches about $610,000, of which $180,000 is yours and $430,000 is growth. Why regular contributions change how you read a return.
Planning guide
Wanting $60,000 a year implies $1.5m at a 4% withdrawal rate — but $3.1m if you retire in 25 years and inflation runs at 3%.
Planning guide
$100,000 at 7% for 30 years becomes $761,000, or about $313,000 in purchasing power. Both numbers are correct, and only one is useful.
India salary and tax guides
5 guides
India guide
CTC vs in-hand salary: where the money actually goes
A worked breakdown of a Rs 12,00,000 package: what employer PF, gratuity and tax take out, and why your bank account sees far less than the offer letter.
India guide
New regime or old regime: which one leaves you more
Slab rates for both regimes, the Section 87A rebate and its marginal relief, and the deduction level at which the old regime overtakes the new one on a real salary.
India guide
HRA exemption: the three tests, and why rent decides everything
How Section 10(13A) with Rule 2A works: the least of three figures, which cities count as metro, and why HRA with no rent paid gives no exemption.
India guide
How monthly TDS on salary is worked out
Why Indian salary TDS is an annual projection split across the months remaining, and what a mid-year job change or bonus does to your monthly deduction.
India guide
What the labour codes did to Indian salary structures
What the Code on Wages 50 per cent rule actually says, why it is an add-back rather than a floor on basic pay, and its effect on PF, gratuity and take-home.