Guides
Short explainers on the decisions our tools help with, so you can understand the method behind the numbers.
How to Compare Job Offers Beyond Salary
A practical method for comparing job offers: total compensation, benefits, equity, time off, commute and growth, plus questions to ask before you accept.
Gross vs Net Pay Explained
What gross and net pay mean and where the money goes between them (federal tax, FICA, state tax, pre-tax deductions), with a worked $100,000 example.
Is Renting or Buying Cheaper? How to Run the Numbers
A method for comparing renting with buying a home: full ownership costs, the opportunity cost of your down payment, break-even years and key assumptions.
About these guides
Each guide explains one decision that our tools help with: the method, the numbers that matter and the assumptions that can change the answer. They are meant to be read alongside the tools, so every guide links to the calculators it describes.
How to Compare Job Offers Beyond Salary sets out a method for weighing total compensation, benefits, equity, time off, commute and growth, with questions to ask before you accept. Gross vs Net Pay Explained follows a salary from gross to net through federal income tax, FICA, state tax and pre-tax deductions, using a worked $100,000 example. Is Renting or Buying Cheaper? covers the full cost of owning, the opportunity cost of a down payment and how to read a break-even year.
The guides are general information, not financial or tax advice. Check any figure that matters against official sources or a qualified professional before you act on it.