Site · Changelog
What changed.
Tax figures and content updates, by date.
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Every factual claim on this page is cited to a primary source you can verify.
Tax figures and Bitcoin content update frequently. This page tracks major changes by date. The newest entries are at the top.
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April 2026
Pages added
- Cash Management: Where to Keep Idle Money Where to keep money you are not investing.
- Open a Roth IRA at Fidelity in 10 Minutes Click-by-click Roth IRAIndividual Retirement Account (IRA)A personal retirement savings account with tax advantages. Two main types: Traditional (tax now, pay later) and Roth (pay now, tax-free forever).Full definition setup at Fidelity.
- Fidelity vs Vanguard vs Schwab Compared Fidelity vs Vanguard vs Schwab.
- How to Find a Fee-Only Fiduciary Advisor NAPFA, XYPN, fee-only vs commission.
- The Rule of 55: Penalty-Free 401(k) Access Early-401(k) access at 55.
- 72(t) SEPP: IRA Early Access Without Penalty IRA early access via SEPP.
- Roth 5-Year Rules: Two Separate Clocks Two separate Roth 5-year clocks explained.
- IRMAA: The Medicare Income Surcharge Medicare income surcharge.
- Whole Life vs Term Life vs IUL Compared Term + invest the difference math.
- Annuities: When They Help and When They Hurt When annuities make sense (and when they do not).
- Bitcoin in an IRA: ETF vs SDIRA vs Solo401k Three ways to hold BTCBitcoin (BTC)The ticker symbol for Bitcoin, used on exchanges and in price quotes.Full definition in a tax-advantaged account.
- Sparrow Wallet: Complete Setup Guide Complete Sparrow Wallet setup.
- Silent Payments: BIP 352 Explained BIP 352 explained.
- CoinJoin in 2026 After Samourai Shutdown What replaced Samourai in 2024.
- State Tax Residency and Domicile Changes Changing state tax residency.
- TSP: Federal Employee Retirement Plan The Thrift Savings Plan.
- Teachers: 403(b), 457, and Pension Decisions 403(b), 457(b), and the pension question.
- Site Changelog: What Changed and When This page.
Pages updated
- Wills, Trusts, and Estate Planning Explained Added 1031 exchange, Donor-Advised Fund, Qualified Charitable Distribution, and Special Needs Trust sections.
- How to Actually Budget: Start with Fixed Expenses Added "Where the money actually goes" section using verified BLS CEX 2024 data ($78,535 average household spending) and Census 2024 median household income ($83,730).
- Financial Planning by Decade: 20s Through 60s Added net-worth-by-age section with Federal Reserve SCF 2022 medians.
- Social Security: When It Runs Out & What Happens Added "The retirement savings reality" section with the corrected 54% figure (more than half have no retirement account).
- Personal Finance Order of Operations Added "Simple budget frameworks" section comparing 50/30/20, 60/20/20, and the fixed-floor approach.
- Financial Q&A: Common Questions, Direct Answers Added 3 new Q&A entries: average net worthnet worthEverything you own (assets) minus everything you owe (debts). The most comprehensive measure of financial health.Full definition, average household spending, and how much to save.
- Bitcoin Scams: How to Spot Them Added 6 new sections: address poisoning, fake hardware wallets, SIM swap, phishing, exchange failures, and "what never happens."
Tax figures updated to 2026
- 2026 401(k) employee deferral: $24,500 (catch-up at 50+: $8,000).
- 2026 IRA contribution: $7,500 (catch-up at 50+: $1,100).
- 2026 HSAHealth Savings Account (HSA)A tax-advantaged account for healthcare costs, available with a high-deductible plan; contributions, growth, and qualified withdrawals are all tax-free.Full definition: $4,400 self-only / $8,750 family.
- 2026 Solo 401(k) total: $72,000.
- 2026 standard deductionstandard deductionA fixed dollar amount that reduces your taxable income without itemizing. Most people claim this instead of listing individual deductions.Full definition: $16,100 single / $32,200 MFJMarried Filing Jointly (MFJ)A tax filing status where a married couple combines their income and deductions on one tax return. / $24,150 HOH.
- 2026 Social Security wage base: $184,500.
- 2026 Roth IRA phase-outs: Single $153,000-$168,000; MFJ $242,000-$252,000.
- TCJATax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA)The big 2017 federal tax law. It nearly doubled the no-questions-asked tax deduction everyone gets, limited the deduction for state and local taxes to $10,000, and cut corporate and individual tax rates. Most of the personal tax cuts expire at the end of 2025 unless Congress extends them.Full definition: One Big Beautiful Bill Act (signed July 4, 2025) made most TCJA individual provisions permanent. The site was rewritten to reflect this throughout.
Yields and rates
- SPAXX/HYSA references updated from "4-5% APYAnnual Percentage Yield (APY)The real return on savings after the bank pays interest on top of interest. A 5% APY savings account turns $1,000 into $1,050 after one year.Full definition" to "approximately 3-4% APY (as of April 2026)."
- Federal funds rate references updated to 3.5-3.75% as of April 2026.
- Average credit card APRAnnual Percentage Rate (APR)The yearly cost of borrowing money, shown as a percentage.Full definition updated to approximately 21% (Federal Reserve G.19 Q1 2026).
- M2 money supply current snapshot added: approximately $22.4 trillion as of January 2026.
- Australia super rate updated to 12.0% (the legislated final step from 1 July 2025).
- SS benefit cut framing updated to CBOCongressional Budget Office (CBO)A nonpartisan federal agency that provides economic and budget analysis to Congress. Feb 2026 projection (approximately 7% in 2032 deepening to ~28% by 2036) with the SSASocial Security Administration (SSA)The federal agency that manages Social Security retirement, disability, and survivor benefit programs. Trustees June 2025 alternative also disclosed.
Q1 2026 (earlier)
- Major site expansion: Phase 6 added 16 new pages including CBDCs: Programmable Government Money, Stablecoins: Reserve Risk and De-Pegging, Lightning Network: Bitcoin for Payments, Running a Bitcoin Node: Why and How, Home Bitcoin Mining: Bitaxe Honest Math, Multisig Custody: Casa, Unchained, Nunchuk, The Mempool: Fees, RBF, CPFP, Austrian Economics: The Theory Behind Bitcoin, Gold vs Bitcoin: The Sound Money Debate, Bitcoin Where Inflation Is Not Theoretical, HSA: The Triple-Tax-Advantaged Account, Health Insurance Basics: HDHP, PPO, ACA, Mortgage Math: 15 vs 30 Year and Refi, Index Funds and the Three-Fund Portfolio, Teaching Kids About Money, About Fiat Is Fake | Editorial Philosophy and Funding.
- RSS feed launched at Rss.xml.
- Bitcoin scams page expanded with 6 technical-attack sections.
RELATED PAGES
Sources & Citations
- 2026 401(k), IRA, catch-up, and Roth IRA phase-out limits, IRS Notice 2025-67 · irs.gov.
- Section 415(c) / Solo 401(k) total limit, $72,000 · irs.gov COLA table.
- 2026 standard deduction ($16,100 / $32,200 / $24,150), Rev. Proc. 2025-32 · irs.gov.
- 2026 HSA limits ($4,400 self-only / $8,750 family), Rev. Proc. 2025-19 · irs.gov.
- 2026 Social Security wage base, $184,500 · ssa.gov.
- One Big Beautiful Bill Act, H.R.1, Public Law 119-21 (signed July 4, 2025) · congress.gov.