Budgeting and spending · Decision guide

Financial Order of Operations:
Which step are you on?

The 9-step sequence for what to do with your next dollar. Answer up to nine questions to find your current step and what to prioritize. Based on the Money Guy Show framework ×DON'T TRUST, VERIFYClaim: The 9-step Financial Order of Operations is published by Money Guy Show.Verify at: Money Guy Show: Financial Order of Operations ↗ Source 1 in the list belowMoney Guy Show is hosted by CFPs whose advisory firm is Abound Wealth. The FOO is publicly documented at the linked URL..

The question it answersWhat should I do with my next dollar right now?

Rules: United States. Privacy: nothing to enter; the page runs in your browser.

Worked example: You have a $1,000/month employer 401(k) match you are not fully capturing, and $4,000 in credit card debt at 22% APRAnnual Percentage Rate (APR)The yearly cost of borrowing money, shown as a percentage.Full definition. Step 2 (capture the full match) comes before Step 3 (high-interest debt). The match adds 50 to 100 cents per dollar you contribute, subject to vesting; the debt costs 22% a year. Max the match first, then attack the debt.

HOUSEHOLD PRIORITIES

First: essential bills and minimum payments

Can you cover food, housing, utilities, necessary transport, healthcare, minimum debt payments and urgent arrears?

Do you have cash equal to your highest insurance deductible (auto, health, home or renters)?
YOUR CURRENT STEP
Answer the questions on the left to find your step.
// FIAT IS FAKE OVERLAY: WHERE DOES BITCOIN FIT?

The Money Guy framework predates Bitcoin as a mainstream asset and does not name it. The Fiat Is Fake view: a Bitcoin allocation is part of long-term investing, and it belongs after the guaranteed wins, not ahead of them. The employer match, high-interest debt payoff, emergency fund, and tax-advantaged space all come first because their benefits are more predictable; Bitcoin is volatile and uncertain. Once you are hyper-accumulating (Step 7, investing 25%+ of gross), a sized Bitcoin position fits inside your long-term investing, sized to what you can hold through an 80% drawdown.

Never fund a Bitcoin buy by skipping the match or carrying a credit-card balance; the order exists for a reason. See how much Bitcoin to own and the allocation range tool.

Where Bitcoin fits: Step 7 of 9
  1. Cover deductibles
  2. Full employer match
  3. Credit cards, non-mortgage debt over 6%highest rate first
  4. Emergency fund3 to 6 months of expenses
  5. Roth and HSAif eligible
  6. Max workplace plan$24,500/yr base limit in 2026
  7. Bitcoin fits hereInvest 25%+ of grosshyper-accumulation
Essential bills and minimum payments come before Step 1. Steps 2, 5 and 6 are skipped when not available. Step 8 (prepaid future expenses) and Step 9 (low-interest debt payoff) still follow Step 7.
A Bitcoin position waits until Step 7, when you invest 25%+ of gross income. By then any employer match is captured, credit card balances and other non-mortgage debt over 6% are paid off and the emergency fund is built, and the position is sized to what you can hold through an 80% drawdown.
How this tool works
  • This is a decision tree, not a calculator. The yes/no questions route you to the FOO step that matches your current situation.
  • The framework is from Money Guy Show, a show hosted by CFPs whose advisory firm is Abound Wealth. The 9 steps are publicly documented at moneyguy.com/guide/foo/.
  • The 6% line for high-interest debt (Q3 and Step 3) is this tool's own cutoff. The Money Guy guide sets no numeric threshold: it counts any consumer debt, whatever the rate, as Step 3, including 0% promo credit card balances, and cites credit card rates of 20% or higher. Q3 therefore routes any credit card balance to Step 3; other debt goes there only above 6%. A mortgage is not counted at Q3 even above 6%: the guide says a mortgage may still count as low-interest debt and places mortgage debt at Step 9.
  • Q6 counts as done if you do not have a high income and already invest 25% or more of gross income before maxing the workplace plan.
  • FOO is not a strict sequence. Life interrupts. If something pushes you back a step, that is expected. The framework tells you where to send your next dollar once you stabilize.
  • The site's own order of operations guide at /personal-finance/order-of-operations/ uses a different sequence: essentials and a starter cash buffer first, then the employer match, then health-insurance deductible coverage, then debt above roughly 8% APR, then the HSA, the full emergency fund, the Roth IRA, the 401(k) beyond the match, taxable investing or extra mortgage paydown, and strategic goals. That guide puts the match before deductible coverage and draws its high-interest line at roughly 8% APR; this tool follows the Money Guy order with a 6% line. Both orders have merit; pick the one that fits your situation.

Not financial advice. Decision tool, not investment advice. Before acting on a step, check your plan document for match and vesting terms, your loan statements for rates, and the IRS limits for your age and coverage.

HOW THIS IS CALCULATED

This tool runs entirely in your browser: no data is sent to any server. No formulas are involved: the questions come one at a time, and the first answer that shows an unfinished step ends the quiz and sets your step.

  • Essential bills and minimum payments covered? No: stabilize essential bills first.
  • Cash equal to your highest insurance deductible? No: Step 1.
  • Full employer match captured, or none offered? No: Step 2.
  • Any credit card balance (even at 0%), or any other debt above 6%, not counting a mortgage? Yes: Step 3.
  • 3 to 6 months of expenses saved? No: Step 4.
  • Maxing a Roth IRA and HSA, or not eligible? No: Step 5.
  • Maxing the workplace plan, none offered, or, without a high income, already investing 25%+ of gross income? No: Step 6.
  • Investing at least 25% of gross income? No: Step 7.
  • Known large future expenses to pre-fund? Yes: Step 8. No: Step 9.

The nine steps, the 3 to 6 month emergency fund and the 25% savings target follow the Money Guy Show's published Financial Order of Operations[1]. That guide sets no numeric cutoff for high-interest debt and puts any consumer debt, whatever the rate, at Step 3[1]. The 6% line for debt other than credit card balances is this tool's own. A mortgage is left out of Q3 because the guide says it may still count as low-interest debt and places mortgage debt at Step 9, and a reader without a high income who already invests 25% of income before maxing employer accounts moves past Step 6, as the guide allows[1]. Limits quoted in the results are the IRS 2026 figures: $24,500 for 401(k) deferrals and $7,500 for IRAs[2], and $4,400 self-only or $8,750 family for HSAs[3]. The tool does not check amounts; it takes each answer as given. Verify the methodology or inspect the source code in your browser's dev tools.

Where to go from here

Read next

Order of Operations

The order to deploy each dollar: emergency fund, employer match, high-interest debt, HSA, Roth, then taxable.

Explore further
  • Saving for a HouseThe order of operations says max retirement accounts first. A house down payment in 3-7 years is the real exception.
  • Deductible Coverage CalculatorEnter your deductibles to find your Financial Order of Operations Step 1 cash target and time to reach it.
  • Emergency Fund CalculatorEnter your real fixed monthly costs to see 3, 6, 9, and 12 month emergency fund targets.

Sources

Bracketed numbers and verify badges in the text link to these sources. Figures, rates and rules change: check each source’s date before acting on it.

  1. Money Guy Show, Financial Order of Operations (FOO): The 9-Step Money Guide. Checked 2026-09-26. ↩
  2. Internal Revenue Service, 401(k) limit increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA limit increases to $7,500. Checked 2026-09-26. ↩
  3. Internal Revenue Service, Rev. Proc. 2025-19 (2026 HSA limits). Checked 2026-09-26. ↩

Decision guides are educational, not financial advice. Disclosures · How pages are reviewed