Guides
Plain-language explanations of the decisions behind the calculators, each worked through with real numbers. Every figure in a guide was computed with the same formulas the calculators use, so you can enter the example inputs yourself and see the same answers.
Debt snowball vs. debt avalanche: which pays off faster?
One set of three debts, paid two ways, compared in months and dollars — plus the case where the order matters a lot.
Read the guide · 5 min →How a GIC ladder works in Canada, with a five-rung example
A $30,000 ladder built rung by rung, with the interest arithmetic, the price of flexibility and the CDIC limit.
Read the guide · 5 min →How much house can I afford? Debt-to-income ratios explained
Three buyers with the same income and different debts, and the home-price ceiling each one reaches.
Read the guide · 6 min →Start early or contribute more later? What the compounding math says
Emma invests for ten years and stops. Liam invests for thirty. The result depends on the rate, and on whether Liam can contribute more.
Read the guide · 5 min →How these guides are written
Each guide starts from a question people actually ask — which debt to pay first, how big a mortgage is sensible, whether to lock money into a GIC — and follows it through with a worked example instead of a rule of thumb alone. Where the answer depends on an assumption (a rate, a tax situation, a time horizon), the guide says so and shows what happens when the assumption changes. Where a result surprised me, such as a debt-payoff order that barely matters or a savings comparison that flips at a lower return, I report that too.
The guides are educational and do not constitute financial advice. For the full picture, see our About page and Terms of Service, or browse the calculators they connect to.