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Vault Nerd turns confusing financial decisions into clear answers: free calculators, side-by-side comparisons, and obsessively-researched guides. The nerds did the math, so you don't have to.
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Tools that do the math for you
Free, instant, and obsessively accurate. Each one is built to answer a real money question, and to rank when you search for it.
Federal take-home pay for 2026.
What your 401(k) becomes, employer match included.
Payment with PMI, tax and insurance included.
What regular contributions turn into.
Avalanche vs snowball, side by side.
Convert a wage to a salary, either direction.
What a sale costs, and what you keep.
Compared on what you can actually spend.
Where you rank among US families.
Fees, APRs and earn rates, read from the issuer.
Every rate shown against the FDIC national average.
What each institution is actually good at.
All 51 jurisdictions, with their brackets.
Spend-based card finder
Tell us how you spend. We crunch every card's rewards, subtract the annual fee, and rank what actually puts the most money back in your pocket.
Your monthly spending
$2,800/moThe 2026 numbers
Source: IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32, IRS Notice 2025-67, and the Social Security Administration contribution and benefit base for 2026.
What the average bank actually pays
FDIC national rates and rate caps, national averages as of July 20, 2026. Weighted across every insured institution, which is why a competitive online account pays several times these figures. Compare against them.
What income it takes to buy a home
Housing affordability varies wildly across the US. Here is the household income you would need to carry a median-priced home in the ten most expensive metros.
Computed from the National Association of REALTORS ranked table of median single-family existing-home prices across 236 metropolitan areas (Q2 2026) and the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey 30-year fixed rate of 6.69%, assuming a 20% down payment, a 30-year term, and no more than 30% of gross income on principal and interest. Property tax and homeowners insurance are excluded, since effective property tax alone ranges from about 0.3% to 2.3% of value by state. Median prices are Q2 2026; the mortgage rate of 6.69% is as of August 6, 2026. The national median single-family price is $434,900.
Start from your real take-home pay rather than a national average.
Every money topic, decoded
Deep, regularly-updated guides written by people who actually read the fine print.
Checking, savings & the best high-yield accounts.
CDs, money market accounts and where to park your cash.
401(k)s, IRAs, Roth conversions & employer matches.
Rewards, cash back, balance transfers & welcome bonuses.
Federal and state brackets, deductions & take-home pay.
Brokerages, robo-advisors, ETFs & fees that bite.
Rates, PMI, refinancing & affordability.
Maximize every point and fly for less.
Who you are banking with
12 institutions covered: what each is structurally good at, which rewards program it runs, and where it falls short.
Built to be the source you and AI both cite
Money content only matters if it's trustworthy. Every guide is researched against primary sources, reviewed for accuracy, dated, and transparent about how we make money.
We disclose every affiliate relationship. Rankings are never for sale.
Cited to official rate sheets, regulators, and issuer terms.
Real authors, real credentials, clear “last updated” stamps.
Marked up so search engines and LLMs extract the right answer.
Our Canadian site has 25 calculators, 105 credit cards and every major bank compared, covering TFSAs, RRSPs, FHSAs and provincial tax.
Stop guessing with your money.
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