Plain Investor
7 guides

Personal Finance & Retirement

Saving, compounding, and account choices for building wealth over decades.

Personal Finance & Retirement

Sequence of Returns Risk: Why When Matters as Much as How Much

Two retirees can earn exactly the same average return over exactly the same years and end up in very different positions. The difference is the order those returns arrived in.

Sep 21, 2026 · 7 min read
Personal Finance & Retirement

How Inflation Quietly Rewrites a Retirement Plan

A retirement income that looks comfortable on day one can look thin by year twenty. Nothing has to go wrong for that to happen — ordinary inflation is enough.

Sep 21, 2026 · 6 min read
Personal Finance & Retirement

How Much Should You Actually Save for Retirement?

There's no single magic number that fits everyone — but a few well-tested rules of thumb can help you figure out roughly where you stand.

May 14, 2026 · 7 min read
Personal Finance & Retirement

Dollar-Cost Averaging: A Simple Strategy for Long-Term Investors

Instead of trying to time the market, dollar-cost averaging spreads your purchases out automatically. Here's how it works and what it actually buys you.

May 6, 2026 · 5 min read
Personal Finance & Retirement

The Power of Compound Interest, Explained With Real Numbers

The math behind compounding is simple. The results, over long stretches of time, consistently surprise people who haven't seen the numbers laid out.

Apr 28, 2026 · 5 min read
Personal Finance & Retirement

401(k) vs. IRA: Which Retirement Account Should You Use First?

Both accounts offer valuable tax breaks for retirement savings, but they work differently — and the right order to use them isn't always obvious.

Apr 20, 2026 · 6 min read
Personal Finance & Retirement

How to Start Investing With Just $100

You don't need thousands of dollars to start. Here's a realistic, step-by-step look at what putting $100 to work in the market actually looks like.

Apr 12, 2026 · 6 min read