Your First Job
From offer letter to first paycheck, decoded
The guided path for your first real job — read your paystub, understand the W-4, claim your 401(k) match, and turn that first paycheck into a budget. Nobody teaches this; that's not your fault.
4 lessons · about 32 minutes total · 100% free
Saved on this device only — no account needed.
1. Your first paycheck, line by line
You did the math and the deposit is smaller than you expected. Here's how to read a paystub — gross vs net, every deduction explained — so your first paycheck stops feeling like a mystery.
8 min read
2. The W-4 and your withholding (why a big refund isn't a win)
On day one you filled out a W-4 without really knowing what it did. Here's how that one form quietly controls how much tax comes out of every paycheck — and why a giant refund means you gave the government a free loan.
7 min read
3. Your benefits: open enrollment, the 401(k) match, and insurance
Your new job came with a benefits packet full of acronyms and a deadline. Here's what open enrollment is, why an employer 401(k) match is the closest thing to free money you'll ever see, and how to make sense of health-insurance basics.
9 min read
4. Your first budget and your first emergency fund
A steady paycheck is new territory. Here's how to turn your take-home pay into a simple starter budget — and why building even a small emergency fund first is the move that protects everything else.
8 min read