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 21 minutes total · 100% free
Saved on this device only — no account needed.
1. Your first paycheck, line by line
Read your first paystub line by line — gross pay, every tax and deduction, and net pay — using the exact numbers from a $1,600 paycheck.
6 min read
2. The W-4 and your withholding (why a big refund isn't a win)
Your W-4 sets how much tax comes out of every paycheck. Learn what it controls, how the yearly reconciliation works, and why a big refund isn't a win.
5 min read
3. Your benefits: open enrollment, the 401(k) match, and insurance
Decode your benefits packet: what open enrollment is, why the employer 401(k) match is the closest thing to free money you'll get, and how health-plan terms fit together.
5 min read
4. Your first budget and your first emergency fund
Turn your first take-home pay into a simple three-bucket budget, and build a small emergency fund first — the cushion that keeps one surprise bill from becoming debt.
5 min read