Personal finance for people who want to be great with money — written by the friend who already is.
The Editorial Framework
Every dispatch here belongs to a recurring column — a repeatable shape you'll come to recognize. Nine columns. Nine desks. A rhythm you can count on.
A repeatable mental model, drawn on a napkin.
One decision most people overthink, reduced to 3–5 boxes. No leaderboards, no product picks — a way to think that survives the next product cycle.
Example
“The only credit card framework you actually need for 2026.”
Two things the internet loves to argue about, decided in five minutes.
A head-to-head between two options — cards, accounts, mortgages — resolved by naming the single question that actually decides it.
Example
“Sapphire Preferred vs. Venture X: an honest comparison.”
One real household. One decision. The math and the feeling.
A composite family (income, ages, goals) walks through one decision. Numbers on the table, tradeoffs on the record, no hero worship.
Example
“The million-dollar Roth conversion that took ten years.”
The quiet truth the industry avoids saying out loud.
A single, unfashionable observation. Written to be forwarded to the friend who almost made the mistake.
Example
“What nobody tells you about airline cards after 40.”
The week in personal finance, in ten minutes.
Five short items: one number that mattered, one story worth reading, one policy shift, one product change, one thing to actually do this weekend.
Example
“The Friday Brief · Issue No. 22”
The right move for the moment on the calendar.
A dated checklist tied to the calendar — January Roth funding, April filing, August college aid, October open enrollment, December harvesting.
Example
“The December tax checklist most CPAs will never send you.”
One product, opened up on the table.
A single product — a card, an annuity, a whole-life policy, a robo-advisor — examined honestly. What it's for. Who it's for. Who it isn't.
Example
“A whole life policy, opened up on the table.”
A real question, answered plainly.
One reader question at a time. The kind you'd text a friend at 10pm. Short, specific, honest — with the caveat that this isn't legal or tax advice.
Example
“Office Hours: 'Should we pay off the mortgage or invest?'”
One term. What it is, what it really means, and why it matters this week.
A companion to the Smart Money Dictionary. Take one entry, tell the story behind it, and connect it to something happening now.
Example
“Dictionary Drop: 5/24, and the wall you didn't know you built.”
Not every desk gets equal airtime. Credit Cards, Retirement, and Taxes carry the heaviest schedule because that's where most of the questions live.
| Desk | Weight | Per month | Standing columns |
|---|---|---|---|
| Credit Cards | Heavy | 5 | The FrameworkThe Honest ComparisonThe TeardownThe Dictionary Drop |
| Retirement | Heavy | 4 | The Case StudyThe Seasonal PlaybookOffice HoursThe Dictionary Drop |
| Taxes | Heavy | 4 | The Seasonal PlaybookOffice HoursWhat Nobody Tells YouThe Dictionary Drop |
| Family Finance | Standard | 3 | The Case StudyOffice HoursThe Seasonal Playbook |
| Real Estate | Standard | 3 | The Honest ComparisonThe TeardownThe Case Study |
| Small Business | Standard | 3 | The FrameworkOffice HoursThe Seasonal Playbook |
| Side Hustle | Standard | 3 | The Case StudyOffice HoursThe Framework |
| Wealth Preservation | Light | 2 | The TeardownWhat Nobody Tells You |
| Lifestyle | Light | 2 | The TeardownThe Friday Brief |
Total: roughly 29 dispatches per month across nine desks, plus the weekly Friday Brief.
The monthly plan
Four weekly flagships you can subscribe to on their own, nine standing desk columns, and seventeen recurring series that rotate through the month.
4 · Weekly
Four standing weekly columns anyone can subscribe to on their own.
This Week in Smart Money
The five things a friend who's great with money noticed this week.
What Changed This Week
Rate moves, program changes, tax updates — decoded, not repeated.
The Friend's Portfolio
A running, transparent look at how one household actually invests.
The Friday Brief
One number, one story, one policy shift, one product change, one thing to do this weekend.
9 · Monthly, one per desk
A standing monthly column from each of the nine desks — the desk's signature move.
Card of the Month
Credit Cards Desk. One card, honestly opened up on the table.
The Retirement Move
Retirement Desk. The one decision to make before the next quarter closes.
Tax Move Before December
Tax Desk. A monthly deadline calendar, not a springtime scramble.
The Family Money Problem
Family Finance Desk. One household, one decision, the math and the feeling.
Side Hustle Spotlight
Side Hustle Desk. Real revenue, real time commitment, real trade-offs.
Housing Reality Check
Real Estate Desk. What the local market is actually doing this month.
Rich People Do This Quietly
Wealth Preservation Desk. One move the family-office set treats as routine.
Owner's Manual for Small Business
Small Business Desk. Boring operational moves that quietly compound.
Practical Luxury
Lifestyle Desk. Where the money is worth spending, and where it isn't.
17 · Rotating through the month
Seventeen standing series that rotate through the month, keeping the archive deep and browsable.
The Honest Comparison
Two things the internet loves to argue about, decided in five minutes.
Money Regrets
A composite reader walks through a decision they'd take back.
What I'd Do With $250k
One windfall, five voices, five plans.
Ask The CPA
One reader question, one honest answer, one caveat.
The Millionaire Next Door
A profile of quiet wealth — the household nobody in the neighborhood knows is rich.
One Financial Decision
Zoom in on a single choice: the option, the math, the aftermath.
Scam Watch
The current pitch making the rounds, and how a friend spots it.
Fine Print
The clause in the disclosure that changes the whole product.
Boring Wealth
The unglamorous move that quietly did most of the work.
Retirement Case Study
One household, ten years to retirement, on the record.
Family Office Secrets
Moves the ultra-wealthy treat as table stakes, translated for the rest of us.
The Great Money Debate
Two voices, one question, no consensus required.
What Nobody Tells You
The unfashionable truth the industry avoids.
5 Numbers That Matter
A short data brief you can screenshot.
Personal Balance Sheet Makeover
One household's numbers, restructured on the page.
The Dictionary Drop
One term from the Smart Money Dictionary, with the story behind it.
The Smart Money Index
A monthly data page — what the friend's dashboard is showing.
The weekly dispatch
The kind of financial advice you'd get from a friend who's already figured it out. No hot takes, no leaderboards, no affiliate hustle.