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Budget and pay the essentials, build a small emergency fund, take any employer match, pay off high-interest debt, grow the emergency fund to 3 to 6 months, save in an IRA, work up to 15% of income for retirement, then turn to other goals. That's the order many personal finance guides use. Follow the flowchart below; each step links to the Wiki entry that explains it.
US rules. In our own words, after the flowchart widely shared by the r/personalfinance community.
๐ฎ Practise with $10,000 in play money
Try it in a live 3D city with play money: trade shares in real public figures, get margin-called, pay your taxes and rob a bot or two. Free, and nothing real is at stake.
1. Step ยท Budget and essentials
Know what comes in and where it goes. Every step below depends on knowing your income after tax and your costs.
๐ฎ In Journey Shares: Step 0: your portfolio shows cash, savings, debts and this week's tax in one place. Keep enough cash to pay the tax.
2. Step ยท Budget and essentials
Rent or mortgage (with renters or homeowners insurance if required), food, utilities and other essentials, the costs of earning an income such as getting to work, health care, then the minimum payment on every debt.
3. Step ยท Emergency fund
About $1,000 or one month of expenses, whichever is more, in a savings or checking account. Then pay any non-essential bills, like streaming or a phone plan, in full.
๐ Emergency fund๐ Deposit insurance
๐ฎ In Journey Shares: Step 1: put $1,000 in savings at the bank.
4. Question ยท Employer match
Many US employers add money to your 401(k) or 403(b) when you contribute.
๐ Employer match๐ 401(k)
๐ฎ In Journey Shares: Step 2: claim the daily bonus. It's the game's free money, like a match.
Contribute exactly enough to get the full match, and no more for now.
5. Question ยท High and moderate interest debt
Debt at roughly 10% interest or more, like most credit cards.
๐ Debt avalanche and snowball๐ Interest rate๐ Compound interest
๐ฎ In Journey Shares: Step 3: pay off your margin loan. It charges more than savings pay.
Choose the avalanche (highest rate first) or the snowball (smallest balance first) and pay it off.
6. Step ยท Emergency fund
Keep it in savings, not stocks. People with less steady income often aim for more.
๐ Emergency fund๐ Liquidity๐ Risk tolerance
๐ฎ In Journey Shares: Step 4: grow your savings to $5,000.
7. Question ยท High and moderate interest debt
Debt left at roughly 4% to 5% or more, not counting a mortgage.
Weigh the avalanche and the snowball again and pay it down.
8. Step ยท IRA and near-term costs
A Roth is taxed now and tax-free later; a traditional IRA may cut tax now and is taxed later. Which fits depends on your tax rate now and in retirement.
๐ IRA (traditional and Roth)๐ Tax bracket
๐ฎ In Journey Shares: Step 5: hold an investment for more than a week, so its gains are taxed at 15% instead of 22%.
9. Question ยท IRA and near-term costs
Things like a certification you need, or a car to get to work.
Save the amount in a savings or checking account: a sinking fund.
10. Question ยท Save more for retirement
Count every retirement account and any match. People who are behind may need more.
๐ Savings rate๐ 401(k)๐ Taxable brokerage account
๐ฎ In Journey Shares: Step 6: hold at least 15% of your net worth in ETFs.
Skip the next step and go on to the HSA question.
11. Step ยท Save more for retirement
Use a workplace 401(k) or 403(b) if you have one. Self-employed people can use a Solo 401(k), a SEP-IRA or a SIMPLE IRA. Without any of these, invest in a taxable brokerage account.
๐ 401(k)๐ Taxable brokerage account๐ Index fund๐ Diversification
12. Question ยท Other goals and advanced
An HSA takes money before tax, can be invested and pays qualified medical costs tax-free.
Contribute the yearly maximum.
13. Question ยท Other goals and advanced
Most guides put this after your own emergency fund and retirement saving.
Look at a 529 plan and other options and contribute what fits.
14. Step ยท Other goals and advanced
Want to retire early? Max out the workplace plan, consider a backdoor Roth, then use a taxable account. Saving for something sooner? Money needed within about 3 to 5 years usually stays in savings; money for later goals is often invested in a conservative mix of stocks and bonds.
๐ IRA (traditional and Roth)๐ Taxable brokerage account๐ Asset allocation๐ Bond
๐ฎ In Journey Shares: Step 7: with the basics covered, the rest is your call: picking people, options, shorts and the city. All of it is risky.
Spending on things you enjoy is part of a healthy budget. Many people keep it small until high-interest debt is gone, then set an amount they're comfortable with.
Situations differ: a very high income, a pension, unusual debts or a big life event can change the order. US rules and yearly limits change, so check current figures. For decisions about your own money, a licensed financial professional can help.
Every investment step here can lose money, and past performance doesn't predict future results. The plan orders where money goes; it doesn't make any of it safe.
The bank page has the game's own money plan: the same order, mapped to the game, with a check for each step you've done. Cover this week's tax, save $1,000, claim the daily bonus, pay off your margin loan, save $5,000, hold an investment more than a week, put 15% of your net worth in ETFs, then play however you like. Do every step to earn the ๐งญ Money Planner badge.
Many guides say: get any employer match first, then pay off high-interest debt (about 10% or more) before investing more, because paying it off saves a known rate while investment returns are never certain. Moderate-interest debt is weighed against other goals.
A common approach is a starter fund of about $1,000 or one month of expenses, then 3 to 6 months of essential expenses once high-interest debt is gone, kept in insured savings rather than stocks.
A common rule of thumb is at least 15% of pre-tax income, counting any employer match. It's a guide, not a guarantee: what savings become depends on markets, which can fall.
1600sโ1790s
Shares trade in coffee houses and bourses, the first bubbles burst, and governments borrow from the public.
After years of war, Britain owed more than it could comfortably carry. In 1717, under Robert Walpole, Parliament set up a sinking fund: part of certain tax revenues went into a separate pot each year to pay off the debt bit by bit.
Governments often raided it when money got tight, but the idea stuck. Companies later used sinking funds to set aside money to repay their bonds, and households borrowed the idea to save up for known expenses.
๐ก Why it made sense then
A big bill that's certain to come is easier to meet in small, regular pieces than all at once.
๐ฎ In Journey Shares
Setting cash aside before a big city purchase is the same idea at the scale of one player.
Ideas it gave us
A sinking fund is money you set aside bit by bit for a large expense you know is coming, like a car, a certification or a down payment, so it doesn't land on a credit card.
๐ฎ City purchases, like gear, cars and homes, are the game's big planned expenses. Setting cash aside for them before you buy keeps you from selling shares in a hurry or borrowing on margin.
Open the full entry โ1770sโ1920s
Thinkers explain prices, trade and competition, while the telegraph and the ticker speed markets up.
In January 1911 the Postal Savings System opened. Anyone could open an account at a post office with as little as a dollar, and the deposits paid 2% interest, backed by the US government.
It was meant for people who didn't trust banks, including many immigrants, at a time when bank failures could wipe out savings. It closed in 1967, long after deposit insurance had made ordinary bank accounts safe.
๐ก Why it made sense then
Families needed a safe place for a cash cushion, and many had seen banks fail.
๐ฎ In Journey Shares
Savings at the game's bank play the same role: a safe cushion, insured up to $25,000.
Ideas it gave us
An emergency fund is cash set aside for surprises, like a job loss, a car repair or a medical bill, so you don't have to borrow or sell investments at a bad time.
๐ฎ Savings at the bank are your emergency fund: insured up to $25,000 and paying interest. The money plan asks for $1,000 in savings first, then $5,000 once your margin loan is paid off.
Open the full entry โ1929โ1950s
The Great Depression leads to deposit insurance, securities law, margin rules and modern economic statistics.
During the Great Depression many families were paid in cash and couldn't afford to run short. A common habit was to split each pay packet into envelopes or jars, one for each bill, and stop spending from an envelope once it was empty.
Household budget books and home economics classes spread the same idea: write down what comes in, decide what each dollar is for, and pay the essentials first. Modern budgeting apps and the zero-based budget are the same method in digital form.
๐ก Why it made sense then
With little income and no credit, knowing exactly where each dollar went was the difference between making rent and not.
๐ฎ In Journey Shares
Step 0 of the money plan on the bank page is the same habit: make sure this week's tax is covered before spending.
Ideas it gave us
A budget is a plan for your money: what comes in, what has to go out, and what's left to save or spend. It's the first step because every other money decision depends on knowing those numbers.
๐ฎ Your portfolio page is your budget: cash, savings, stocks, debts and the tax you owe this week, all in one place. Step 0 of the money plan on the bank page asks you to keep enough cash to cover this week's tax.
Open the full entry โ1950sโ1990s
Risk gets measured, options get a formula, and index funds and ETFs bring the whole market to everyone.
In September 1958 Bank of America mailed unsolicited BankAmericards to about 60,000 people in Fresno. Holders could carry a balance from month to month and pay interest on it, which became the model for the modern credit card.
Revolving credit made buying easier and debt far more common. Personal finance writers later offered two ways to climb out of several debts: pay the highest rate first (the avalanche) or the smallest balance first (the snowball).
๐ก Why it made sense then
Banks earned interest on balances, and shoppers liked paying over time. The catch was the rate, which for cards has usually been far above what savings pay.
๐ฎ In Journey Shares
Your margin loan is the game's revolving debt: it charges interest every day it's open, and step 3 of the money plan is to pay it off.
Ideas it gave us
The avalanche and the snowball are two ways to pay off several debts. Both pay the minimum on everything; the avalanche sends extra money to the highest interest rate first, the snowball to the smallest balance first.
๐ฎ Your margin loan is the game's costly debt: it charges more than savings pay. Step 3 of the money plan is to pay it off before growing savings to $5,000.
Open the full entry โIn 1963 the Studebaker car company closed its US plant, and thousands of workers lost most of the pension they had been promised. Pressure built for pension rules.
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act, signed on September 2, 1974, set standards for private pensions and created the individual retirement account, so workers without a pension could save for retirement with a tax break.
๐ก Why it made sense then
Workers had learned that a promised pension could vanish, and many had no pension at all.
๐ฎ In Journey Shares
The game has no retirement accounts, but it keeps the lesson that timing changes your tax: gains on shares held more than a week are taxed at 15% instead of 22%.
Ideas it gave us
An IRA is a US retirement account you open yourself. A traditional IRA may lower your taxes now and is taxed when you withdraw; a Roth IRA is funded with taxed money and qualified withdrawals are tax-free.
๐ฎ There's no IRA in the game. Its tax lesson is the same trade-off, though: when you're taxed depends on how long you hold. Shares held more than a week pay 15% on gains instead of 22%.
Open the full entry โOn 1 May 1975, fixed commissions on US stock trades ended, 183 years after the Buttonwood Agreement. Discount brokers such as Charles Schwab soon offered cheap trades.
๐ก Why it made sense then
Big institutions wanted to negotiate fees, and regulators wanted competition.
Ideas it gave us
A commission is a fee a broker charges for placing a trade. Most US brokers have charged $0 commission on stock trades since 2019.
๐ฎ There's no commission on game share trades, like most US brokers today. Sales pay the small SEC and FINRA fees, and options cost $0.65 a contract.
Open the full entry โA broker is a licensed firm that places trades on an exchange for you and holds your investments in an account, like Fidelity, Schwab or Robinhood.
๐ฎ The game works like a zero-commission broker: no fee to trade, but every sale pays the real SEC and FINRA fees.
Open the full entry โA taxable brokerage account is an ordinary investment account with no special tax treatment. There are no contribution limits or withdrawal rules, but dividends and gains are taxed.
๐ฎ Your Journey Shares account works like a taxable brokerage account: every gain is taxed, losses offset gains, and holding longer than a week lowers the rate.
Open the full entry โThe Revenue Act of 1978 added section 401(k) to the tax code, taking effect in 1980. It was meant to settle how certain bonus and profit-sharing plans were taxed.
A benefits consultant, Ted Benna, saw that it could let workers save part of their pay before tax, and designed a plan with an employer match to encourage them. After the IRS issued rules in 1981, companies adopted 401(k) plans quickly, and they gradually replaced traditional pensions at many employers.
๐ก Why it made sense then
Employers wanted cheaper, more predictable costs than pensions, and a match gave workers a reason to save.
๐ฎ In Journey Shares
The daily bonus is the game's free money: step 2 of the money plan is to claim it, like taking the full match.
Ideas it gave us
A 401(k) is a US retirement account offered through an employer. You invest part of each paycheck, with a tax break now (traditional) or later (Roth), and the money is meant to stay until retirement.
๐ฎ The game has no retirement accounts, but holding for the long run has its own tax break: gains on shares held more than a week are taxed at 15% instead of 22%. That's step 5 of the money plan.
Open the full entry โAn employer match is money your employer adds to your retirement account when you contribute, such as 50 cents for each dollar you put in, up to a set share of your pay.
๐ฎ The closest thing in the game is the free money on offer each day: the daily bonus and scratch card. Step 2 of the money plan is to claim it.
Open the full entry โMichigan started a prepaid tuition plan in 1986, and other states followed. The Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996 added section 529 to the tax code, making these state plans' earnings free of federal tax until withdrawn.
Later laws made withdrawals for qualified education costs fully tax-free (2001) and let limited unused amounts roll into a Roth IRA (from 2024).
๐ก Why it made sense then
College costs were rising faster than incomes, and states wanted families to save ahead instead of borrowing.
Ideas it gave us
A 529 plan is a US account for education savings. Gains aren't taxed, and withdrawals for qualified education costs, like college tuition, are tax-free.
๐ฎ There are no children or college in the game. Like the money plan's order, most guides put saving for a child's education after your own emergency fund and retirement saving.
Open the full entry โThe Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 created the Roth IRA, named for Senator William Roth of Delaware, and it opened in 1998. Contributions are made with taxed money, and qualified withdrawals in retirement are tax-free.
๐ก Why it made sense then
Taxing contributions brought revenue in sooner, and savers got a way to lock in today's tax rate.
Ideas it gave us
An IRA is a US retirement account you open yourself. A traditional IRA may lower your taxes now and is taxed when you withdraw; a Roth IRA is funded with taxed money and qualified withdrawals are tax-free.
๐ฎ There's no IRA in the game. Its tax lesson is the same trade-off, though: when you're taxed depends on how long you hold. Shares held more than a week pay 15% on gains instead of 22%.
Open the full entry โ2000โtoday
Trading moves online, costs fall to zero, and crises bring bailouts, quantitative easing and new rules.
The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 created health savings accounts, available from 2004. People with a qualifying high-deductible health plan can save before tax, invest, and spend tax-free on medical costs.
๐ก Why it made sense then
Lawmakers wanted people to shop carefully for health care and to save for their own medical costs.
Ideas it gave us
An HSA is a US savings account for medical costs, open only to people with a qualifying high-deductible health plan. Money goes in before tax, can be invested, and comes out tax-free for qualified medical expenses.
๐ฎ The game has no health costs. It does have the same idea of money you can't touch without a cost: savings above the insured $25,000 can be lost if the bank fails, so plan where each dollar sits.
Open the full entry โResearch found that many workers never got round to joining their 401(k), even with a match on offer. The Pension Protection Act of 2006 made it easier for employers to enroll workers automatically and raise their savings rate a little each year, while letting anyone opt out.
Participation rose sharply at companies that switched to automatic enrollment. The default had turned out to matter as much as the incentive.
๐ก Why it made sense then
People tend to stick with whatever happens if they do nothing, so a good default helps them save.
Ideas it gave us
Your savings rate is the share of your income you save or invest. A common rule of thumb is to put at least 15% of pre-tax income toward retirement, counting any employer match.
๐ฎ Step 6 of the money plan asks for at least 15% of your net worth in ETFs, the game's diversified funds.
Open the full entry โA 401(k) is a US retirement account offered through an employer. You invest part of each paycheck, with a tax break now (traditional) or later (Roth), and the money is meant to stay until retirement.
๐ฎ The game has no retirement accounts, but holding for the long run has its own tax break: gains on shares held more than a week are taxed at 15% instead of 22%. That's step 5 of the money plan.
Open the full entry โUntil 2009, only people earning under $100,000 could convert a traditional IRA to a Roth. A 2006 law removed that limit from 2010. Higher earners who couldn't contribute to a Roth directly could now contribute to a traditional IRA without a deduction and convert it: the "backdoor Roth".
๐ก Why it made sense then
Conversions are taxed, so opening them to everyone brought in tax revenue sooner.
Ideas it gave us
An IRA is a US retirement account you open yourself. A traditional IRA may lower your taxes now and is taxed when you withdraw; a Roth IRA is funded with taxed money and qualified withdrawals are tax-free.
๐ฎ There's no IRA in the game. Its tax lesson is the same trade-off, though: when you're taxed depends on how long you hold. Shares held more than a week pay 15% on gains instead of 22%.
Open the full entry โPersonal finance advice had always come as separate tips: budget, save, avoid card debt, invest for retirement. In the 2010s, online forums such as Reddit's personal finance community began ordering them into a single flowchart that people shared widely.
Its steps: make a budget and pay the essentials, build a small emergency fund, get any employer match, pay off high-interest debt, grow the emergency fund, save in tax-advantaged accounts until about 15% of income goes to retirement, then turn to other goals. It's a common guide, not a rule for everyone.
๐ก Why it made sense then
Most money questions are really about order: which of several good uses should the next dollar go to first?
๐ฎ In Journey Shares
The bank page has the game's own money plan, the same steps in the same order, with a check for each one you've done.
Ideas it gave us
A budget is a plan for your money: what comes in, what has to go out, and what's left to save or spend. It's the first step because every other money decision depends on knowing those numbers.
๐ฎ Your portfolio page is your budget: cash, savings, stocks, debts and the tax you owe this week, all in one place. Step 0 of the money plan on the bank page asks you to keep enough cash to cover this week's tax.
Open the full entry โAn emergency fund is cash set aside for surprises, like a job loss, a car repair or a medical bill, so you don't have to borrow or sell investments at a bad time.
๐ฎ Savings at the bank are your emergency fund: insured up to $25,000 and paying interest. The money plan asks for $1,000 in savings first, then $5,000 once your margin loan is paid off.
Open the full entry โYour savings rate is the share of your income you save or invest. A common rule of thumb is to put at least 15% of pre-tax income toward retirement, counting any employer match.
๐ฎ Step 6 of the money plan asks for at least 15% of your net worth in ETFs, the game's diversified funds.
Open the full entry โPractise with $10,000 in play money
Free. No real money involved.
For learning only, not financial advice. Trading and investing always carry risk, including losing money, and past performance doesn't predict future results.
