Guides
The calculators give you the number; these guides give you the "why" — the formulas, the worked examples, and the traps that make wage and business math go wrong in practice.
How to Calculate Overtime Pay The formula, three worked examples including the biweekly averaging trap and California double time, and the bonus rule that quietly underpays. Margin vs Markup Same two numbers, different percentages — the conversion math, the landmarks worth memorizing, and the mix-up that underprices everything. How Many Work Hours Are in a Year? Where 2,080 comes from, the monthly and daily breakdowns, holiday/PTO adjustments, and why freelancers must never use it. Gross vs Net Pay What lives between what you earn and what arrives — taxes, FICA, benefits, retirement — and which number to use for what. Biweekly vs Semimonthly Pay 26 checks vs 24: the check-size math, the three-paycheck months, and why hourly jobs cluster on biweekly. How to Set Your Freelance Rate The honest formula — real billable hours, the costs an employer used to absorb, the tax cushion — with worked numbers. How to Calculate a Pay Raise Percent to dollars, dollars per paycheck, the inflation comparison, and why raises compound into tens of thousands over a career. Salary vs Hourly: Which Is Better? The honest trade — schedule risk vs hours risk, the unpaid-hours trap, and the procedure for comparing two real offers. Break-Even Analysis Explained Simply Fixed vs variable costs, contribution margin, and the sandwich-shop worked example that makes the formula stick. What Is Time and a Half? The mental math, who's legally owed 1.5×, and the holiday myth that surprises almost everyone. How to Calculate a Tip (Fast) The move-the-decimal trick for any percentage, pre-tax vs post-tax, service charges, and splitting group bills fairly. How Discounts Stack Why 30% + 20% is 44% off, not 50% — the keep-rate shortcut that sees through every stacked promotion. What Is a Trump Account? The $1,000 starter deposit, eligibility, contribution limits, how the money is invested, and the withdrawal rules at 18. Trump Account vs. 529 Plan Contribution limits, tax treatment, qualified uses, and who controls the money — compared side by side. Is My Child Eligible for a Trump Account? The 2025–2028 birth-year window for the $1,000 seed, the SSN requirement, and what it means for siblings on either side of it. How Employer Trump Account Contributions Work The $2,500/year cap, how it shares the combined contribution limit, and how to ask HR about it.Want a guide or calculator we don't have? Tell us — the roadmap is built from requests.