Getting Started: Accounts & Goals

Accounts, habits and plans for long-term investors.

1. Brokerage Accounts — What a brokerage account is, how to open and fund one, what protections you get, and the features that actually matter when you choose where to invest.
2. Retirement Accounts — How 401(k)s and IRAs work, the difference between traditional and Roth accounts, why an employer match matters so much, and the 2026 contribution limits.
3. Dollar-Cost Averaging — How investing a fixed amount on a schedule works, a real test through the 2008 crash, how it compares with investing a lump sum, and how to automate it.
4. Setting Goals & Time Horizons — How to turn vague wishes into investing goals, why the time until you need the money decides how much risk you can take, and what real market drops teach about horizons.
5. Rebalancing — Why a portfolio drifts away from its target mix, a real 10-year example of drift, the main ways to rebalance, and how to do it without big tax bills.