The Forge Blog

Evidence-based personal finance guides. What the research and the experts actually say about budgeting, debt, and building wealth.

How to Build a Personal Finance Plan That Actually Works

What Fidelity, Vanguard, Suze Orman, and the 7 Baby Steps framework agree on — and where they differ. A step-by-step guide pulling advice from the top financial sources.

Debt Snowball vs. Avalanche: What the Research Actually Says

Northwestern's Kellogg School studied 6,000 people paying off debt. The "mathematically wrong" method won. Here's the data and what it means for your payoff strategy.

The Best Budget App for People Who Hate Subscriptions

An honest comparison of YNAB, EveryDollar, Goodbudget, and one-time purchase alternatives. What you actually get, what your data costs you, and why bank sync isn't the only option.