Where you stand

I own a business or work for myself

If that is you, here is what this situation usually involves, in the order it usually comes up: the things worth checking, what each one is, and where the arithmetic for it lives. None of it says what to do.

1. Separate business checking, a business card, and a bookkeeping habit are what let an owner read their own numbers; mixed accounts are what make tax time guesswork.
2. Break even with a salary for yourself inside it, and runway in months, are the two numbers that say whether the business pays its owner; the break even and runway guide shows how each is computed.
3. A Solo 401(k) and a SEP IRA exist for owners, and the contribution room for an owner is several times an employee's; the landscape page for each shows the limit and who confirms it.
4. Once profit is steady, an S corporation election changes how owner pay is taxed, with a payroll tax saving on one side and a compliance cost on the other; a CPA runs both sides for a particular business.
5. A health savings account and a QSEHRA are two ways an owner can handle health costs that employees do not have; each has its own landscape page.
6. An owner's own company is already their largest holding; what that means for everything else they hold is the subject of the diversification guide.

Read these

Break even and runway: two numbers every owner should be able to say aloud
Unit economics: does one sale make money before you count the rent
The health savings account: three tax breaks and one gate
An account is not an investment