contribution
The money you actually put into an account like an IRA in a given year. The government sets a maximum dollar amount you are allowed to add each year.
Where it is explained in full
Money at every level: what changes as the numbers grow, from a first paycheck to a hundred million. The rules are the same for everyone and the useful ones change at every level. This page walks the whole ladder, what becomes possible at each rung, and the one line that runs through all of it. It explains; it never advises.
An account is not an investment. The single most useful thing to understand about money, and the one most people were never told. The box and the thing inside the box are two different choices.
Workplace plans: the 401(k), the 403(b), and the TSP, from the first paycheck to the last. Everything a person needs to open one, fill it, hold the right things in it, avoid the traps, and carry it with them when they leave. Long on purpose, so that one page is enough.
Break even and runway: two numbers every owner should be able to say aloud. How many sales before the business stops losing money, and how many months of cash are left if nothing changes. Both are simple. Both are routinely unknown.
Unit economics: does one sale make money before you count the rent. What a customer costs to win, what they pay, how long they stay, and how long until they have paid you back. Simple framework, and most of the mistakes come from what people leave out of each number.
A definition says what a thing is; it never says whether it fits you. The guides explain how it works and name the professional who confirms it for a particular person. The No Advice Disclosure.
Words beside it
- Catch up contribution
Extra you may put into retirement accounts once you reach 50.
- contribution limit
The maximum dollar amount the government allows you to put into a certain account in a given year.
- Contribution margin
Price minus variable cost per unit. What each sale contributes toward fixed costs and profit.
- direct contribution
A direct contribution is when you put money straight into an account without any extra steps in between. For example, putting money right into a Roth IRA without converting it from another account first.
- nondeductible contribution
A nondeductible contribution is money you put into a traditional IRA but cannot subtract from your taxable income that year. You still pay normal income tax on it upfront, which matters later when you convert it.
- pretax contribution
Money you put into an account before the government counts it as income, which lowers the amount of your paycheck that gets taxed right away.
Ask about contribution
A model reads this page and answers from it. It will say when the answer is not on the page. Education, not personalized advice.