Featured Napkin
Bitcoin
Not So Silky Road
Bitcoin is the world’s first type of digital money, or cryptocurrency. Unlike traditional paper money, Bitcoin only exists online and isn’t controlled by any government, country, or bank. It’s exchanged peer-to-peer, and digital encryption is used to control security and the creation of new units of currency.
Learn moreMore getting ahead Napkins...
Risk Tolerance
Appetite for Destruction
Risk tolerance describes how much risk you can (or should) be taking on with your investments. Investing...
Learn more
Credit Report
Good Marks
Your credit report is a detailed history of your past use of credit. It’s a bit like...
Learn more
How to Save More Money
Keep the Change
Like many good habits, saving more money is easier said than done. Once you’ve gotten into a...
Learn more
Active vs. Index Investing
Pick Sides
Active and index investing are two different ways of choosing individual investments. With active investing, investors try...
Learn more
Growth vs. Value Investing
Moves Like Buffett
Growth and value investing are two different approaches to investing in stocks. Growth investors aim to invest...
Learn more
P/E Ratio
At Any Price
The price-to-earnings ratio (or P/E ratio) is a way to evaluate whether a company’s stock is cheap,...
Learn more
Technical Analysis
Off the Charts
Technical analysis means using stock price charts to try to predict future stock price movements. It involves...
Learn more
Sticking to a Budget
In It to Win It
Budgeting can be a lot like dieting. You start out with big hopes for dramatic changes in...
Learn more
Paying Off Student Loans
Take a Load Off
It might seem like there’s only one way to pay down your student loans (namely: slowly, painfully,...
Learn more
Game Theory
Roll the Dice
Game theory is an economic model for predicting people’s decisions in tricky situations.
Learn more
ESG Investing
Do the Right Thing
ESG investing means investing in companies that do good (or at least don’t actively do harm). With...
Learn more
Business Plan
Best-Laid Plans
A business plan is a document that outlines your vision for your business. It describes your big-picture...
Learn more
Venture Capital
Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained
Venture capital (or “VC” for short) is a type of financing for startup companies. Venture capitalists invest...
Learn more
Market Capitalization
Size it Up
Market capitalization (or just “market cap”) is a measure of a company’s total value. If you ever...
Learn more
SBA Loans
Helping Hand
SBA-guaranteed loans (or just “SBA loans”) are business loans backed by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)....
Learn more
Volatility
Rocky Road
Volatility describes how much an investment bounces around in price. More volatile investments zigzag in price more...
Learn more
Valuing a Company
What’s it Worth?
A company’s value is the dollar figure that it might sell for if a person or another...
Learn more
Incorporating
Limited Liability
A corporation is one type of formal business structure that entrepreneurs can choose to use when starting...
Learn more
Futures
Looking Ahead
A futures contract is an agreement to buy a specific investment at an agreed-upon price on an...
Learn more
Forex
Hard Currency
The foreign exchange, or forex, markets are where investors go to buy and sell currencies. Unlike the...
Learn more
Asset Classes
Building Blocks
An asset class is a group of similar kinds of investments. It’s a generalization, not a detailed...
Learn more
Financial Advisors
Get Some Help
Financial advisors are experts who can provide financial advice and help you manage your money. Some people...
Learn more
Financial Planning
Ducks in a Row
Financial planning describes the process of mastering your money. It means figuring out where you actually are...
Learn more
Asset Allocation
Divide and Conquer
“Asset allocation” is a way of describing what you own in percentage terms. If you’ve got $1,000...
Learn more
What Is an ICO?
The Wild West of Finance
An ICO, or Initial Coin Offering, is a way for startups to raise money by inventing and...
Learn more
Entrepreneurship
Change the World
Entrepreneurship is building a new business from the ground up. It means coming up with an idea...
Learn more
Tax Deductions
Cut Rate
Tax deductions, such as for donations to charity or interest on student loans, are amounts that you...
Learn more
Diversification
Spread Your Bets
Diversification is the practice of dividing your money among lots of different types of investments. It’s the...
Learn more
Cryptocurrency
Tales of the Crypto
Cryptocurrency is digital money that can be sent electronically anywhere in the world.
Learn more
Rebalancing
Move Your Assets
Know how self-help gurus are always talking about “finding the balance” in your personal life? That same...
Learn more
Bull or Bear Market
Into the Wild
Wall Street may be a bit of a rodeo, but there are no literal bulls or bears....
Learn more
Compound Interest
Make Bank
The most powerful force in the universe is compound interest. — Albert Einstein
Learn more
GDP
Grossly Underrated
Gross domestic product, or GDP, measures the size of an economy. In essence, it puts a dollar...
Learn more
Break-Even Point
Point Break
A company is at its break-even point when its revenue equals its expenses. It is neither making...
Learn more
IRR
Crunch the Numbers
The internal rate of return, or IRR, is a measure of an investment’s or a project’s profitability....
Learn more
Private Equity
Members Only
Private equity is money invested directly into a private company. Private equity funds pool money from many...
Learn more
Crowdfunding
Pound the Pavement
Crowdfunding is a way to raise money from many people, thanks to the power of the Internet....
Learn more
Tax Loss Harvesting
Cut Your Losses
Tax loss harvesting is a trading strategy investors can use to try to reduce their taxes. It’s...
Learn more
Capital Gains Tax
The Taxman Cometh
If something you own goes up in value and you sell it, then you’ve made a profit....
Learn more
Carried Interest
In the Interest Of
Carried interest is a share of a private equity or hedge fund’s profits that is paid to...
Learn more
Blockchain
Chain Gang
Blockchain is the recordkeeping technology that serves as the foundation for Bitcoin and some other types of...
Learn more
The S&P
Make the Market
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index—also known as the S&P 500, or just the S&P—is an index...
Learn more
Business Insurance
Cover Your Bases
A business insurance policy is a contract between an insurance company and a business. In exchange for...
Learn more
Options
Coming Attractions
An option is the right, but not obligation, to buy or sell an investment at a specific...
Learn more
EPS
Bang for the Buck
Earnings per share (EPS) is a financial metric that helps investors evaluate a company’s profitability. It’s calculated...
Learn more
Index Funds
Copy That
An index fund is a professionally managed collection of stocks, bonds, or other investments that tries to...
Learn more
Fixed vs. Variable Costs
At All Costs
Fixed and variable costs are types of expenses that businesses pay in order to operate.
Learn more
Convertible Note
Take Note
A convertible note is a type of short-term loan for a business. However, instead of being repaid...
Learn more
Liquidity
Cashing Out
Liquidity refers to how easily you can sell an investment or asset at a fair price.
Learn more
ROI
Many Happy Returns
Return on investment, or ROI, is a ratio for measuring the profitability of an investment. It puts...
Learn more
IPO
Opening Bell
An IPO, or initial public offering, is when a company’s shares start trading on a stock exchange...
Learn more
Mutual Funds
Join Forces
A mutual fund is a professionally managed fund that pools lots of investors’ money in order to...
Learn more
Risk vs. Reward
Double Down
All investments come with risk. With financial investments, risk is usually tied to reward. That means investments...
Learn more
Rule of 72
Crunch the Numbers
The rule of 72 is an easy, back-of-the-napkin way to figure out how long it will take...
Learn more
Philanthropy
Greater Good
Philanthropy is giving back. It’s paying forward the resources you have—whether your money, or physical goods, or...
Learn more
Hedge Funds
Hedge Your Bets
Hedge funds are investment funds that pool many investors’ money and then hire one or more professional...
Learn more
EBITDA
How You Slice It
EBITDA (pronounced “ee-bit-tah”) stands for “earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization.” It’s one measure of a...
Learn more
Profit Margin
Margin of Error
A company’s profit margin measures the portion of its total sales that it gets to keep as...
Learn more
The Stock Market
Greed Is Good
The stock market is the collection of physical and electronic markets where buyers and sellers come together...
Learn more
Financing a Start-up
Sink or Swim
If you’re trying to get a start-up off the ground, chances are you’ll need some cash to...
Learn more
REITs
Take Stock
A real estate investment trust, or REIT, is a company that owns, manages, or finances real estate....
Learn more
Short Selling
The Big Short
Short selling is a way to bet that a stock will fall in price. Normally, an investor...
Learn more
Investing
Piece of the Pie
Investing is putting your money to work in the hopes of earning a return. You probably already...
Learn more
Opportunity Cost
Fork in the Road
Opportunity cost is the return or benefit you miss out on by choosing one option over the...
Learn more
ETFs
Jack-of-All-Trades
Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are investment vehicles similar to mutual funds. Like mutual funds, ETFs are professionally managed...
Learn more
How to Start a Start-up
Go Big or Go Home
Although plenty of start-ups fail, the ones that succeed can do so wildly. Beyond a financial payoff,...
Learn more
Stocks
Buy Buy Buy
Stocks are pieces of ownership in companies. If you bought one stock of, say, Amazon, and Amazon...
Learn more
Independent Contractor
Free Agent
An independent contractor is someone who is self-employed and works for clients as a nonemployee. Independent contractors...
Learn more
Securities
Market Maker
“Securities” is the term used to describe stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and other types of financial investments....
Learn more
Real Estate
Location, Location, Location
Buying real estate—whether on your own or by pooling your resources with other investors—is one possible way...
Learn more
