How the course works

The course is fully online and self-paced. There are no live classes and no deadlines other than your access period.

The lesson loop

Every lesson follows the same five steps:

1. Concept: a short explanation.
2. Worked example: a persona (Maya, Jordan, Dev, Linda, or Ray and Ana) shows the idea with real numbers.
3. Your numbers, and the effect: you change one part of your plan and watch the result update.
4. Checkpoint: two to four questions. Score 70% or more to unlock the next lesson. Retakes are unlimited and every answer is explained.
5. Common questions: the questions learners ask most about that lesson.

The plan ribbon

The dark bar at the top of lesson and plan pages always shows your plan's headline: whether the money lasts to your plan-to age, your savings at retirement in today's dollars, and your monthly savings pool. When something changes, the numbers flash.

Personas or your own numbers

You can do the whole course with a persona's plan. To use your own numbers, add your birth month and year (never the day) when prompted. You can switch between your plan and a persona's practice copy at any time from My plan.

How long it takes

About 4 to 6 hours in total. Most lessons take 5 to 10 minutes.