← Money, Drawn · Lesson 1 of 4
A paycheck in parts
The number on a job offer is not the number that reaches the bank. Draw the gross pay as one long bar, then cut off each piece that leaves before you see it: tax, a retirement saving, health cover.
The piece that is left is take-home pay. Seeing the pieces as lengths makes it easier to talk about them: which ones you choose, which ones you do not, and which ones change when pay changes.
A paycheck is $2,000 before anything comes out. $300 goes to tax, $100 to retirement and $150 to health cover. What reaches the bank?
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