Taxes
The one line item you can influence without a raise.
Taxes are the one line item on a household's income statement that responds to skill. This course teaches the structure of the code at a working level — the 1040 line by line, the schedules that matter, and the deductions and credits that actually move the number.
You will build a one-page tax dashboard for your own household — the fifteen numbers that determine your annual tax outcome — and use it to make decisions during the year rather than in April.
- 01
Read a Form 1040 line by line.
- 02
Distinguish marginal from effective rates.
- 03
Identify the deductions and credits that apply to your household.
- — Course 102 — Personal Finance.
- — Course 104 — Income.
1–2 weeks · ~5 hours plus the Assignment.
- IModule · ~1.5 hours.
The structure of the code
Where the taxes come from.
Federal, state, and payroll taxes together shape most households' effective rate. Understanding the shape is prerequisite to changing the outcome.
What You Will Be Able To Do- — Trace the nine steps from gross income to tax due.
- — Distinguish marginal from effective rates without confusion.
- — State the effect of state and payroll taxes on your effective rate.
Why hereThe structure is stable across administrations. Learn it once, for good.
- IIModule · ~1 hour.
The 1040
The form, in institutional detail.
The Form 1040 is the annual audit of your household by the state. Reading it is a working skill, not a specialist one.
What You Will Be Able To Do- — Read your own 1040 line by line.
- — Identify which schedules apply to your situation and why.
- — Detect a preparer's error before it becomes a filing error.
Why hereThe document you sign in April deserves to be understood by the household that signs it.
- IIIModule · ~1 hour.
Deductions and credits
The knobs that actually move the number.
Deductions and credits are the levers that actually move the tax number for most households. This module ranks them by household relevance.
What You Will Be Able To Do- — Decide between standard and itemized deduction defensibly.
- — Time retirement contributions to your marginal rate.
- — Claim the credits you are entitled to without triggering the errors.
Why hereHouseholds routinely leave four figures a year on the table by defaulting past the levers they could pull.
- IVModule · ~1.5 hours plus the Assignment.
Advanced levers
The moves that require intent.
Tax-loss harvesting, charitable structuring, and account-order optimization are the levers that require intent. This module teaches when to pull each.
What You Will Be Able To Do- — Harvest losses without violating the wash-sale rule.
- — Structure charitable giving through a DAF or QCD when appropriate.
- — Produce a one-page tax dashboard for your household.
Why hereThe advanced levers pay for the course several times over — if the Scholar actually pulls them.
Tax planning done in November beats tax preparation done in April, every year. Timing is the point.