Money Lessons with Andrew Temte, PhD, CFA

In this episode of Money Lessons, Andy asks whether the work you're paid for fits the purpose you have — and what it costs you when it doesn't. He defines purpose, alignment, misalignment, and golden handcuffs, then prices misalignment three ways in dollars: disengagement that lets your skills fade, golden handcuffs that make leaving a calculation instead of a feeling, and drift that keeps your human capital from growing. Gallup's newest numbers are here, including the fun fact that low engagement cost the world economy about $10 trillion in 2025. AndrewTemte.com

In this episode of Money Lessons, Andy turns to the earners the pay stub episodes left out: the self-employed, the independent contractor, and the side gig. He defines the five terms that matter — self-employed, the 1099, net earnings, self-employment tax, and estimated payments — and works through the tax bill on the same $50,000 last week's employee earned, so listeners hear what happens when both halves of Social Security and Medicare land on the self employed. A trip back to 1943 explains why the self-employed still pay the way every American once did, and why the IRS wants four payments a year instead of one. The episode closes with Andy's rule for anyone earning without a pay stub: set the tax money aside the day the payment arrives, and put the four dates on the calendar. AndrewTemte.com

In this episode of Money Lessons, Andy explains how the federal income tax is calculated, starting with four definitions every taxpayer needs: taxable income, the tax bracket, the marginal rate, and the effective rate. He works a single filer's 2026 tax one bracket at a time to show why someone in the 22 percent bracket pays about 13 percent, and why a raise never leaves you with less after tax. From there he explains how an employer estimates withholding every payday, why a refund is your own money coming back without interest, and how the Form W-4 lets you change that estimate at any time. AndrewTemte.com

In this episode of Money Lessons, Andy reads a pay stub for the lines most people skip past. He sorts every deduction into two types — the ones the law requires and the ones you elected, usually in the paperwork on your first day — and explains why a health premium, an HSA, and a retirement contribution come out of your pay before your taxes are figured, and why the federal taxes don't all treat those deductions the same way. Along the way he clears up the most common misunderstanding on the stub: the Social Security line is a tax paid to today's retirees, not a deposit into an account with your name on it, and the story of the first person ever to collect a monthly check shows why. He closes on the pay that never appears on the stub at all — the employer's share of the premium and the retirement match — and why two jobs with the same salary can pay very different amounts. AndrewTemte.com