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The Teloria library

Short lessons that build on each other. Start anywhere; each topic begins with the basics.

New lessons are added regularly: an AI agent writes them on a weekly schedule and checks them against official sources, and a person reviews each one before it is published.

Look up a financial term in the glossary

Try the ideas with your own numbers

Start here

Not sure where to begin? Each path is a short route through the library, in an order where each lesson builds on the one before.

New to the United States

Paperwork, driving, health care, housing and work in your first months here.

  1. Lesson 1 · 4 min readOpen to everyone

    Visas, green cards and citizenship: how the system fits together

    Visa, status, green card, A-number, USCIS: what each word means, which agency does what, and why status keeps coming up in everything that follows.

  2. Lesson 2 · 4 min readMembers

    Social Security numbers and ITINs

    The two nine digit numbers newcomers meet constantly: what a Social Security number is for, what an ITIN is and is not, where each is requested, and how to keep the number away from identity thieves.

  3. Lesson 3 · 5 min readMembers

    Finding real immigration help, and spotting the scams

    Only licensed attorneys and Department of Justice accredited representatives may advise on an immigration case. Here is how to check a credential, what the usual fraud looks like, and where to report it.

  4. Lesson 4 · 4 min readMembers

    Your first weeks: an address, a phone line and the lights on

    How a mailing address, a phone line and utility accounts fit together in your first weeks in the United States, why providers ask newcomers for a deposit, and which documents you will be asked for again and again.

  5. Lesson 5 · 4 min readMembers

    Driving in the US: licenses, REAL ID and what your state decides

    Driver licenses in the United States are issued by each state, not by the federal government, so the tests, the accepted documents and the rules about immigration status differ from one state to the next.

  6. Lesson 6 · 4 min readMembers

    Insurance in the United States, and the words every policy uses

    Auto, renters and life insurance in the United States: the words every policy uses, how a deductible works, and why your state insurance department is the place to ask. Health insurance has its own lessons in this series.

  7. Lesson 7 · 4 min readMembers

    How health insurance works here

    There is no national health service in the United States, so a plan pays part of the cost of covered care and you pay the rest. This lesson explains the vocabulary, the order of the bills, and how one year adds up.

  8. Lesson 8 · 4 min readMembers

    Where health coverage comes from

    Health coverage in the United States comes from a job, the Health Insurance Marketplace, Medicaid, CHIP or Medicare. This lesson explains each route in general terms and where the official rules live.

  9. Lesson 9 · 5 min readMembers

    Emergency care and the bills that come after

    What calling 911 reaches, what federal law requires of hospital emergency departments, how an emergency room differs from urgent care, and what the letters and bills that follow mean.

  10. Lesson 10 · 4 min readMembers

    Renting a home: the lease, the deposit and your rights

    How renting works in the United States: what a lease commits you to, what landlords ask for, how a security deposit comes back, and which rights come from law rather than from your landlord.

  11. Lesson 11 · 4 min readMembers

    Credit scores when your history did not come with you

    Credit history does not cross borders. What a credit report and a credit score are, why arriving here often means starting with an empty file, and the ordinary ways a record begins.

  12. Lesson 12 · 5 min readMembers

    Your rights at work, and how a paycheck is built

    How gross pay becomes net pay, what the federal minimum wage, tips and overtime rules require, and which agency handles wages, safety and discrimination.

  13. Lesson 13 · 4 min readMembers

    How everyday law works, and where to get help

    Law in the United States is layered across federal, state, county and city, which is why answers differ by place. Here is how tax filing works, where to report a business (the FTC, state attorneys general, the CFPB), and the free help behind Free File, VITA, 911, 988, 211, libraries and legal aid.

How markets work

What a market is, who takes part, and why prices move.

  1. Lesson 1 · 5 min readOpen to everyone

    What a Financial Market Is

    A plain explanation of what a financial market is: who trades in it, what an exchange does, how a company's first sale of shares differs from later trading between investors, and how a brokerage account fits in.

  2. Lesson 2 · 5 min readMembers

    Why prices move

    A beginner explanation of why market prices rise and fall: buyers and sellers agreeing on a price, expectations about the future, news, interest rates and mood, and why short-term moves are noisy and unpredictable.

  3. Lesson 3 · 4 min readMembers

    What inflation does to savings

    How inflation is measured in the United States, why a savings balance can grow while what it buys shrinks, and the difference between nominal and real returns.

  4. Lesson 4 · 4 min readMembers

    Brokerage accounts and how orders work

    What a brokerage account and a broker-dealer are, how to look up a firm, what SIPC protects, and how market, limit and stop orders and T+1 settlement work.

  5. Lesson 5 · 4 min readMembers

    What the Federal Reserve does

    How the Federal Reserve is organized, the two goals Congress gave it, the target range for the federal funds rate, and how changes in that rate tend to reach savings, loans and credit cards.

Stocks

Owning a piece of a company, and what that does and does not mean.

  1. Lesson 1 · 4 min readOpen to everyone

    What owning a stock means

    A share of stock is a small piece of ownership in a company. This lesson explains the claim on profits and value that comes with it, the voting rights, the limits of that ownership, why companies sell shares, and why shareholders are paid last if a company fails.

  2. Lesson 2 · 4 min readMembers

    How stocks make or lose money

    The two ways a stock investment can gain value, price increases and dividends, how it loses value, and how total return combines both, with a worked example on $1,000 and a look at why a single stock carries more risk than many.

  3. Lesson 3 · 4 min readMembers

    Dividends: how companies share profits with shareholders

    What a dividend is, who decides to pay it, the declaration, record, ex-dividend and payment dates, what dividend yield shows, how reinvestment plans work, and how dividends are taxed in brief.

Bonds

Lending money to governments and companies, and how interest rates affect it.

  1. Lesson 1 · 4 min readMembers

    What a bond is

    A bond is a loan you make to a government or a company. This first lesson in the Bonds series defines issuer, face value, coupon and maturity, walks through the interest a $1,000 bond pays, and covers Treasury, municipal and corporate bonds and default risk.

  2. Lesson 2 · 5 min readMembers

    Why bond prices fall when interest rates rise

    A bond's payments are fixed, so when new bonds are issued at higher interest rates, older bonds must get cheaper to compete. A worked example shows how much cheaper, and why longer bonds move more.

  3. Lesson 3 · 4 min readMembers

    TIPS and I bonds: Treasury securities that adjust for inflation

    Two kinds of US Treasury securities have terms that adjust for inflation. Here is how TIPS and I bonds work, how people buy them, the account rules and how they are generally taxed.

  4. Lesson 4 · 4 min readMembers

    Bond funds, corporate bonds and credit ratings

    How government, corporate and municipal bonds differ, what credit ratings do and do not tell you, how a bond fund differs from a single bond, and how duration gives a rough idea of rate sensitivity.

Funds and ETFs

Buying many investments at once, and what it costs.

  1. Lesson 1 · 4 min readMembers

    Funds: buying many investments at once

    A beginner's guide to mutual funds and ETFs: what a fund share represents, how net asset value is calculated, why mutual funds are priced once a day while ETFs trade all day, and what diversification does and does not protect against.

  2. Lesson 2 · 5 min readMembers

    Index funds and what fees cost over time

    What a market index is, how an index fund differs from an actively managed one, how to read an expense ratio, and a worked example showing what a 0.05 percent fee and a 1 percent fee do to the same $10,000 over 30 years.

  3. Lesson 3 · 4 min readMembers

    ETFs and mutual funds: how they differ

    How mutual funds and ETFs are bought, sold and priced, what each one can cost, how taxes can differ, and where to find a fund's prospectus.

  4. Lesson 4 · 4 min readMembers

    Target-date funds and how they change over time

    What a target-date fund is, how its glide path shifts its mix over time, why funds sharing a target year can differ, and how these funds are used as defaults in 401(k) plans.

Retirement accounts

401(k), IRA, Roth: how US retirement accounts work.

  1. Lesson 1 · 5 min readOpen to everyone

    How a 401(k) works

    A plain-language walkthrough of the workplace 401(k): payroll contributions, the 2026 IRS employee limit, traditional versus Roth tax treatment, employer matching with a worked example, vesting, and what happens with early withdrawals.

  2. Lesson 2 · 4 min readMembers

    IRAs: traditional and Roth

    Lesson 2 of the retirement accounts series explains the IRA you open yourself: who can contribute, how traditional and Roth tax treatment differ, the 2026 IRS contribution limit, and where income limits apply.

  3. Lesson 3 · 4 min readMembers

    Health savings accounts (HSAs)

    What a health savings account is, who can contribute, the IRS limits for 2026 and 2027, how federal and state taxes treat it, and what happens to the money over time.

  4. Lesson 4 · 4 min readMembers

    Rollovers when you change jobs

    What can happen to a 401(k) when you leave a job, how direct and indirect rollovers work, the 60-day rule, the 20% withholding and the taxes involved, as the IRS and the Department of Labor describe them.

Risk and diversification

What risk really means, and why spreading it out matters.

  1. Lesson 1 · 4 min readMembers

    What investment risk means

    A beginner's explanation of investment risk as the range of possible results, covering volatility, the link between risk and potential return, inflation risk in cash, and why short-term money is treated differently from long-term money.

  2. Lesson 2 · 4 min readMembers

    Diversification: spreading money out

    A beginner's explanation of diversification, using a $1,000 example comparing one company with a fund holding 500 companies. Covers spreading across companies, industries, asset types and countries, what diversification cannot do, and what rebalancing means.

  3. Lesson 3 · 4 min readMembers

    Asset allocation and rebalancing

    What asset allocation means, how people think about it in terms of time horizon and risk tolerance, how a mix drifts, the general ways people rebalance, and the taxes and costs that can come with it.

  4. Lesson 4 · 4 min readMembers

    Common investor mistakes and what regulators say about them

    The patterns the SEC and FINRA describe, from panic selling, market timing and chasing hot stocks to frequent trading, overlooked fees, concentration and social media promotions, and what regulators say about each.

Crypto

How crypto assets work, and the risks specific to them.

  1. Lesson 1 · 4 min readMembers

    What a cryptocurrency is

    A beginner introduction to cryptocurrency: a digital asset recorded on a blockchain, how ownership works through private keys and wallets, self-custody versus holding on a platform, and why crypto prices come only from what buyers will pay.

  2. Lesson 2 · 5 min readMembers

    The specific risks of crypto

    Crypto carries risks that bank deposits and brokerage accounts do not share in the same way: sharp price swings, platform failures, lost keys, payments that cannot be undone and scams. This lesson explains each one using guidance from US regulators and the FBI.

  3. Lesson 3 · 4 min readMembers

    Stablecoins and crypto funds

    What stablecoins are and how different designs try to hold a steady value, the 2025 federal law on payment stablecoins, and what you own in an exchange-traded product that holds crypto.

Metals and commodities

Gold, silver, oil: what drives their prices.

  1. Lesson 1 · 5 min readMembers

    Gold and other precious metals as investments

    A beginner's guide to why people hold gold and silver, the three main ways to own them, what each one costs, and the scams that US regulators warn about.

  2. Lesson 2 · 5 min readMembers

    What commodities are and what moves their prices

    Commodities are basic goods such as oil, natural gas, wheat and metals. This lesson explains what moves their prices, how futures contracts work, and why commodity funds can drift from the price of the commodity itself.

  3. Lesson 3 · 4 min readMembers

    Ways to hold gold

    The main ways people get exposure to gold: coins and bars, funds that hold the metal, mining company shares and futures, with their costs, how the IRS taxes gold, and the scams regulators warn about.

Taxes

How investment income is taxed in the United States.

  1. Lesson 1 · 4 min readMembers

    How investment income is taxed in the US

    A beginner's guide to the main US federal taxes on investment income: short-term and long-term capital gains, qualified and ordinary dividends, interest, and how losses offset gains.

  2. Lesson 2 · 5 min readMembers

    Reading a US paycheck

    What happens between gross pay and net pay on a US paycheck: federal withholding and the Form W-4, Social Security and Medicare taxes, state taxes, other deductions and the Form W-2.

  3. Lesson 3 · 4 min readMembers

    Filing your first US tax return

    Who generally has to file a federal income tax return, the forms that arrive first, filing status and the standard deduction, refunds and balances due, and where the IRS offers free help.

  4. Lesson 4 · 4 min readMembers

    The tax forms investors receive

    What Forms 1099-B, 1099-DIV, 1099-INT, 1099-R and 5498 report, when they usually arrive, and why records of cost basis matter.

  5. Lesson 5 · 5 min readMembers

    Money in two countries: the US tax rules to know exist

    US citizens and tax residents are generally taxed on worldwide income. This lesson maps the FBAR, Form 8938 and the foreign tax credit, and where the official answers live.

Banking and credit

Accounts, credit scores, and the foundations before investing.

  1. Lesson 1 · 5 min readMembers

    Bank accounts and emergency savings before investing

    How checking and savings accounts work, what FDIC and NCUA insurance covers and up to what limit, why emergency money is commonly kept in insured accounts, and how high-interest debt compares with investment returns.

  2. Lesson 2 · 4 min readMembers

    Building a monthly budget

    How a monthly budget starts from take-home pay, how fixed and variable costs differ, some approaches people use, and how money sent to family abroad fits in.

  3. Lesson 3 · 4 min readMembers

    An emergency fund

    What an emergency fund is for, why access matters more than return, how FDIC and NCUA insurance apply, how official guides describe its size, and how it can be built in small steps.

  4. Lesson 4 · 4 min readMembers

    How interest works for you and against you

    How simple and compound interest work, what APY on savings and APR on credit each measure, why the two numbers are not directly comparable, and how fixed and variable rates differ.

  5. Lesson 5 · 4 min readMembers

    Credit card statements and minimum payments

    How a credit card statement is laid out: the billing cycle, due date and grace period, the minimum payment and its required warning, interest on a carried balance, and common fees.

  6. Lesson 6 · 4 min readMembers

    Ways people pay down debt

    How people list their debts, two common orderings for extra payments, what consolidation, balance transfers, credit counseling and debt settlement involve, and the rules debt collectors follow.

  7. Lesson 7 · 4 min readMembers

    How to spot money scams and pressure selling

    The warning signs of money scams as the SEC, FTC and FBI describe them, how impostors and relationship investment scams work, how to check an investment professional, and where scams can be reported.

  8. Lesson 8 · 4 min readMembers

    Credit reports and disputing errors

    What a credit report contains, how to get free reports at AnnualCreditReport.com, how to dispute an error with a credit bureau and the company that supplied it, and how fraud alerts and freezes work.