Site maps - 10 information architectures

Same tools (Budget, Retirement, Tax, TFSA / bond / debt / emergency fund), ten ways to organise them. Every tool still opens on its executive summary.

1Tool-first

Suits returning users who know which tool they want. Closest to BudgetControl; cheapest to build and easiest to extend.

Home - summary tile per tool
- Budget
  - Overview
  - Income
  - Spending by category
  - Projection
  - Debit watch
- Retirement
  - Am I on track
  - Two-pot withdrawal cost
- Tax
  - SARS income tax / PAYE
- More tools
  - TFSA
  - Bond affordability
  - Debt payoff
  - Emergency fund
- Account

2Life-stage journey

Suits first-time visitors who think "people like me", not "PAYE calculator". Tools repeat across stages with stage-specific demo data.

Home - "Where are you in life?"
- First job (20s)
  - What will my payslip be? (PAYE)
  - First budget
  - Emergency fund
- Building (30s)
  - Bond affordability
  - TFSA
  - Debt payoff
- Family
  - Household budget
  - Debit watch
- Pre-retirement (50s)
  - Am I on track
  - Two-pot withdrawal cost
- Retired
  - Tax in retirement
  - Spending projection

3Goal-based

Suits motivated users arriving with one problem. Each goal page is a mini-plan that chains 2-3 tools in order.

Home - "What do you want to fix?"
- Stop running out before payday
  - Spending → Debit watch → Projection
- Get out of debt
  - Debt payoff → Budget
- Buy a home
  - Bond affordability → Emergency fund
- Retire on time
  - Am I on track → Two-pot → TFSA
- Pay the right tax
  - PAYE → TFSA
- All tools A-Z

4Report-centric

Suits the executive-summary promise most directly - the site is one living "My Money Report". Tools become chapters; printable PDF is the shareable artefact.

My Money Report (home)
- Cover - overall verdict
- Ch 1 Cash flow
  - Income · Spending · Projection
- Ch 2 Debt & debit orders
  - Debit watch · Debt payoff
- Ch 3 Safety net
  - Emergency fund
- Ch 4 Retirement
  - On track · Two-pot
- Ch 5 Tax
  - PAYE · TFSA
- Appendix - your inputs
- Download / share PDF

5Persona-based

Suits targeted marketing and SEO landing pages ("tax calculator for freelancers SA"). Risk: users who fit two personas.

Home - "I am..."
- Salaried employee
  - PAYE · Budget · Retirement
- Freelancer / sole prop
  - Provisional tax · Irregular-income budget · VAT
- Young family
  - Household budget · Emergency fund · Bond
- Couple
  - Shared household · Two incomes
- Retiree
  - Drawdown · Tax in retirement

6Household-data-first

Suits the shared-profile moat literally - enter the household once, then every tool is a "lens" on it. Higher first-visit effort, best long-term retention.

Home - your household at a glance
- My household
  - People
  - Income
  - Spending (statement upload)
  - Pots: RA, pension, TFSA, savings
  - Debts & bond
- Lenses
  - Budget lens
  - Retirement lens
  - Tax lens
  - What-if scenarios
- Assumptions (inflation, returns)
- Account & data export

7Score hub

Suits gamified engagement - one MaxWealth Score out of 100, five pillars, each drilling into the tools. Closest to MyFinHealth's front page.

MaxWealth Score 62/100
- Spend
  - Budget · Spending · Debit watch
- Save
  - Emergency fund · TFSA
- Borrow
  - Debt payoff · Bond
- Plan
  - On track · Two-pot
- Tax
  - PAYE
- Score history & "raise my score" plan

8Today / action inbox

Suits habit-forming weekly return visits - home is a to-do list and alerts, not a menu. Needs real data to shine, so demo data must be good.

Today
- Next actions
  - "Upload September statement"
  - "R4,200/m retirement gap - see options"
- Alerts
  - New debit orders
  - SARS filing season
  - TFSA limit nearly used
- Dashboard (exec summaries)
- Tool library
- My data

9Calendar & tax year

Suits planners and seasonal traffic (February budget speech, July-October filing). Time is the navigation; tools appear when they matter.

Home - this month
- This month
  - Budget vs actual · Debit watch
- Tax year (Mar-Feb)
  - Feb: budget speech → new PAYE tables
  - Mar: TFSA allowance resets
  - Jul-Oct: filing season
- Annual review
  - Year in money · Score change
- Long horizon
  - Retirement · Bond term · Debt-free date

10Learn-then-do (content hub)

Suits Google traffic and trust-building - guides answer the search query, then embed the live calculator. Most SEO, slowest to feel like an app.

Home - popular guides + tools
- Guides
  - Two-pot explained (+ calculator)
  - How PAYE works (+ calculator)
  - How much bond can I afford?
  - TFSA rules in plain English
- Calculators A-Z
- My saved resultsguest session
- Glossary
- Newsletter