How content gets made here.

Three commitments that govern everything else.

The numbers come from the source. Every figure on this site can be traced to the federal agency that publishes it. Tax brackets cite the IRS. Securities rules cite the SEC. Bank-insurance figures cite the FDIC. Federal interest rates cite the Federal Reserve. There is no “experts say.” There is no “according to industry sources.” If we can’t link the figure to a federal source, it does not go on the page.

Calculators show their working. Every calculator does the math the relevant agency publishes — and shows the formula underneath the result. You can audit it. You can copy it into your own spreadsheet. Nothing is hidden behind a black box.

The editorial team checks the content. Every page that touches a real money decision goes through structured editorial review before it publishes — anchored to the primary source, checked for accuracy, completeness, and framing. The editor’s name and review date appear on the published page. Every page is re-reviewed once a year for current-year accuracy.

These three commitments are the entire content philosophy. The rest of this document is how we operationalize them.

What we cite — and what we don’t.

For every numeric figure, rule, rate, limit or threshold on the site, the source is one of a defined set of federal agencies. Other sources can be referenced for context, but they cannot stand alone as the authority for a figure.

Why the line is drawn here. Every additional layer between you and the publishing agency is a chance for a figure to age, be misquoted, or be subtly reinterpreted to serve someone else’s purpose. We cite the agency directly because that’s the only version of the rule guaranteed to be the current one.

Limited exception: peer-reviewed academic research from named institutions is acceptable as supporting context (longevity statistics, behavioral economics findings) but never as the primary source for a regulatory figure.

Every figure traced. Every figure dated.

For every numeric figure on the site, the same procedure applies:

1. The figure is traced to the federal source’s most recent publication (e.g., the current IRS revenue procedure for contribution limits).
2. The source is linked inline on the page — to the specific source document, not just the agency homepage.
3. The figure is year-tagged on the page — e.g., “For tax year 2026, the contribution limit is…” — so you never have to guess which year’s rule you’re reading.
4. Rate tables (HYSA, CD, mortgage) carry an explicit As of [Month YYYY] stamp on the rate paragraph itself.
5. A second person verifies the source link works and the figure matches what the source says.
6. When two sources appear to conflict, precedence goes to the most recently-issued, agency-published document.

The detailed verification process — including how disputed figures are resolved and how source-of-truth decisions are documented — is in our Fact-Checking Policy.

Editorial review — before and after publish.

Every page that touches a real money decision goes through a structured editorial review before publication. The reviewer checks five things: source quality, factual accuracy, framing, completeness, and timeliness. A draft can be signed off, sent back for changes, rejected outright, or escalated to a second reviewer when the topic spans multiple areas.

The review is anchored to the primary source. Tax content is verified against IRS Revenue Procedures and IRS Notices. Retirement content against IRS limits and SSA fact sheets. Investment content against SEC filings and FINRA notices. Mortgage content against HUD, FHFA, and Federal Reserve releases. Debt and credit content against CFPB publications and federal student-loan program rules.

Every reviewed page carries the editor’s name and review date visible on the published page itself — not buried in a policy footer. Pages are re-checked once a year on a rolling cadence to verify current-year accuracy.

If a future contributor or contracted reviewer holds a relevant professional credential (CPA, CFP®, NMLS, CFA, JD, EA), that credential will be displayed on the page they signed off on and on the authors page — verified against the publishing body’s registry. We don’t display credentials we can’t verify.

When the numbers change, the page changes.

Update triggers and their target turnaround:

• IRS announcements — contribution limits, bracket adjustments, new credits, expired provisions: pages updated within 30 days.
• State revenue department announcements — withholding tables, bracket changes, new state credits: pages updated within 30 days.
• Federal Reserve rate changes — rate-table pages refreshed within 7 days.
• Monthly — HYSA, CD and mortgage rate tables refreshed against current market rates.
• Annually (January) — every tax-related page re-checked against the new tax year’s rules.
• Annually (rolling) — every page touching a real money decision is re-reviewed by our editorial team.

When a guide is updated, the “last updated” date on the page changes, and any material change is logged in the page’s update history. Minor updates (typo fixes, broken-link repairs) do not change the last-updated date.

Errors logged. Corrections visible.

If we publish something wrong — a figure, a rule, a framing decision — we want to know. The process:

1. Report the error via the contact form or by email. Include the page URL and what you believe is wrong.
2. We investigate within 5 business days. The original reviewer is consulted where the error touches their credential area.
3. If the error is material, the page is corrected and a visible “Corrected on Mar 4, 2026” notice is added at the top of the page.
4. The correction is logged on our public corrections log — entry, original text, corrected text, date.
5. If the error reveals a process failure, the editorial process itself is reviewed.

Minor typos and broken links are fixed silently. Anything affecting a figure, rule, or framing decision is corrected publicly with a visible notice.

Where AI helps. Where it doesn’t.

AI is used for: research synthesis (summarizing what an agency document says), drafting assistance (initial paragraph structure), and fact-checking augmentation (cross-referencing claims against source documents to surface possible discrepancies for a human to investigate).

AI is not used for:

• Final review. A credentialed human always signs off before publish.
• Original source verification. A human always confirms the source link works and the figure matches what the source actually says.
• Content claims without a verifiable federal source. AI cannot generate the source — the source has to exist first.

Articles that received material AI assistance carry a disclosure on the page. The full AI-use policy — including what counts as material assistance, how it’s labeled, and what changes when AI tooling itself changes — is in our AI Disclosure & Editorial Process.

No source on this site has ever been AI-fabricated, hallucinated, or generated without human verification.

The topics we deliberately stay out of.

Some content categories are outside what this site does, by design. We don’t compete in these areas because we don’t believe a website is the right place to publish them.

• Personalised investment or tax advice. We do not say “buy X stock” or “convert N dollars to Roth this year.” Decisions involving your specific situation belong with a licensed fiduciary who knows your full picture.
• Trading signals, crypto picks, or “next 10x” coverage. Speculation is not our format.
• Get-rich-quick, MLM, or “passive income while you sleep” content. Not what this site is for.
• Reviews ranked by commission rate. We don’t take affiliate commissions, paid placements, or sponsored content. Product reviews and rankings are editorial decisions only — there’s no revenue flow on the site that could compromise them.

Who owns what.

The editorial lead is responsible for overall content standards, source policy, the question of what publishes, and final publication decisions. The editorial lead can be reached through the contact form.

The editorial team is responsible for the technical accuracy of content within their qualification area. Each editor’s role, background, and topic coverage is on their individual page at /authors/.

Operational decisions — calculator architecture, site maintenance, business-model decisions — sit with the publisher. Editorial decisions and operational decisions are kept structurally separate.

This policy is reviewed and updated annually, or whenever a process changes that affects what readers can expect.

How to flag a problem or ask a question.

The fastest way is the contact form. Editorial-process questions, error reports, corrections, topic suggestions, and editorial pitches all come through there.

The public corrections log is at /corrections/ — every material correction since launch, with the original and corrected text.

Specific application areas:

• To report an error in a figure or framing — contact form, with the page URL and the specific issue.
• To suggest a topic — contact form, with the question or decision you’re trying to research.
• To apply to the reviewer panel — contact form, with your credential, license number where applicable, and a brief note on the topics you cover.
• For press inquiries — contact form, marked “Press.”