How we check our numbers
Primary sources first, every figure dated, and a human checking the math before anything publishes. Here is the whole process.
Where the numbers come from
Primary sources first. The IRS, the Treasury, the text of the statute, and the plan's own documents.
After that, the institution publishing the product. A 529 plan's fee is whatever its own disclosure says it is, not whatever a roundup claims.
Never another blog. If a figure only exists on a content site, it does not go in.
Where we model something ourselves, the assumptions are on the page. Rate, contribution, time horizon, all of it, so you can disagree with the input instead of guessing at it.
Every number carries a date
At the bottom of every article there is a dated line telling you when we last checked the figures in it.
That line is there because tax law moves, limits move and fees move. A correct number from 14 months ago is a wrong number today.
If the date on a page is old and you are about to act on it, open the primary source and check it yourself. We link to it for exactly that reason.
When we update
We update when the rules change. New contribution limits, a change to the statute, fresh IRS guidance, a rate move big enough to change the answer.
When the content changes, the Updated date at the top of the page changes with it.
When nothing changed, we leave the date alone. Refreshing a date on stale content is a trick, and we are not going to run it on you.
Corrections
We fix it.
Then we note the correction at the bottom of the article, say what changed, and date it.
We do not quietly edit a number and walk away. If you read the wrong version, you get to know you read the wrong version.
How we use AI
We use AI tools to research, to model scenarios and to draft.
Every figure is checked by a human against the original source before it publishes.
Nothing goes live without 1 of us reading the whole thing start to finish.
If a number on this site is wrong, that is on us. A tool is not an excuse and we will not offer it as one.
Disclosure
We may earn a referral fee when a reader opens an account or buys a product through a link we recommend, and we say so on the page where it happens.
Nobody pays to be recommended, and a fee never changes a recommendation. The longer version is on the about page.
This is not advice
We are 2 dads, not licensed financial advisors. Nothing here is personalized financial, tax or legal advice.
We tell you what the numbers do. What you do about it is your call. Talk to a professional before you act on any of it.
1 email a week · Free
We do this every week. Come get the next one.
Unsubscribe whenever. We read every reply.