Editorial standards

How we research and source

Every calculator default value (interest rates, inflation, tax brackets, contribution limits, mortgage rates, etc.) is sourced to a public dataset. We use:

• FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) for macroeconomic data — Fed funds rate, 10-year Treasury yield, CPI inflation
• BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics) for CPI-U inflation history
• IRS for tax brackets, contribution limits, and tax rules
• U.S. Treasury Fiscal Data API for national debt and federal balance sheet figures
• Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey for 30-year fixed rates
• FDIC + Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances for savings-rate and net-worth benchmarks
• CFPB for consumer-protection rules and debt guidance
• SEC + Investor.gov for investment-product rules and disclosures

When we cite a source in an article, we link to the original dataset or publication — not a secondary summary. If a source disagrees with a "common wisdom" answer, we say so.

How we fact-check

• Every dollar figure in every article is matched against the calculator's actual math output. If the article says "$200/month at 7% for 30 years is $244,000," that number came from the calculator at moneyscale.app — not from a different source.
• Every tax number (contribution limit, bracket threshold, FICA cap) is verified against the IRS publication for the current tax year, with the year stated in the article body.
• Every macro stat (CPI, Fed funds rate, 10-year yield) is sourced to FRED with the as-of date implied by the publish or last-reviewed date on the article.
• Articles are reviewed quarterly. Any article whose numbers have shifted (new IRS limits, new mortgage rates, new CPI prints) is updated and re-stamped with a new "Last reviewed" date.

What we will say

• Plain-English explanations of how personal-finance math works.
• The trade-offs behind common decisions (Roth vs. Traditional, avalanche vs. snowball, rent vs. buy), with the math made concrete.
• The frameworks and rules of thumb professionals actually use, with their limits.
• Honest comparisons of products at the category level (high-yield savings accounts, brokerages, mortgage marketplaces).

What we won't say

• "Buy this stock." We don't pick individual securities. Money Scale is education, not investment advice.
• "This is the best [card / fund / account]." We rank categories, not specific products. The "best" choice depends on your specific situation.
• "Guaranteed returns." Markets aren't guaranteed. We use "historically," "expected," "common assumption" — never "will."
• "Get rich quick." Personal finance is mostly a decades-long compounding game. Anyone selling a faster path is usually selling something else.
• Personalized advice. For your specific situation, talk to a licensed CFP, CPA, or fiduciary. Money Scale provides the framework; a professional applies it to your numbers.

Authors and review process

Every guide carries a byline naming the person accountable for it. Today that is our editor, Ethan Ginsberg, who reviews and approves every article before it goes live.

Money Scale articles are produced with AI assistance and then put through a strict checking process: every number is recomputed against our own calculators, and every figure, tax rule, and quoted statistic is verified against primary sources (the IRS, SSA, the Federal Reserve, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics) as of the publish date. Ethan Ginsberg owns that final review and is accountable for what ships.

In practice, "recomputed" means the worked examples are re-run through the same calculator engine that powers the tools on this site, with the inputs stated in the article — so you can open the linked calculator, enter the same numbers, and get the same answer.

We are not registered investment advisors, CPAs, attorneys, or financial planners, and we don't claim any certification. Money Scale's content is educational information; it is not a substitute for advice from a licensed professional who knows your specific situation.

Corrections

If we get a number wrong — a tax limit, a rate, a calculation, a sourced statistic — we want to know immediately. Email hello@moneyscale.app with the page URL and what's wrong. Corrections are made within 72 hours, the page's "Last reviewed" date is updated, a dated correction note is added to the corrected article, and the fix is listed in the log below.

Correction log

• September 29, 2026

  Avalanche vs Snowball: Which Debt Payoff Method Actually Saves You More? — The worked example's interest totals, payoff months, and weighted APR did not match our debt payoff calculator, and the example listed the same payoff order for both methods. We replaced it with a debt mix where the two methods pick different orders and recomputed every figure with the calculator engine.

• September 29, 2026

  Compound Interest Calculator FAQ — The compounding-frequency answer rounded its example to "$76K vs $81K". It now states the exact results for the stated inputs: about $76,123 (annual) vs $81,165 (monthly).

How we get paid

Money Scale is free to use and is funded by display advertising (Google AdSense ads load only if you accept advertising cookies), optional reader support on Ko-fi, and our newsletter. No affiliate partner links are live today; if we add them, every commercial link will be labeled "Partner offer" and editorial decisions will stay independent of them. Advertisers and partners never see or approve our content before it publishes. Read the full affiliate disclosure for what we'll and won't recommend.