About
Our Editorial Standards
WealthPlanner publishes financial calculators and guides in a category Google classifies as Your Money or Your Life (YMYL). We hold ourselves to the highest editorial standard because inaccurate financial information causes real financial harm.
Primary Sources — Where Our Numbers Come From
Every WealthPlanner calculator is built on published data from authoritative government and institutional sources. We do not use proprietary models, black-box algorithms, or unverified third-party data. The underlying formulas are extracted into pure, testable functions with unit tests that verify accuracy against known inputs and outputs.
Our primary data sources include:
Social Security Administration (SSA)
Benefit formulas, bend points, full retirement age tables, cost-of-living adjustments, and earnings test thresholds. Used in our Social Security calculators.
Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
Tax brackets, standard deductions, contribution limits (401(k), IRA, Roth, HSA), IRMAA thresholds, required minimum distribution tables, and inherited IRA rules under the SECURE Act (2019) and SECURE 2.0 (2022). Used across our tax and retirement calculators.
Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED)
Historical inflation rates (CPI-U), interest rates, and economic indicators. Used for inflation assumptions in all calculators that project future values.
Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF)
Net worth percentile data by age group (2022 survey, most recent available). Used in our Net Worth Calculator to show users where they stand relative to their peers.
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
Consumer Expenditure Survey data for spending benchmarks and regional cost-of-living adjustments. Used in our Budget Calculator and Emergency Fund Calculator.
Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF)
Healthcare cost benchmarks and employer health insurance coverage data. Referenced in retirement expense projections.
Every calculator has a dedicated methodology page that documents the specific formulas, assumptions, data sources, and limitations. These are linked from the calculator page itself and from our general methodology overview.
Content Review Process
Content is researched, written, and fact-checked by the WealthPlanner editorial team, with every load-bearing figure tied to a published source cited inline. No page has yet been reviewed by an outside credentialed professional, and no page carries a reviewer byline. When we add expert reviewers — Certified Financial Planners (CFPs) who are fee-only fiduciaries — their review will follow the standard below.
Planned Review Requirements by Content Tier
| Tier | Content Type | Review Requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | Basic financial literacy (budgeting, emergency funds, savings) | Editorial review — factual accuracy check against primary sources |
| Tier 2 | Investment literacy tools (fee analysis, Roth conversion, Social Security optimization) | CFP review required — reviewer bylined on page |
| Tier 3 | Advisor matching, financial planning guidance | CFP review required — reviewer bylined + methodology page |
Reviewers will not be anonymous editorial footnotes. Each will be a named, credentialed professional whose qualifications are verifiable through public registries (FINRA BrokerCheck, CFP Board, SEC IAPD), and their byline will appear on the page they reviewed. Until a page shows a reviewer's name, it has been checked by the editorial team only.
The Contributing Advisor Program
The Contributing Advisor program is how outside review will work: fee-only CFPs who review and co-author content in their area of specialty, so that complex financial topics are checked by someone with professional expertise. No Contributing Advisor has reviewed a page yet.
Contributing Advisors will receive a named byline on every piece they review and a profile page with their credentials, in exchange for review time rather than payment. We will look for reviewers among fee-only planners, for example members of NAPFA, XYPN, and the Garrett Planning Network, whose membership standards match WealthPlanner's fee-only commitment.
Editorial Independence — How Affiliate Relationships Work
WealthPlanner does not earn affiliate commissions today: no affiliate links are live on the site. We may add them later, for example for robo-advisors or savings accounts, to fund a free platform. If we do, these rules apply.
What affiliate relationships do not influence:
- Calculator results. No calculation output is adjusted based on which product the user might purchase. The math is the math — it comes from SSA, IRS, and FRED, not from affiliate partners.
- Product ranking. When multiple products appear on a page, they are ordered by relevance to the user's calculated situation, not by commission rate.
- Editorial recommendations. Guides recommend actions (save more, convert to Roth, reduce fees) — not specific products. Affiliate CTAs appear after the educational content, not in place of it.
- Advisor directory listings. The directory is in preparation. Listings appear in this order: paid listings first, labelled as paid; then firms that have claimed their profile; then all other firms, alphabetical within each group. No affiliate arrangement changes the order.
All affiliate links carry rel="nofollow sponsored" as required by FTC guidelines. Where an affiliate relationship exists, it is disclosed above the call-to-action, not in small print at the bottom of the page.
Corrections Policy
Financial calculators that produce incorrect results cause real harm. We take errors seriously.
Reporting an error
Use our contact page with the page URL and a description of the issue. Include the inputs you used and the result you received, if applicable.
What happens next
We read every report. Reports of a wrong calculator result are looked at first, because a wrong number is the most harmful error we can make.
Correction process
When an error is confirmed, we fix the underlying code, update the methodology page, and publish a correction note on the affected page with the date and nature of the fix.
Version history
Every calculator displays a "Last updated" date. When formulas change — whether due to annual IRS updates, SSA adjustments, or error corrections — the date is updated and the change is noted on the methodology page.
YMYL Compliance and Legal Boundaries
WealthPlanner is not a registered investment advisor. We do not provide personalized financial advice. Every calculator page opens its disclaimer with this sentence, followed by a reminder to consult a licensed professional before acting:
“This calculator is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.”
This boundary is structural, not cosmetic. Calculators quantify a person's situation using published formulas. They do not recommend specific actions. The education layer explains what a number means — it does not tell the user what to do about it. That is the advisor's job, and it is why the advisor directory exists.
Content that cannot be defended as general education is rewritten before publication, and Contributing Advisor reviewers, once added, will be asked to flag anything that crosses the line from education to personalized advice.
Questions or Concerns
For editorial inquiries, error reports, or questions about our methodology, contact us at our contact page.
For questions about the Contributing Advisor program, see our About page or use our contact page and mention the Contributing Advisor program in your message.