This page explains how articles on Finance and Policy get researched, written, checked, and updated. It exists so you can judge the work rather than take it on faith.
Who we write for
People in their twenties making a specific money decision. Not people browsing, and not people who already know the answer. If an article cannot name the decision it helps with, it does not get written.
How we choose what to cover
We look for questions where the honest answer is more complicated than the popular one, and where the gap costs people money. That usually means topics that existing coverage handles badly because the coverage is attached to a product. A comparison written by a company that sells one of the options is not a comparison.
Sourcing
Primary sources first. The IRS revenue procedure, not a calculator site quoting it. The CMS premium notice, not a summary of it. A platform’s own help documentation, not a roundup of what other roundups said. Where a primary source exists, we link to it directly.
Every figure links to where it came from. Numbers in our articles carry an inline link to the document they come from. Each article ends with a source list giving the publisher, the document, the URL, and the date we accessed it.
Calculated, not borrowed. Worked examples are computed rather than copied. When an article says a $9.99 purchase leaves a developer $2.13, that number was run against the current rates, not found somewhere else.
Funders get named. An industry-funded advocacy group and an independent policy nonprofit will publish very different framings of the same data. When a source has a funder with an interest in the conclusion, we say so in the text rather than in a footnote.
Disagreement gets stated. Sources conflict more often than you would expect, particularly on figures that changed recently. When they do, we say so instead of picking the convenient number and presenting it as settled.
The inconvenient parts stay in. If a fact cuts against the argument an article is making, it goes in anyway.
Before an article publishes
Every figure is checked against its source. Every link is opened and confirmed to point at the document cited. Rate-sensitive figures are checked against the most recent official release rather than the version that was current when the article was drafted.
Keeping articles current
Rates change, programs change, and articles go stale. Articles carry a “last verified” date alongside the publication date, and rate-sensitive pieces are reviewed at least once a year and whenever the underlying figures are reissued.
When we change an article after publication, we say what changed and when. See our Corrections Policy.
Who writes this
Craig Adams, [CPA / EA], owns and writes Finance and Policy. He has practised in tax since 2008. He works from primary sources: IRS publications, revenue procedures, and program documents rather than press releases, and every figure in his articles is calculated or traced to its origin. Not a licensed financial adviser.
What I do is read primary sources carefully and show the work, so you can check the reasoning rather than take my word for it. If you find something wrong, tell me: contact@fap-craft.com
We are not licensed financial advisers, insurance brokers, or tax professionals, and we do not present ourselves as any of those. What we do is read primary sources carefully and show the work so you can check it.
What we do not do
We do not accept payment for coverage, placement, or ranking. We do not let advertisers review articles before publication. We do not accept free products in exchange for reviews. See How We Make Money for the full picture.
Nothing on this site is personal financial advice. Nothing here knows your income, your state, your tax situation, or your obligations to other people, and all of those change the right answer.
Telling us we got it wrong
Email contact@fap-craft.com. A correction from a reader is worth more to us than another article.
