1. Question selection
Questions are picked from real searches — what people actually type into Google when they want a personal finance answer. We avoid topics where the honest answer is "talk to a CPA" or "depends on your state law," unless we can give a useful starting point.
2. Primary sources only
Every answer is built from primary sources, not other blogs:
- FDIC — deposit insurance, bank rules, and survey data
- IRS — tax rules, contribution limits, and forms
- Federal Reserve — interest rate data, household debt and credit reports (G.19, Z.1)
- Treasury / TreasuryDirect — bonds, I-bonds, Series EE
- FINRA — investment rules, BrokerCheck, suitability standards
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — credit reporting, mortgages, debt collection
- Social Security Administration — benefit calculations and rules
Sources used in each answer are listed at the bottom of the question page. If a source ever moves or disappears, we replace it.
3. Plain language
Every page opens with a plain-English answer block before the longer explanation. The longer explanation exists for people who want the reasoning. Jargon is defined the first time it appears. We do not pad articles to hit a word count.
4. Dated and verified
Every published question carries two dates in its frontmatter: publishedAt
and lastVerified. The verified date is updated whenever the
page is rechecked against current source data — for example, when the IRS publishes new contribution
limits each November, the affected pages are reviewed and re-stamped.
5. Corrections policy
If an answer is wrong, we correct it and add a brief note at the bottom of the page describing what changed and when. We do not silently rewrite history. If you find a mistake, email [email protected] and we will fix it as quickly as we can verify the correction.
6. What we are not
AnswerQA is an editorial site, not a licensed financial advisor, tax preparer, or attorney. It exists to explain — not to advise on a specific situation. For decisions involving meaningful money, taxes, or legal consequences, talk to a qualified professional. Read more on the about page.
7. No ads, no affiliate links
AnswerQA does not earn money from advertising or affiliate commissions. We do not recommend specific financial products in exchange for payment. This is the simplest way to keep the answers honest, and it is a constraint we plan to keep.