Editorial standards

How we research, source, and publish.

Last updated: April 2026.

MoneyBrief is independent, educational, and personless by design. No individual author owns the voice; no single byline builds a following inside the brand. The voice belongs to MoneyBrief — which is why we can guarantee a consistent standard across every issue, every calculator, every page.

Every number is sourced

If we cite a rate, a limit, a deadline, or a statistic, the source is named inline. Our primary sources:

• FRED (St. Louis Fed) — macro data, Fed funds, treasury yields
• IRS — contribution limits, tax deadlines, publication references
• BLS — CPI, unemployment, wage data
• FDIC — national deposit rate averages
• Freddie Mac PMMS — weekly mortgage rate averages
• FOMC / CME FedWatch — rate decisions, market-implied odds
• Bankrate / DepositAccounts — HYSA, CD, and money-market tables
• TreasuryDirect — T-Bill auction yields
• Morningstar / SHRM / LIMRA — fund, benefits, and insurance data

If we can't source it, we don't publish it. If we get something wrong, we correct it publicly — in the next issue and on the original page.

Education, not advice

We describe categories and frameworks ("a high-yield savings account," "a backdoor Roth conversion," "a term life policy sized for debts + income"). We don't recommend specific products to specific people. Personalized advice belongs to the licensed fiduciaries we route readers to via advisor-match.

Voice rules

• Action-biased. Every piece ends with something a reader can do today, this week, or this month.
• Calm. No doom, no hype, no exclamation marks in headlines.
• Plain language. No jargon without a five-word definition in the same sentence.
• Data first. "Here's what the data shows" beats "We think."
• Anti-shame. No "you should already be doing this." Framing inaction as failure creates shame, not action.
• Dry humor, sparingly. One wry observation per issue, maximum.

The affiliate wall

Affiliate recommendations live in a clearly labeled "Tool of the Week" block — never inside a Do This action. A reader should never be unsure whether they're reading editorial or a sponsored pick. We name the commission relationship inline, every time.

Sponsored content

Sponsored placements are labeled "Sponsored" before the block starts. We don't accept sponsorships that require us to soften our editorial voice, alter a recommendation, or suppress a critical data point.

Corrections

When we're wrong, we fix it visibly — the original article gets a "Correction" block dated and explained; the next issue names the correction. Silent edits are a trust breach we don't make.