Disclosure

How we make money.

Last updated: April 2026.

MoneyBrief is an independent, educational publication. We're paid in four ways. All four are disclosed, and our editorial picks are walled off from them.

1. Paid subscriptions — MoneyBrief Pro

Readers who want the Thursday walkthrough, the full calculator suite, and the archive pay us directly. $15/month or $144/year. Pro+Alerts is $24/month or $228/year. You can cancel in two clicks.

2. Affiliate links

When we recommend a category ("a high-yield savings account," "a fee-only advisor platform"), we often link to specific partners we've vetted. If you open an account through our link, the partner pays us a commission. You pay nothing extra.

What this doesn't affect: our editorial picks. We decide what's worth recommending first, then check if there's an affiliate program — not the other way around. We regularly recommend tools (TreasuryDirect, Fidelity HSA, IRS Direct Pay) that pay us nothing.

How we keep the wall: the "Do This" block in every newsletter never names a specific product. Affiliate recommendations live in a separate "Tool of the Week" block, clearly labeled, with the commission relationship disclosed inline.

3. Advisor lead matching

Our advisor-match form routes readers to fee-only fiduciary advisors in their state. We receive a referral fee from the advisor's network when a match results in an engagement. This does not change what you pay the advisor, and it never affects which advisors we match you with.

We match only with fee-only fiduciaries — never commissioned brokers, never insurance agents posing as advisors.

4. B2B sponsorships + licensing

Fintech companies, community banks, credit unions, and RIAs can work with us in four ways: newsletter placements, sponsored research reports, white-label content licensing, and employer wellness programs. Every sponsored placement is clearly labeled as sponsored.

B2B revenue never affects editorial. A bank that sponsors our newsletter doesn't get favorable rate coverage, and a fintech that licenses our content doesn't get product mentions in the free brief.

What we don't do

• Sell your email address. Ever. Not to advertisers, not to data brokers, not to lead buyers.
• Run programmatic ads. No display ads, no retargeting pixels, no pop-ups.
• Take money for editorial coverage. Paying us cannot get you mentioned in the free brief or Pro walkthroughs.
• Offer personalized investment advice. Education only. We're not licensed advisors.

How to check our math

Every data point in every issue is cited inline: FRED, IRS, BLS, FDIC, Freddie Mac PMMS, Bankrate, DepositAccounts, FOMC. If we can't source it, we don't publish it. If we get something wrong, we fix it publicly — in the next issue and on the original page.