Methodology

Editorial method

The encyclopedia is written to a fixed editorial specification: every entry explains what a thing is, why it exists, who generally uses it, how it works, potential benefits and disadvantages, costs, liquidity, tax and regulatory considerations, questions to ask, common mistakes, and alternatives — at three depths (a 30-second take, a detailed discussion, and technical considerations for professionals). Entries are drafted with AI assistance against that specification and house compliance rules, then published with a visible "last reviewed" date. The rules that bind every entry: education never advice; no current tax rates, exemption amounts, or thresholds (they change — professionals verify); no invented statistics or precision; dollar figures only as ranges labeled illustrative.

Market data

Commodity, index, share, ETF, currency, and digital-asset quotes come from Financial Modeling Prep and are delayed/indicative (typically 15–20+ minutes). Every table shows the observation time, not the page-load time. Weekly/Monthly/YTD/YoY columns are computed from daily closing history; a dash means the source has not published a value — figures are never invented.

Government yields

The U.S. Treasury curve (2, 5, 10, 30 years) uses the Treasury's daily par-yield series via FRED (DGS2/DGS5/DGS10/DGS30). Other countries use OECD long-term (10-year) government-yield series via FRED, which are monthly — their observation dates are shown, and changes are expressed in percentage points, never percent.

Calculators

All six calculators are deterministic arithmetic on the visitor's own hypothetical inputs, with assumptions stated beside every result. They contain no market forecasts and no personalization; the estate tool's exemption and rate are inputs precisely because the law changes.

News and research briefs

The News page aggregates mainstream journalism by headline and source, always linking to the original publisher — nothing is hosted or rewritten. The Research Desk is different and labeled: short data briefs written by AI from this site's own cached data, date-anchored, with no predictions.

Directory

The professional directory lists real organizations alphabetically within categories, with conservative factual blurbs. Inclusion is not a ranking or endorsement and involves no compensation. Every link is verified automatically each week; dead links are hidden rather than shown broken.

Refresh cadence

Quotes refresh hourly; performance columns and yields daily; external news several times a day; research briefs twice daily; the directory link audit weekly. Encyclopedia entries carry their own review dates.