US Financer is a new, independent personal-finance site. This page explains how we choose sources, check figures, write about risky products, keep pages current and handle mistakes. Treat it as our publishing principles and our ethics policy in one document.
Where our information comes from
We rank sources, and we use the highest-ranked one available for every claim.
- The law itself: the statute as written in the United States Code and the implementing regulation in the Code of Federal Regulations. If a rule has a number, that number comes from the regulation, not from a summary of it.
- Federal agencies: the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Federal Trade Commission, Federal Reserve, FDIC, NCUA, IRS, SEC, CFTC and FinCEN. We use their official rules, guidance, data releases, enforcement actions and consumer publications.
- State financial regulators: state banking departments, departments of financial institutions, insurance commissioners and attorneys general, along with state statutes and administrative codes.
- The company’s own disclosures: fee schedules, rate sheets, account agreements, prospectuses, Truth in Lending disclosures and terms of service.
News reports, blogs, comparison sites and forums sit below all of these. We read them to find leads, then follow those leads to the primary document. A secondary report is never the final authority for a number or a rule. If a claim cannot be traced to a primary source, we either leave it out or state plainly that it is unverified.
How we check facts
Every rate, fee, cap, deadline and rule is checked against its source before publication and carries the date we checked it. Articles list their sources at the end and link the official text of every law they name. If an article says the Military Lending Act limits the Military Annual Percentage Rate to 36%, it links 32 CFR Part 232 and shows when that text was last confirmed.
Where a figure varies, we say so. A credit card APR depends on the issuer, the card and the applicant’s credit profile, so we give the published range and explain what moves it rather than presenting one number as if it applied to everyone. Averages are labeled as averages, with the agency or survey they come from.
How we write about high-cost credit
This covers payday loans, auto title loans, high-APR installment loans, pawn loans, rent-to-own agreements and any product whose total cost is high relative to the amount borrowed. Our rules for these pages:
- Every page includes a worked cost example in dollars. A $300 payday loan with a $45 fee due in 14 days works out to an annual percentage rate of roughly 391%. We show the math, not just the result.
- Cheaper options come first. Before describing how a high-cost product works, we cover alternatives such as asking the biller for a payment plan, a payday alternative loan from a federal credit union, a local assistance program or an employer advance.
- State rules are stated. Some states ban payday lending outright, others cap rates or limit rollovers. We say what applies in the reader’s state and link the statute.
- We never promise approval. Phrases like “guaranteed approval” or “no credit check” appear only when quoting a lender’s own disclosure, and we explain what that language does and does not mean.
How we write about crypto
Our cryptocurrency coverage is educational. We explain how exchanges, wallets, stablecoins, staking and tax reporting work. We do not publish price predictions, buy or sell calls, “top coins” lists or anything that reads as a recommendation to acquire a specific asset.
Risk is stated in plain terms on every crypto page: you can lose the full amount, crypto holdings are not covered by FDIC or NCUA insurance, exchanges can fail or freeze withdrawals, transactions are generally irreversible and fraud is common.
We separate current law from proposals. The IRS treating digital assets as property for tax purposes is settled rule. A bill that has been introduced but not passed is a proposal, and we label it that way. Enforcement actions by the SEC or CFTC are described as what they are: positions taken in specific cases, not necessarily settled law.
Keeping pages current
Financial information decays. Our review schedule:
- Rates and fees are re-checked against their source about every 90 days.
- State law pages are reviewed every quarter.
- Tax pages are reviewed each January, after the IRS publishes the year’s inflation adjustments, forms and instructions.
- Any page is reviewed sooner when a rule changes, a product is withdrawn or a reader reports a problem.
Every page shows its last update date and a “What changed” log describing what was revised and why. If a scheduled review cannot be completed on time, the page says so rather than leaving an unmarked stale figure in place.
Expert review
When a qualified expert has reviewed a page, their name and credential appear on that page along with a link to verify the credential with the body that issued it, such as a state bar, a state board of accountancy, the CFP Board or the IRS enrolled agent directory. A page without a named reviewer has not been expert-reviewed, and we do not imply otherwise through vague phrases like “reviewed by our team.”
How we use technology
Software tools, including AI systems, help us research, organize material and produce early drafts. They do not decide what gets published. We treat AI output the way we treat any secondary source: a lead to verify, never an authority to cite.
Every figure, date and legal citation is checked against its primary source by a person before a page goes live, and checked again during the scheduled reviews described above. If a tool produces a number we cannot confirm, the number does not run.
Independence and conflicts of interest
US Financer is independently run. No company we write about can pay for coverage, a rating, a ranking position or a favorable description. If a page ever earns money through a referral or affiliate link, that is disclosed on the page itself, and the disclosure does not change the content of the article.
Anyone who writes or edits a page about a specific company, lender or asset discloses any financial interest in it to the editor before working on it, and a material interest is disclosed on the page. Editorial decisions are made on the evidence in the sources, not on commercial considerations.
Corrections
When we get something wrong, we fix it, say what was wrong and note when the fix was made. Minor fixes such as typos are made without comment. Factual errors are recorded in the page’s “What changed” log. Significant errors carry a visible correction note on the page.
Readers who spot a mistake can report it through the process described on our Corrections page. We look into every report and respond on the page when a change is warranted.