Transparency & Trust
Editorial Standards & Methodology
Where the numbers come from, how the formulas are tested, and why advertisers have no say in any of it.
Our Core Commitment
GetWealthCalc provides free financial calculators and educational guides for informational purposes. We do not sell financial products, receive commissions for calculator recommendations, or allow advertisers to influence our formulas or editorial content. Every number you see in a GetWealthCalc calculator is derived from a publicly verifiable government source, never estimated, rounded, or adjusted for marketing purposes.
We are funded by display advertising (Google AdSense). Ads are served based on your browsing context and are clearly separated from editorial content. No advertiser has ever reviewed, influenced, or approved any calculator methodology, article, or FAQ on this site.
About the Author
Tahir Özcan
Software Engineer · Builds and maintains GetWealthCalc
Tahir is a software engineer, not a financial advisor, and GetWealthCalc is built around that honesty. Instead of asking you to trust anyone's expertise, the site is designed so you don't have to: every formula is exercised by an automated test suite on every change, the methodology of each tool is documented on its page, and every statutory figure links to the IRS, SSA, or FHFA document it comes from.
He built the site out of frustration with financial tools that hide their formulas behind paywalls or give inconsistent answers to the same question. What the site publishes is arithmetic on government data, clearly labeled as education rather than advice, with nothing hidden about how any number was produced.
How the Calculators Are Built and Checked
1
Primary Source Data
Every statutory figure (tax brackets, contribution limits, benefit formulas) comes directly from the agency that publishes it: IRS, SSA, FHFA, BLS, or the Federal Reserve. Third-party aggregators are never used as a source, and each figure on the site links back to the government release it came from.
2
Automated Formula Tests
Each calculator's math lives in a standalone module with its own automated test suite, including hand-computed expected values for the current tax year and boundary cases like zero down payments or filing status changes. The tests run automatically on every code change, and a change cannot ship while any of them fail.
3
How Content Is Produced
Guides and articles are drafted with the help of software tools, then checked by the site's maintainer: every number is verified against the primary source it cites, and worked examples are run through the actual calculators before publishing. Nothing is published without that verification pass.
4
Updates and Corrections
When the IRS, SSA, or FHFA publish new figures, the affected calculators are updated and each page shows the date it was last reviewed. The current data year is 2026. If you spot an error, report it through the contact page; confirmed issues are corrected and noted on the affected page.
Primary Data Sources (2026)
Tax & Income
IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32
2026 federal income tax brackets, standard deductions, AMT thresholds
IRS Publication 15-T
Federal income tax withholding tables
IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-19
HSA contribution limits ($4,400 self-only, $8,750 family for 2026)
IRS Notice 2025-67
401(k), 403(b), and IRA contribution limits for 2026
Social Security & Benefits
SSA COLA Announcement 2025
2.8% Cost-of-Living Adjustment effective January 2026
SSA Publication 05-10070
Social Security benefit calculation methodology
SSA Wage Base Announcement
$184,500 taxable earnings ceiling for 2026
Housing & Mortgage
FHFA Conforming Loan Limits 2026
$832,750 baseline limit for single-family homes
Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey
Weekly 30-year fixed rate benchmark data
CFPB Mortgage Servicing Rules
PMI cancellation rights and escrow requirements
Inflation & Economic Data
BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI-U)
Historical inflation rates used in purchasing-power calculations
Federal Reserve H.15 Release
Federal funds rate and Treasury yield curves
Advertising & Independence Policy
Display advertising: GetWealthCalc uses Google AdSense to display contextual ads. Ads are clearly labeled and are not editorial content. AdSense placement decisions are made by Google's automated system, not by anyone at GetWealthCalc.
No affiliate commissions: We do not receive referral fees for calculator results or tool recommendations. When we link to external resources, those links are educational, not monetized.
Advertiser separation: No advertiser has ever requested, reviewed, or influenced any calculator formula, FAQ answer, or article on this site. Our editorial decisions are 100% independent of advertising revenue.
Not financial advice: Calculators produce estimates based on inputs you provide. Results are for educational planning purposes only. Always consult a qualified financial advisor (CFP), tax professional (CPA), or attorney before making major financial decisions.
Corrections & Feedback
If you believe a calculator contains an error, produces an unexpected result, or references outdated data, please report it. Every report gets investigated, and confirmed errors are corrected and noted on the affected page.
Report an IssueThis editorial standards page was last reviewed and updated in July 2026.