Disclaimer

Please read this page before acting on anything published on this site. It is short, and it is the most important page here.

#We are not your financial adviser

The Budget Compass publishes general financial education. We are not registered investment advisers, broker-dealers, certified financial planners, accountants, tax preparers, enrolled agents, insurance producers, mortgage brokers, credit repair organizations, debt settlement companies or attorneys, and we are not licensed or regulated in any of those capacities.

Nothing on this site is:

• personalized financial, investment, tax, accounting, insurance or legal advice;
• a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security, fund or financial product;
• an offer, solicitation or inducement to enter into any financial transaction;
• an endorsement of any institution, product, platform or service;
• a substitute for advice from a professional who knows your circumstances.

Reading this site does not create an advisory, fiduciary or client relationship between you and us.

#Content is general and may not fit your situation

Our guides describe how systems work and what the arithmetic implies for a hypothetical reader. They cannot account for your income, your tax bracket, your state, your employer's plan rules, your family situation, your health, your debts, your time horizon or your tolerance for risk — and those are precisely the facts that determine what you should actually do.

Two people can read the same guide, apply it correctly, and reach opposite conclusions about the right action. That is not a defect in the guide; it is what "general education" means.

#Figures change, and may already have changed

Contribution limits, tax brackets, standard deductions, benefit amounts, wage bases, deposit insurance limits and interest rates are reset regularly, often annually, and sometimes change with new legislation part-way through a year. Figures on this site were accurate to the cited source on the date shown on each page.

Always confirm a specific figure against the primary source we link to before you rely on it. Every guide ends with a source list for exactly this purpose.

#Calculators are illustrations, not quotes

The calculators on this site are simplified teaching models that run in your browser. They assume constant rates, monthly compounding and regular contributions, and they ignore fees, taxes, promotional and variable rates, minimum balances, and the underwriting rules that determine what a lender will actually offer you.

Their output is an estimate for illustration only. It is not a quote, an offer, a pre-approval, a projection of actual results, or a promise of any outcome. Real figures come from the institution you are dealing with.

#No performance promises

We make no representation or promise about results. Nothing here suggests that any strategy will produce a particular return, that any debt will be repaid by a particular date, that any score will reach a particular number, or that any outcome is guaranteed.

Investing involves risk, including the risk of losing money. The value of investments can fall as well as rise. Past performance does not predict future results. Any historical return figure mentioned on this site is context, not a forecast.

#Advertising is not endorsement

This site is free to read and supported by third-party display advertising. Those advertisements are selected and served by advertising networks, not by us. We do not review, verify or endorse advertised products, and the appearance of an advertisement on a page implies nothing about the advertiser's quality, suitability or legitimacy. Assess any advertised offer independently.

We carry no affiliate links and receive no commission from any institution. See our editorial policy.

#Jurisdiction

Content is written primarily with United States rules and institutions in mind. If you are outside the United States, the tax treatment, consumer protections, account types and credit reporting systems described here will differ — often substantially — from those where you live. The general principles may still be useful; the specifics will not be.

#Where to get real advice

If you need advice tailored to your circumstances, consider a fee-only fiduciary financial planner for planning and investing, a certified public accountant or enrolled agent for tax questions, a nonprofit credit counseling agency for debt difficulties, and a consumer attorney for disputes with a lender, servicer or collector. These are categories of professional, not recommendations of any specific firm — we do not make those.

#Your responsibility

You are solely responsible for your financial decisions and their consequences. To the maximum extent permitted by law, we accept no liability for any loss arising from reliance on anything published on this site. See our terms of service.