Purpose and scope
Accessible Finance is an independent financial-education publication for readers in Canada and the United States. We explain investing, registered and tax-advantaged accounts, taxes, financial independence, and everyday money systems. We do not provide individualized investment, legal, accounting, or tax advice.
Pages are written to help a reader understand a decision and the trade-offs around it. They are not recommendations to buy a particular security or a substitute for advice from a qualified professional who knows the reader's full situation.
Authorship and accountability
Articles are published by Accessible Finance, the independent publisher responsible for this website. We do not claim professional designations that we do not hold, and we do not present the site as a registered advisory or accounting service.
The publisher is responsible for selecting topics, checking sources, reviewing examples and calculator logic, approving final pages, and responding to correction reports. You can reach the publication through the methods on the contact page.
How a guide is made
- Define the reader's question. Each guide starts with a specific concept or decision, the intended audience, and the limits of what the page can answer.
- Find primary sources. We prefer tax authorities, regulators, government statistical agencies, official program pages, legislation, and original research. Reputable secondary sources may add context but do not replace primary material for rules or limits.
- Draft in plain language. The explanation defines terms before using them, separates facts from assumptions, and includes a realistic example rather than relying on slogans.
- Check facts and calculations. Dates, thresholds, contribution limits, formulas, and worked examples are compared against the cited material. Calculator states are tested at zero, typical, boundary, and high-value inputs.
- Review risks and uncertainty. We identify what could change the answer, where estimates are simplified, and when professional guidance may be appropriate.
- Publish sources and a review date. Guides link to their supporting material and display the month they were last reviewed. Time-sensitive pages are revisited when official rules change.
Source standards
For Canadian topics, preferred sources include the Canada Revenue Agency, Finance Canada, the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, the Bank of Canada, Statistics Canada, provincial governments, and securities regulators. For U.S. topics, preferred sources include the IRS, SEC, Social Security Administration, Department of Labor, and state tax authorities.
When a source is opinion-based, commercial, or based on historical market data, the guide says so through its wording and context. Historical results are not presented as a promise of future performance. Links are provided so readers can inspect the underlying material themselves.
Calculators and methodology
Calculators are educational estimates, not filing software or personal financial plans. Each calculator explains its main assumptions and links to the official rates or datasets used. Results are rounded for readability and may omit credits, deductions, benefits, surtaxes, local taxes, timing rules, or household circumstances that affect a real return.
Calculator logic is reviewed when rates are updated and tested across representative inputs. A result should be used as a starting point for learning or scenario comparison, then checked against official tools or a qualified professional before a consequential decision.
Software-assisted work
Software tools may help organize research notes, compare drafts, test calculator states, check links, or identify inconsistent wording. They do not replace source verification or final editorial judgment. The publisher reviews the final page, its examples, and its citations before publication.
Ads, referrals, and independence
A limited number of display ads may help pay for hosting and upkeep. Separate referral pages may contain tracked links. Advertising and referral relationships do not purchase coverage, determine conclusions, or create paid rankings. Pages that primarily present referral offers do not carry display advertising.
Commercial relationships are disclosed where relevant and in the site disclaimer. We do not ask readers to click ads or describe an advertisement as an endorsement.
Corrections and updates
Readers can report a factual error, broken source, unclear passage, or calculator problem through the contact page. Please include the page URL, the specific statement or result, and a supporting source when possible.
Confirmed errors are corrected as promptly as practical. Material changes to a time-sensitive guide are reflected in its review date. Minor spelling or layout fixes may be made without a separate correction note.