Methodology
A dated, sourced record of every change to the financial data, contribution limits, tax figures, and calculation logic behind our calculators — including corrections we've made along the way. This page implements Section 9 of our Editorial & Verification Policy. It doesn't list every new calculator we've shipped or content edit we've made — only changes that affect what a calculator returns.
Reflects the permanent increase set by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), effective tax year 2025 onward, with the refundable Additional Child Tax Credit capped at $1,700.
Annual gift exclusion set to $19,000 per recipient; lifetime exemption set to $15,000,000 per individual — a permanent statutory figure under OBBBA §70411, not routine inflation indexing.
Health FSA limit set to $3,400 with a $680 maximum carryover. Dependent Care FSA (DCAP) limit set to $7,500 for joint filers — a statutory increase under OBBBA, the first change to that figure since 1986, and not annually inflation-indexed the way the health FSA limit is.
The calculator's copy described a full Monte Carlo simulation, but the underlying engine was a static historical lookup table that did not actually vary with the return assumption entered. Replaced with a genuine 1,000-run Monte Carlo simulation using the user's own return and volatility inputs.
Typical market private mortgage insurance rates now range 0.46%–1.50% of the original loan amount depending on credit band.
Reflects a 6.2% cut to basic premium rates ordered by the Texas Department of Insurance, effective March 1, 2026.
The enhanced (ARPA/IRA-era) premium tax credits expired December 31, 2025; 2026 coverage runs on the original ACA structure, including the 400% federal poverty line eligibility cliff and higher applicable percentages at every income band. This area is still legislatively unsettled — a bill to restore the enhanced credits passed the House in January 2026 but has not become law — and will be re-checked before the 2027 plan year.
An early version would have applied the 2026 federal poverty guidelines to 2026 marketplace coverage; coverage for a given plan year is always priced against the prior year's guidelines. Using the wrong year would have overstated eligibility for subsidies near the 400% income cliff by roughly $1,240 for a single filer. Corrected before the calculator's public launch.
Initial default rates were placeholder estimates rather than sourced figures. Replaced with the actual current Treasury-published rates, with the calculation now shown to match TreasuryDirect's published composite rate exactly.
Series EE fixed rate set to 2.40% annual. Series I composite rate set to 4.26% (0.90% fixed + 1.67% semiannual inflation component), applying to bonds issued May–October 2026. Rates reset again every May 1 and November 1; next reset November 1, 2026.
Notice a figure that looks out of date, or think a calculator gave you a different answer than it should have? Tell us — every report is checked against the primary source directly, and confirmed corrections are added to this page.
