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Editorial & Verification Policy

Last Updated: August 24, 2026

We Are Calculator is a tools-first financial site. We do not publish personal financial advice, opinion pieces, or product reviews. Everything on this site falls into two categories: calculation tools and educational explanations of the math behind them. This page explains, in detail, how both are built, checked, and kept current — and who is accountable for them.

1. Who Stands Behind This Site

We Are Calculator is built and personally maintained by Robinjit Singh, a self-taught developer with formal coursework in Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, and Financial Accounting from Langara College in Vancouver. Unlike sites that describe an anonymous "editorial team," every calculator, formula, and article published here is built and personally verified by Robin before it goes live — there is one person accountable for every number on this site, not an unnamed team. For calculators with meaningful financial consequences — taxes, retirement withdrawals, mortgage affordability — the verification bar is higher: multiple real-world input scenarios are tested, not just the default example, and the calculator does not publish while any doubt remains unresolved. Read more about the person behind this site on the About page.

2. Our Sourcing Standard

Where an official rule governs a calculation, the formula starts from the authority that issues it — never a competitor's calculator, a forum post, or an AI-generated estimate. Tools that are pure math say that no governing authority applies. The sources vary by category:

  • Personal finance & budgeting tools: standard time-value-of-money and budgeting arithmetic; benchmarks such as net worth by age come from the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances.
  • Loans & debt tools: amortization mathematics as documented by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), including standard, avalanche, and snowball payoff methodologies.
  • Mortgage & housing tools: CFPB mortgage guidance, Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI) data for affordability modeling, and current Freddie Mac / Bank of Canada rate benchmarks.
  • Retirement tools: the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table for Required Minimum Distributions, official annual contribution limits (401(k), IRA, HSA), Social Security Administration benefit formulas, and published academic research such as the Trinity Study for safe withdrawal rates.
  • Investing tools: standard compound-growth and dollar-cost-averaging mathematics; certificate-of-deposit yields follow the APY formula in Regulation DD.
  • Tax tools: current-year IRS publications and revenue procedures for federal brackets, capital gains thresholds, self-employment and quarterly estimated tax rules, and Net Investment Income Tax provisions, plus CRA guidance for Canadian figures.
  • Real estate investing tools: standard DSCR, cap rate, and cash-on-cash return formulas — pure ratios with no governing authority.
  • Business finance tools: S-Corp and self-employment tax rules from current IRS guidance; margins, EBITDA and similar measures are standard accounting definitions.

Where a figure changes annually — a tax bracket, a contribution limit, a benchmark rate — we track the issuing agency's publication schedule and update the calculator as soon as the new figure is official, not on a fixed calendar.

3. How a Calculator Gets Built and Verified

How we build and check a calculator:

  • Step 1 — Source the rule. The formula and every input assumption are pulled directly from the primary source listed above, not from memory or from how another site implements it.
  • Step 2 — Build and test in code. The formula is implemented, then tested against hand-calculated worked examples to confirm the code produces exactly the number the formula predicts — not an approximation of it.
  • Step 3 — Cross-check edge cases. Boundary conditions (zero balances, maximum contribution limits, negative equity, bracket thresholds) are tested specifically, since these are where rounding and off-by-one errors typically hide.
  • Step 4 — Test against multiple real-world scenarios. Beyond the default example, the calculator is run through several realistic input combinations — not just edge cases, but the scenarios an actual reader would enter — before it's considered ready.
  • Step 5 — Publish with sources shown, or don't publish at all. Where an official rule applies, the calculator shows the source it is built on, so you can verify the rule yourself rather than take our word for it. If any doubt remains at this stage, the calculator does not go live until it's resolved.

4. Keeping Calculators Correct

We don't treat a calculator as "done" once it's published. When an issuing authority publishes new figures, or a reader flags a discrepancy, the affected calculator is re-checked against its source, and pinned worked examples are re-run against the code. A calculator's badge shows the date it was last checked; corrections that change a result are listed on the changelog.

5. Editorial Independence

We Are Calculator carries advertising and, on some pages, affiliate links to established financial institutions (see our Affiliate Disclosure). Neither ever influences a formula, a default assumption, a calculation result, or which calculator gets built next. No partner can pay to change a number on this site, and we decline any arrangement that would require it.

6. What This Site Is Not

We build calculators and explain the math behind them. We do not provide personalized financial, investment, tax, or legal advice, and nothing on this site should be treated as a recommendation for your specific situation. For decisions with real financial consequences, verify the numbers independently and consult a licensed professional. See our full Disclaimer.

7. Keeping Data Current

Every guide page displays a "Last Updated" date. Figures tied to an annual cycle (tax brackets, contribution limits, RMD tables) are checked at the start of each tax year and sooner if the issuing agency revises a figure mid-year. Rate-sensitive tools (mortgage, savings, loans) either use a dated benchmark rate with its source or label their default as an example rate.

8. Corrections

If you find a formula, rate, or reference figure that looks wrong, tell us — every message is read personally by Robin. To help verify quickly, include the calculator name and the exact scenario you entered. The underlying formula and your specific input are both re-tested against the primary source before anything changes — no guessing, no silent edits. Once a correction is confirmed, the calculator is fixed and its "Last Updated" date is refreshed. We do not leave known errors live.

9. Changelog

Changes to the financial data, contribution limits, tax figures, and calculation logic behind our calculators that affect results — including corrections — are logged with a date and a named source on our public Changelog.

10. Questions About This Policy

If anything about how we verify or maintain this site is unclear, email contact@wearecalculator.com.