Last updated: August 2, 2026
The Short Version
Some links on this site are affiliate links. If you click one and open an account or make a purchase, we may earn a commission — at no additional cost to you.
We do not accept payment for coverage, and affiliate relationships do not influence what we write or what conclusions we reach.
That’s the whole disclosure. The rest of this page explains it in detail.
1. What Is an Affiliate Link?
An affiliate link is a tracked link to a third-party product or service. If you click it and subsequently take a qualifying action — such as opening an account, subscribing, or making a purchase — the third party may pay us a commission or per-click fee.
You never pay more because of an affiliate link. The price or terms you receive are identical to those you would receive by navigating to the provider directly.
2. Why We Use Them
Independent publishing has costs: hosting, data subscriptions, market data access, and research time. Affiliate revenue and display advertising allow this site to remain free to read and free of paywalls.
The alternative models — charging for access, or accepting payment from the companies we cover — are both worse. One limits who can read this. The other destroys the reason to read it at all.
3. Our Rules
We hold ourselves to the following:
- No pay-for-coverage. No company, issuer, broker, or third party pays us to be written about, reviewed, or recommended. Ever.
- No editorial influence. No affiliate partner reviews, approves, or has any input into our content prior to publication.
- We only link to services we would use ourselves, or that we assess to be genuinely appropriate for the reader’s stated need.
- Negative coverage is not off-limits. If a service we have an affiliate relationship with has meaningful drawbacks, we say so. An affiliate relationship has never resulted in a conclusion being softened or removed.
- Conclusions are not for sale. Commission rates play no part in which products we cover or how we rank them.
If we ever cannot meet these standards for a given piece of content, we will not run the affiliate link.
4. Programs We Participate In
We participate, or may participate, in the following:
- Google AdSense — display advertising, compensated per impression and per click. Ad content is selected algorithmically by Google, not by us. The appearance of any advertisement on this site is not an endorsement.
- Brokerage and financial services affiliate programs — including broker referral and publisher programs, where we are eligible to participate.
- Financial data, research, and software affiliate programs.
5. What Advertising Is Not
The presence of an advertisement or affiliate link on this site is not:
- an endorsement of the advertiser
- investment advice or a recommendation to use that service
- a statement that the product is suitable for your circumstances
- a warranty regarding the advertiser’s products, services, or conduct
Advertisements served by Google AdSense are algorithmically selected and are not reviewed by us before display. We do not control which ads appear.
Always evaluate any financial service against your own situation, and read the provider’s own terms, fee schedule, and risk disclosures before opening an account.
6. Brokerage Services — Specific Caution
Where we link to brokerage services, understand:
- Brokerage account availability, features, pricing, and regulatory protections vary substantially by your country of residence. A service well-suited to a US resident may be unavailable or inappropriate for you.
- Investor protection schemes (SIPC, FSCS, and equivalents) differ by jurisdiction and by account type.
- Trading securities involves risk of loss, including total loss of principal.
- Foreign securities trading carries additional currency, settlement, tax, and regulatory risk.
Verify eligibility, fees, and protections directly with the provider before opening any account. Our coverage cannot substitute for that.
7. Position Disclosure
Separately from affiliate relationships: the author may hold positions in securities discussed on this site. Where a material position exists in a security that is the primary subject of an article, that position is disclosed within the article.
See our Disclaimer and Editorial Policy.
8. Regulatory Basis
This disclosure is provided in accordance with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising” (16 CFR Part 255), and with comparable transparency requirements in other jurisdictions.
9. Questions
If anything about our commercial relationships is unclear, ask: [email protected]
We would rather answer an awkward question than have a reader wonder.