How the content here gets made.

Where the numbers come from

Wherever an official figure exists, we cite the primary source: IRS revenue procedures and publications for tax figures, Social Security Administration fact sheets for benefits and cost-of-living adjustments, CMS fact sheets for Medicare premiums and deductibles. Citations sit inline — next to the figures they support — and link to the document itself, so you can check us without leaving the paragraph, and every guide ends with a list of the primary sources it relies on. Where we reference research or reporting, it is named and linked as a secondary source.

The arithmetic is recomputed

Before a page is published, the arithmetic in its worked examples is recomputed from the source figures rather than copied from someone else’s summary. If an article says a couple would pay about $2,300 more in Medicare premiums, that number was rebuilt from the underlying premium tables before it went live. When our result differs from a figure circulating elsewhere, we show our math and cite the inputs.

Dated, reviewed, refreshed

Every article shows its publish date, and an “Updated” date whenever its content changes. Once our expert reviewer has personally reviewed a guide, its byline shows that date too. Pages built on year-specific figures reflect the year stated on the page, and when the IRS, the Social Security Administration, and CMS publish the following year’s numbers each fall, the figures are refreshed and the pages checked again.

Who reviews this

Guides are written by the Retirement Made Clear editorial team. Expert review is led by Theo Halbardier, CFP®, CIMA®, CAIA®, a fee-only fiduciary advisor whose three credentials cover financial planning, investment management, and alternative investments. Few advisors nationwide carry all three.

His name is in the byline of every guide he has reviewed, linked to his profile, with the date of his review. New guides go live after his review, and he re-reviews published guides on a rolling basis; any correction a review turns up goes on the page right away.

A name is not a substitute for evidence, so the sources stay on the page. Every figure is cited to its original source — an IRS notice, a Social Security Administration table, a CMS fact sheet, a peer-reviewed paper — so you can check the claim yourself instead of taking anyone’s word for it.

Corrections

We fix errors when we find them — and when you do. A correction goes on the page as soon as the error is confirmed, and the page’s reviewed date is updated. If you spot something that looks wrong, tell us through thefinancialsciences.com or in a conversation; we would rather know.

Education, not advice

Everything on this site is educational. Articles and tools explain how the rules work; they don’t know your situation, and they never recommend that you convert, claim, withdraw, or buy anything in particular. A personalized recommendation requires a review of your full circumstances and begins only if you choose to work with an advisor. The full statement of that boundary is in our disclosures.

Never sponsored

Nothing on this site is sponsored, paid for, or placed by a third party. There are no ads, no affiliate links, and no paid mentions — no company can pay to appear here, and none has.

Sources we rely on

• IRSInternal Revenue Service — annual revenue procedures (for 2026 figures, Rev. Proc. 2025-32) and publications, including 590-B (IRA distributions), 915 (Social Security taxation), and 969 (HSAs).
• SSASocial Security Administration — annual COLA fact sheets and published benefit guidance at ssa.gov.
• CMSCenters for Medicare & Medicaid Services — annual premium and deductible fact sheets, plus program rules at medicare.gov.
• ResearchRetirement research — where articles discuss withdrawal rates, we draw on Morningstar’s annual safe-withdrawal-rate research and William Bengen’s original work on the “4% rule,” cited and linked in the articles themselves.
• PressFinancial press — outlets that compile published figures are sometimes cited as named, linked secondary references alongside the material they summarize.

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