Frequently Asked Questions

Answers to common questions about our reviews, methodology, and the products we cover.

Answers to the questions we get most

This page covers the questions readers ask most often: what the site covers, how rates and figures are checked, how products are ranked, your privacy, and how to report an error. If your question is not answered here, email Help@investingandretirement.com or use the contact page.

Common categories of questions

• What you get: what the site does for you and what it covers, and that every review, comparison, guide, rate table and calculator is free to read with no account.
• Rates and figures: how we know a rate is real, why we show a bank's regular rate instead of its best rate, and where the bank and branch figures come from (the FDIC, the NCUA and the CFPB).
• Review freshness: state rate tables and product figures are re-read against the institution's own page every month, and material changes are written through the review as soon as they are found.
• How products are ranked: every product in a category is ranked on the same criteria: what it costs you, what it pays you, the minimums and conditions, and how easy it is to use. When a product gets worse, it drops.
• Finding the right product: how to find banks near you, how to choose a product in each category, why we are a publisher and do not give financial advice, and that the products covered are for U.S. residents.
• Your privacy: whether the site shares your personal information. It does, in the ways the Privacy Policy describes, and the Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information page says how to opt out. Also how to unsubscribe from the newsletter.
• Corrections and contact: how to report an error or something out of date, how to suggest a product for review, how to contribute as a writer or analyst, and the best way to contact us.

For more on the business behind the site, see our about page, our full disclosures page, and our privacy policy.