The ledger
Editorial & standards
Plain-English writing on how money publishing works — how to read a review site, how a site earns, what a published methodology buys you, and how the ClearValue family holds to one standard. Written by the ClearValue Editorial Team. Educational only; not financial, legal, or tax advice.
- Guide5 min read
June's PCE report is out — here's what the Fed's preferred inflation gauge actually says
BEA data shows the Fed's preferred inflation gauge fell 0.1% in June but is still up 3.7% year-over-year. Here's how it differs from the CPI report you saw in July.
Read the article → - Trust6 min read
ECOA and Regulation B — What a Lender Must Tell You If It Denies You Credit
What Regulation B requires when a creditor denies your credit — the 30-day notice rule, specific reasons, and protected bases — sourced to the CFPB.
Read the article → - Trust5 min read
What the Truth in Lending Act Actually Requires Lenders to Tell You
What Regulation Z actually requires lenders to disclose about your APR, finance charge, and payment schedule — sourced to the CFPB's own regulation.
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What "UDAAP" Means: The Legal Standard Behind Almost Every CFPB Enforcement Action
UDAAP explained: the three legal tests — unfair, deceptive, abusive — regulators use to police financial companies, sourced to Dodd-Frank and NCUA.
Read the article → - Guide4 min read
Is That Lender Actually Licensed? Here's How to Check Before You Apply
Before you share income or bank details with a lender or broker, check their license for free via NMLS Consumer Access — here's how, per CFPB's own guidance.
Read the article → - Trust6 min read
That Privacy Notice Your Bank Mails You Every Year? Here's What It's Legally Required to Say
GLBA's Regulation P requires banks, credit unions, and brokerages to disclose what they share and let you opt out. Here's what the notice must legally say.
Read the article → - Trust6 min read
If your brokerage failed tomorrow, is your money actually covered? Here's how SIPC protection really works
SIPC covers up to $500,000 per customer ($250,000 cash cap) if a brokerage fails — but not market losses. Here's what's actually protected.
Read the article → - Guide5 min read
The credit score you check yourself usually isn't the one your lender pulls. Here's why that gap exists
The free score on your banking app is often a general-purpose FICO model. Your lender may pull something else — a mortgage-specific version, an auto- or card-specific version, or a different scoring company entirely.
Read the article → - Guide5 min read
Debt-to-income ratio, explained: how it's calculated, and why the '43% rule' isn't actually a rule anymore
Debt-to-income ratio is your monthly debt payments divided by your gross monthly income. Per the CFPB, the old 43% cap on qualified mortgages was replaced with a price-based test back in 2021 — here's how DTI actually works now.
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Getting an auto or home insurance quote checks your credit — here's why it still won't move your credit score
Most auto and home insurers pull your credit to help set your price — but per the CFPB, that pull is a soft inquiry and never affects your credit score. What actually moves is a separate, insurer-only number called a credit-based insurance score, and four states ban insurers from using it at all.
Read the article → - Trust5 min read
What's actually in a Form CRS, and how to read yours
SEC's Form CRS explained: what the required two-page disclosure must contain, its 7 conversation-starter questions, and how to use it to compare advisors.
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Credit utilization ratio, explained: what it actually is, how it's calculated, and why 0% isn't the goal
Credit utilization is your card balances divided by your card limits — and per the CFPB, keeping it under 30% is the common guidance. But per myFICO, a $0 balance isn't the top score, either. Here's how the ratio actually works.
Read the article → - Trust5 min read
The FTC's rule against fake reviews, explained: what it bans and what it means for any money site
The FTC's Rule on Consumer Reviews and Testimonials bans fake, bought, and suppressed reviews. Here's what it covers and how to use it to judge any site.
Read the article → - Guide5 min read
Your lender can now pick which credit score model prices your mortgage. Whether that changes your fees isn't decided yet
Since April 2026, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac let approved lenders choose, loan by loan, between Classic FICO and VantageScore 4.0. An actuarial analysis says that choice isn't pricing-neutral — and FHFA's own director says the fee question is still unresolved.
Read the article → - Guide4 min read
If your bank failed tomorrow, is your money actually covered? Here's how FDIC insurance really works
FDIC insurance covers up to $250,000 per depositor, per bank, per ownership category — not per account, and not per app. Here's what that actually protects, what falls outside it, and why two accounts at different-looking apps can still share one limit.
Read the article → - Guide5 min read
Checking your own credit score doesn't hurt it. Applying for a loan might — here's the actual difference
A hard inquiry can cost under 5 points on your FICO Score and stops counting after 12 months. A soft inquiry — including checking your own score — never affects it at all. Here's how each one actually works.
Read the article → - Trust5 min read
Fee-only vs. fee-based: how your financial advisor is actually paid, and how to check
Fee-only vs. fee-based vs. commission — what the SEC requires an advisor to disclose about pay, and the free tool that shows you the real answer.
Read the article → - Guide5 min read
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are replacing the credit score mortgages have used for 20 years. Here's what's actually different
For the first time in nearly 20 years, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are moving off Classic FICO. As of mid-2026 the switch to VantageScore 4.0 and FICO 10T is still an interim, lender-by-lender rollout — here's exactly what's changed and what hasn't yet.
Read the article → - Trust6 min read
Fiduciary vs. suitability: what standard your financial advisor actually has to meet
Fiduciary duty vs. Regulation Best Interest vs. the DOL's restored 1975 test — what standard actually governs your advisor, and how to check which applies.
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The CFPB rule that would've kept medical debt off credit reports is dead. Here's what's still protecting you
A federal court vacated the CFPB's medical-debt credit-reporting rule in July 2025, before it ever took effect. Two separate protections from 2023 are still standing — here's what's actually true right now.
Read the article → - Trust6 min read
Your brokerage's "cash sweep" may be paying you almost nothing. Here's how to check
The SEC fined Wells Fargo and Merrill Lynch $60 million over how they handled cash sweep programs. Here's what a cash sweep actually is, and how to see whether yours is paying a real rate.
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Can you trust a "finfluencer"? What FINRA's own data says
FINRA's 2026 investor survey: finfluencer followers score lower on an investing quiz, feel more confident anyway, and lose money to fraud far more often.
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The CFPB just made it harder to complain about a wrong credit report — here's how to do it right
The CFPB requires disputing credit report errors with the bureau first and waiting 45 days before it accepts your complaint. Here's the correct process.
Read the article → - Guide5 min read
June's CPI report showed prices fell for the month — here's what that does (and doesn't) tell you
BLS data shows headline CPI fell 0.4% in June but is still up 3.5% year-over-year. Here's how to read one month of inflation data without overreacting.
Read the article → - Trust6 min read
How to tell if a money site is worth trusting (a checklist)
A review site's verdict is only as good as the process behind it. Here's a plain-English checklist for reading any money site — what to look for, and what should make you close the tab.
Read the article → - Standards5 min read
Why we publish our scoring methodology — and what that means for you
A rating is a conclusion. A published methodology is the argument behind it — the part you can check, disagree with, and adjust to your own situation. Here's why we write it down.
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How money sites actually make money (and what to watch for)
Affiliate links, lead sales, sponsored placements, ads. Most money content is monetized somehow — here's how each model works, and the specific tell that reveals when the pay is steering the picks.
Read the article → - Standards5 min read
What “one published standard” means across the ClearValue brands
ClearValue Lending, Cards, Books, Insure, and Banking cover different products but answer to the same written rules. Here's what the shared standard actually requires — and why the sameness is the point.
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Affiliate disclosure, explained: reading the fine print on any review site
“We may earn a commission” is doing a lot of work in that sentence. Here's what an affiliate disclosure is, what the FTC requires of it, and how to read one to judge whether the pay is steering the picks.
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The standard behind all of it
Every ClearValue brand points back to one published editorial standard — how we source, score, and disclose. Read it, then see how the brands apply it.