Editorial Standards

Don't trust, verify. That goes for me too. Here's how this site gets made, so you can check my work.

Education, Not Advice

Everything here is education. I don't know your income, your debts, your taxes or your goals, so nothing here is a recommendation for you. I'm not a financial adviser, accountant or lawyer, and I don't give one-on-one advice in comments, DMs or email. When a decision really matters, talk to a licensed professional who knows your whole picture… and verify them too.

Bitcoin and every other investment can drop fast, and you can lose all of it. Past returns don't promise future ones. The calculators run on assumptions you choose. Most of what I cover is U.S. money; rules and taxes may be different where you live.

Every Number Has a Receipt

Every number on screen has a source, a unit and a date. Click it.
I go to the original (Treasury, BLS, the Fed, a company's own filing) before I take a headline's word for it.
Numbers are true as of the date shown. I check the big ones every month, and some update on their own every day.

✓ Verified source Source pending: I'm still tracking down the original. I'd rather show you the gap than hide it.

Fact, Opinion and Sales Pitch, Labeled

Anything that isn't plain sourced fact carries one of these:

Mara's takeMy opinion. I have strong ones. They're labeled so you can disagree with me on purpose.

Their caseThe argument from someone who sells or profits from the thing. Worth hearing, as long as you know who's talking.

ForecastA guess about the future, credited to whoever made it. Not a promise.

IllustrationA drawing or a worked example. It explains; it isn't evidence.

Other People's Words

Quotes are checked word for word against the original video, filing or article, never a quote website. If I can't verify it, it doesn't go up. I link to what people said, not to their sales pages, and there are no company logos. When someone changes their mind, you see both quotes with their dates. No name-calling.

The Other Side Gets a Seat

I'm not neutral about money. I think the system was built for the people who run it. But a one-sided case is just a sales pitch. When I make an argument, the strongest counter-argument from a credible skeptic sits right next to it, along with where my case still stands.

How I Use AI

I use AI tools the way I'd use a research assistant, an editor and a web developer: they find leads, tighten my drafts, write the code behind the site, the charts and the calculators, and draft translations. Here's what they don't do:

They aren't a source.

Anything an AI tool says is unverified until it's checked against the original. Numbers and quotes come from the source, never from an AI's memory.

They don't speak for me.

The opinions are mine. Anything drafted in my voice stays labeled "draft" until I've rewritten or approved it.

They don't fake reality.

No AI-made photos or video of real people or real events, and no cloned voices. AI-assisted art is labeled Illustration.

I review and approve every page before it's published. AI makes mistakes. So do I. That's why the next section exists.

Who pays me? Nobody. I own bitcoin, no one sponsors this site, and no link pays me.

Full disclosure →

When I get it wrong

I’ll fix it openly.

Corrections are dated on the page and say what changed and why. Spot something? moneywithmara@gmail.com

Last updated Oct. 2026.

Follow the moneyFull disclosure Where the numbers come from Said by The library