Editorial standards
Our Methodology: Sources, Scope & Company Comparisons
Our methodology uses dated source records and IRS guidance, orders comparison tables alphabetically, and leaves unverified financial values unpublished rather than estimating them.
What sources do we use?
Company figures come from the supplied companies.json source record. Each published value carries the original source URL and checked date. Tax-rule figures come from IRS pages verified online for this build. The content publication date is the actual build date shown on the page; it does not imply that every company page was checked that same day.
Primary company documents can establish what a company publishes without proving an investment outcome or a marketing superlative. We identify promotional repurchase language as a company claim. We do not invent customers, interviews, account-opening tests or personal authors.
How are companies selected and ordered?
The company comparison includes records that are not flagged do_not_promote. Companies flagged as defunct or excluded are not promoted. Rows are alphabetical by company display name, including Goldco in its alphabetical position. Ordering is not based on affiliate payout, minimum size or a score.
Only Goldco receives affiliate CTAs on this site. The Augusta review is factual and does not include an Augusta referral CTA. An affiliate relationship can create an incentive to generate requests, so it is disclosed above the fold.
How do we handle uncertain fields?
| Source status | Publication approach |
|---|---|
| Verified | Publish within the stated source scope, with link and checked date. |
| Company claim | Label the statement as a company claim. |
| Conflicting | Label the conflict and identify the selected primary source; request confirmation. |
| Partial or unclear scope | Explain the limitation; withhold a numeric general price when scope is unclear. |
| Unknown or none found | Do not turn the absence of evidence into a financial value or claim of absence. |
| Secondary only | Do not use as a verified fee or tax-rule figure. |
We check source age before publishing company figures. Stale values require fresh verification rather than a cosmetic date change. When future readers use this site, the visible as-of date remains the date of the underlying check.
What are the limits of these comparisons?
Custodian and depository examples may differ by account or storage type. Published charges are not complete dealer quotes. We do not rank companies, estimate undisclosed spreads or infer future prices. We have not opened accounts to test service quality.
Legal or regulatory records are described within the scope of the source. Allegations, settlements and findings are different. An incomplete search does not establish that no complaints or actions exist.
How do corrections work?
Send a correction request using the contact page with the affected URL and a primary source where possible. A new document can change a specific figure without supporting a broader claim. We revise the text and source record when the evidence warrants it, and use a real publication date for changed content.
Read the commercial disclosure and publisher information for ownership and incentive details.
General education. Not financial or tax advice. Confirm current account terms and seek qualified guidance for your own circumstances.