We do not manage assets, sell insurance, or write content to push readers into financial products.
EDITORIAL POLICY
How Michael Ryan Money creates, reviews, and updates financial education.
Michael Ryan Money is a financial education website founded by Michael Ryan, a retired financial planner and financial educator with nearly three decades of real-world financial planning experience.
Because the topics we cover can materially affect a reader’s financial stability, we treat accuracy, transparency, independence, and practical usefulness as editorial requirements.
Financial EducationNo Product SalesHuman ReviewClear DisclosuresCorrections Process
Last updated: September 28, 2026
Three principles sit underneath everything else.
Financial content is reviewed through the lens of real client-facing planning experience.
Ads, affiliate links, and partnerships do not control our editorial conclusions.
Useful financial education requires more than publishing a draft.
The work moves from the reader’s question to source checking, judgment, disclosure, and future review.
JUMP TO
OUR MISSION
Independent financial education, written for real decisions
Michael Ryan Money exists to help readers understand important financial decisions in plain English. Our purpose is education, not product sales.
We aim to explain the rules, tradeoffs, risks, and planning considerations behind topics such as retirement planning, Social Security, Medicare and IRMAA, estate planning, insurance, investing, tax-related planning, and personal finance.
Our goal is not to tell every reader what to do. Our goal is to help readers ask better questions, understand the moving parts, avoid common mistakes, and know when professional guidance may be appropriate.
INDEPENDENCE
The zero-product standard
Michael Ryan Money does not operate as a wealth management firm, registered investment adviser, insurance agency, broker-dealer, law firm, or tax practice.
This matters because many financial websites are built around lead generation, asset gathering, insurance sales, or product placement. Michael Ryan Money is built around financial education.
Professional context should improve the explanation.
Financial content on this site is reviewed through the lens of Michael Ryan’s professional background as a retired financial planner, former financial advisor, former FINRA Series 7 and Series 63 license holder, former Life, Health and Variable Annuity insurance license holder, and former property and casualty agency owner.
Michael also completed CFP coursework through The American College of Financial Services. He does not hold or use the CFP designation.
Content involving retirement planning, Social Security, Medicare and IRMAA, estate planning, insurance, risk management, investing, and tax-related planning concepts is reviewed for:
- Practical usefulness for real readers.
- Clear explanations of tradeoffs and risks.
- Accurate handling of rules, limits, dates, and terminology.
- Appropriate separation between general education and personalized advice.
- Original insight beyond simply rephrasing public information.
Software can support the work. It does not own the judgment.
Michael Ryan Money uses modern software and automation to support work such as research organization, source comparison, editing, formatting, coding, SEO, and publishing workflows.
Those tools are not the author or decision-maker. For financial education published under Michael Ryan’s name, Michael retains responsibility for the final material, including factual review, judgment, qualifications, and whether the explanation is actually useful to a reader.
When a financial rule, threshold, deadline, tax issue, Medicare or Social Security rule, investment concept, insurance issue, or other consequential claim matters to the answer, we aim to verify it against reliable sources rather than treating an automated output as authority.
WHAT WE AVOID
We do not use automation as a substitute for original analysis, source checking, or editorial judgment, and we do not use it as an excuse to publish large volumes of thin, generic, or lightly reworded financial content.
SOURCING & FACTUAL INTEGRITY
Primary sources come first when rules matter
When content involves rules, thresholds, deadlines, contribution limits, tax brackets, Social Security, Medicare, IRMAA, retirement accounts, estate planning concepts, or insurance regulations, we aim to rely on credible sources and, when appropriate, primary sources.
We try to distinguish between settled rules, reasonable interpretations, practical planning considerations, and opinion. When a rule is time-sensitive, we aim to identify the relevant year or effective date.
06 · MONETIZATION & THE EDITORIAL FIREWALL
Revenue can support the site. It does not buy the conclusion.
Michael Ryan Money may earn revenue from display advertising, affiliate links, referral relationships, sponsorships, digital products, content partnerships, or other business relationships.
Monetization does not give advertisers, affiliate partners, sponsors, or outside companies editorial control over our conclusions.
If a page contains affiliate links, sponsored content, or a material business relationship, we aim to disclose that relationship clearly. A commission may affect which links appear on a page, but it does not change our responsibility to provide useful, honest, and educational content. Read the full Affiliate & Advertising Disclosure →
EDUCATION, NOT PERSONALIZED ADVICE
We draw a clear line between financial education and individual advice
THE BOUNDARYGeneral education can explain the decision. It cannot know your complete personal facts.
The information on Michael Ryan Money is for general educational purposes only. It is not personalized financial, investment, tax, legal, insurance, Social Security, Medicare, retirement, or estate planning advice.
Financial decisions depend on individual facts, including income, assets, age, health, family situation, tax status, state law, risk tolerance, goals, and timing. A strategy that is reasonable for one person may be wrong for another.
Before making decisions, readers should consult qualified professionals who understand their specific circumstances.
08 · UPDATES, CORRECTIONS & FRESHNESS
Financial information changes. The page should change when the facts do.
Social Security rules, Medicare premiums, IRMAA brackets, retirement contribution limits, tax thresholds, estate planning rules, insurance regulations, and financial product terms may change over time.
We aim to review and update content when new official information becomes available, when a factual issue is discovered, or when an explanation can be made clearer or more useful.
Some pages may display a “last updated” date. That date may reflect a factual update, source review, material editorial revision, formatting improvement, or other meaningful change.
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
How we handle financial relationships
We aim to disclose material relationships that could affect how readers interpret our content.
If Michael Ryan Money has a financial relationship with a company, platform, product, service, advertiser, or affiliate partner mentioned in an article, we aim to make that relationship clear where relevant.
We also aim to explain limitations. No financial product, account, insurance policy, investment strategy, tax strategy, calculator, or planning approach is right for everyone.
10 · WHAT READERS SHOULD EXPECT
Six standards a reader should be able to feel on the page.
CONTACT & CORRECTIONS
See something that needs another look?
If you believe an article contains a factual error, outdated rule, unclear explanation, missing disclosure, broken source, or other issue, please contact Michael Ryan Money.
This editorial policy may be updated as the site, editorial process, disclosure practices, or legal and regulatory expectations change.