Whether you’re looking to invest, buy a home, save for retirement, or achieve another financial goal, The Balance’s 20-year-strong library of more than 10,000 pieces of content will answer your questions with straightforward personal financial advice. Our more than 50 expert writers have extensive qualifications and expertise in their topics, including MBAs, PhDs, CFPs, other advanced degrees and professional certifications.
Editorial Team
Product Reviews Team
Editorial Guidelines
At The Balance, we take great pride in the quality of our content. Our writers create original, accurate, engaging content that is free of ethical concerns or conflicts. We also uphold the principles of the Dotdash Meredith Content Integrity Promise. If you ever come across an article that you think needs to be improved, please reach out by emailing contact@thebalance.com. Yasmin has also had an extensive international career covering business, technology, and the environment for broadcast and print outlets, including CNN, CNBC, and Asiaweek magazine. She has a Master of International Affairs degree from Columbia University. Lars earned Bachelor of Arts and Master of Fine Arts degrees in English, both from California State University, Long Beach. Jess has a degree journalism from the University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism, one of the top-10 journalism schools in the country. Meredith enjoys unravelling complex topics and conveying them in meaningful ways for readers. She holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from New College of Florida. Marisa kickstarted her compliance career at CreditCards.com after moving over from the oil and gas contract management industry. While at CreditCards.com, she used her expertise to bring its network of over 100 financial bloggers into compliance by keeping a pulse on the quickly changing industry regulations, attending industry-specific training programs and unifying each blogger’s editorial goals with compliance requirements. She also helped oversee the Chase, Wells Fargo, and internal affiliate programs monitoring their network of hundreds of publishers. Prior to joining the The Balance team, Hannah served as a lead researcher for Fortune 500 companies and multinational biotech companies including Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and Takeda, where she studied user behaviors using eye-tracking, spatial tracking, and force sensors. Her experience leading rigorous studies for FDA reviews shaped her standard of research integrity which guides her work at The Balance. In her spare time, she enjoys playing the keyboard and reading nonfiction.
Fact Checking
Our writers and editors investigate claims and verify all information gathered for all articles. We consult relevant, diverse, qualified sources to ensure we’re providing proper context and background to the reader. All of our news and information is thoroughly reviewed by a staff editor and fact checked by staff or a member of our experienced fact-checking team. They rigorously evaluate articles for accuracy, relevance, and timeliness. If you have noticed an issue you would like to bring to our attention, please let us know by emailing corrections@thebalance.com.
Corrections Policy
The Balance is committed to telling readers whenever a factual error has been made, regardless of the magnitude of the error, how it was made or who it was made by. We will correct the information as quickly as possible and alert readers with a transparent statement clearly labeled as a correction. Please report possible errors to corrections@thebalance.com.
Sourcing
The Balance requires writers to use primary sources to support their work. These include white papers, government data and organizations, original reporting, professional and academic institutions and studies, and interviews with industry experts. We also reference original research from other reputable publishers where appropriate. All data points, facts, and claims are backed up by at least one credible source. We strongly discourage use of anonymous or unnamed sourcing, as this can erode transparency and reader trust. In the rare instance where an unnamed source is used, we will disclose to readers the reason behind the anonymity and provide necessary context. A cornerstone of our reporting and sourcing is to consider often overlooked perspectives from BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and women. We strive to serve all communities and reflect diverse voices and perspectives.
Product Recommendations
Our product reviews are independent and based on research and product testing—if you visit links within our content, we may receive commissions from your purchases, but we never receive any compensation or consideration for the content of our recommendations. Learn more about our review process here. The Balance prohibits writers and editors from giving preferential treatment to any outside resource (company, publication, video, affiliate, website) based on their relationship with the person or company who authors or owns that resource. All of our writers and editors must disclose any potential conflicts of interest, which we define as any relationship—financial or personal—with any source or resource that may compromise their ability to provide fair and impartial information. As with many publishers, our writers and editors sometimes receive complimentary products or services for review purposes. We are transparent and disclose when any valuable products or services are provided to our editorial teams. Our editorial staff and editorial contributors must not solicit gifts or services for personal purposes.
Independence & Impartiality
The Balance is committed to independent, impartial, fair journalism. Our editorial content is not influenced by our advertisers. Every staff member and contributor is held accountable to a high standard of honesty and transparency. We maintain a strict separation between advertising and editorial content. We label “Sponsored Content” to make clear that such content is provided by or on behalf of an advertiser or sponsor.
No Individual Investment Advice
The Balance does not provide individual or customized legal, tax, accounting, or investment services. Since each individual’s situation is unique, a qualified professional should be consulted before making financial decisions.
Originality
The Balance provides original, useful, and unbiased content. All information must be verified, properly attributed, and may not infringe the copyright or anyone’s intellectual property rights. Any suggestion of plagiarism is investigated fully and is grounds for dismissal. We expect all contributors on the network to abide by all applicable laws, standards, and accepted journalistic practices including:
Society of Professional Journalists Ethics Code Copyright Law of the United States FTC Guidelines on Disclosures Fair Use
Diversity & Inclusion
The Balance is committed to answering your money questions. But we know many of our answers do not include solutions for readers underserved by the financial industry and financial publishing community. There are more complex challenges facing our Black, Indigenous, and other Readers of Color, and we must address these challenges in our content or we fail our core mission. Our pledge to improve diversity & inclusion outlines actions we will take to fulfill our commitment to all of our readers.
Management Team
Prior to that, she served as the Director of Client Services at SET Media, a video ad technology company. She started her career in media planning at Universal McCann in San Francisco working with brands such as Microsoft and Sony.
About Dotdash Meredith
Dotdash Meredith is the largest digital and print publisher in America. From mobile to magazines, nearly 200 million people trust us to help them make decisions, take action, and find inspiration. Dotdash Meredith’s over 50 iconic brands include PEOPLE, Better Homes & Gardens, Verywell, FOOD & WINE, The Spruce, Allrecipes, Byrdie, REAL SIMPLE, Investopedia, Southern Living and more.
Meet Our Senior Management Team
Learn more about the team behind Dotdash Meredith here.
Contact Us
Whether you have a comment or suggestion to share, we look forward to hearing from you. Feel free to reach out by emailing contact@thebalance.com.
Locations
The Balance headquarters are located at 225 Liberty Street, New York, NY 12081
Careers
The Balance is a fast growing company and we are always looking for motivated, multi-talented and organized people to join our team. To learn more, please see our Careers page.
