About FinExplained

Our mission

FinExplained exists to make personal-finance decisions clearer and more trustworthy. Most money calculators online are black boxes: you enter numbers, you get a result, and you have no idea whether the math is right or what it assumed. We do the opposite. Every calculator shows its formula, states its assumptions, and is tested against known-correct values, so you can check our work.

Who is behind it

Sam Sage, Founder, FinExplained

FinExplained is written and built by Sam Sage. Sam Sage is a pen name: there is one real person behind it who writes under a pseudonym for privacy. The experience is real even though the name is not a legal one.

That experience is as an individual investor, not a licensed professional: more than 10 years of hands-on buy-and-hold and options investing, managing real money through real market cycles. FinExplained exists to turn that experience, plus primary-source research and tested math, into clear explanations anyone can check.

What this is not: Sam Sage is not a licensed financial advisor, broker, CPA, or planner, and holds no professional financial credential. Nothing on FinExplained is personalized financial advice or a recommendation for your situation. It is general education. For decisions about your own money, talk to a qualified professional.

Editorial and methodology standards

How we research

We work from primary sources (regulators, official formulas, and lender documentation) and cite them on the page.

How calculators are tested

Every calculator runs on one shared engine using decimal.js, and ships golden-value tests checked against known-correct results to the cent.

Sources and corrections

Money guides carry a named author, stated assumptions, cited sources, and a last-updated date. Found an error? Tell us and we will fix it and note the correction.

Read the full methodology

How we make money

Honesty about money includes our own. Today FinExplained earns nothing: there are no ads, no affiliate links, and no paid placements. As the site grows we plan to add advertising and, in some cases, affiliate links to products we would genuinely recommend. When we do, it will be disclosed plainly, advertising will stay light and never break a calculator, and affiliate links will carry a clear, per-link disclosure. Our recommendations will never be for sale.

See our affiliate disclosure and privacy policy for details.

Questions or corrections?

We read every message and fix mistakes quickly.