Methodology
Financial Intelligence Lab uses public educational sources, visible assumptions, and plain-language formulas to support its educational tools. The site is a prototype, so source support needs final review before publication.
| Tool | Source needs | Current source-support status |
|---|---|---|
| First Job Paycheck Planner | Needs payroll, tax withholding, and benefits-deduction education sources. | Needs final source pass. |
| Emergency Fund Planner | Needs consumer finance education sources explaining emergency savings concepts and expense categories. | Needs final source pass. |
| Savings Goal Timeline Calculator | Needs consumer finance education sources explaining savings goals, saving behavior, and goal-based planning concepts. | Needs final source pass. |
| First Apartment Cost Planner | Needs consumer finance, renter education, and moving-cost planning sources explaining recurring housing costs, upfront move-in costs, deposits, utilities, and renter cost categories. | Needs final source pass. |
| Car Ownership Cost Planner | Needs consumer finance, transportation cost, car ownership, auto insurance, maintenance, registration, fuel/charging, and vehicle-cost education sources. | Needs final source pass. |
| Student Loan Impact Calculator | Needs student loan repayment and interest education sources. | Needs final source pass. |
| Purchasing Power & Real Return Calculator | Needs CPI/inflation education sources and real-vs-nominal return explanations. | Needs final source pass. |
| Cost of Waiting Calculator | Needs compounding and time-value education sources. | Needs final source pass. |
| Income & Expense Change Calculator | Needs budgeting/expense-category education sources and income-vs-expense comparison framing. | Needs final source pass. |
| Subscription Creep Calculator | Needs recurring-cost/subscription-cost education framing. | Needs final source pass. |
These categories are source-planning areas, not final citations. Final publication should use reviewed source links only.
Each calculator should show its core inputs, outputs, formula in plain English, assumptions, limitations, and learning goal. When a tool uses a simplified model, the page should make that simplification visible near the result.
Assumptions should be visible near outputs, written in plain language, and easy to change. Example assumptions are educational context only. They are not forecasts, predictions, or recommendations.
AI can support drafting, summarization, and prototyping. Final content should be reviewed by humans for accuracy, clarity, source quality, and the education-only boundary before publication.
The current site is a working MVP prototype. Calculations, copy, accessibility, and source support should be reviewed again before any production launch or public promotion.
Users are invited to report unclear assumptions, outdated information, broken links, confusing language, or possible accuracy issues through the Feedback page.