Methodology

Primary sources first.

We use IRS publications, IRS form instructions, Internal Revenue Bulletins, and Treasury final regulations as the starting point for rule statements. Third-party financial blogs are not used as the main authority for a federal distribution rule.

Source matching

Each guide links to the source that directly supports its subject. A Form 5329 article points to the current Form 5329 instructions; a 10-year-rule article points to Publication 590-B and the RMD regulations. We do not reuse one generic link across unrelated articles for convenience.

Rule-date review

The site was reviewed on August 24, 2026. Publication 590-B (2025) and the 2024 final RMD regulations are core references. We check later IRS guidance for whether it changes the specific rule discussed before updating an article.

Anti-repetition review

Our editorial pass looks beyond duplicate wording. Headings are checked manually for duplicate ideas. If two sections make the same conclusion with different phrasing, one is removed or rewritten to add a genuinely new rule, example, or edge case.

Examples

Examples are hypothetical. We avoid presenting a fictional tax bill as though it applies to the reader, and we do not hard-code future tax or Medicare thresholds into long-lived guidance unless the exact year is the subject of the article.