Affiliate Disclosure

Legal · Transparency

We believe you deserve to know exactly how this site makes money and how that might — or might not — influence what we recommend. This page explains everything, plainly.

— Last updated: January 1, 2026

🤝 Our promise: We only recommend products we have personally used or thoroughly researched and genuinely believe will help you. A commission never changes that standard. Never.

What Is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing is a performance-based revenue model in which a website owner earns a commission for referring visitors to a product or service that results in a purchase, sign-up, or other qualifying action.

In practice: when you click certain links on MoneyLifeGuru.com and then make a purchase or sign up for a service, we may receive a small payment from the company you purchased from. This payment comes entirely from the company — it does not add any cost to what you pay.

Affiliate marketing is one of the most common ways independent personal finance websites fund themselves. It is also one of the most transparent revenue models when handled honestly, which is our commitment to you.

How It Works on This Site

Here is the step-by-step of what happens when you click an affiliate link on MoneyLifeGuru.com:

You click a link we have identified as an affiliate link (see our In-Article Disclosure section below for how we label these)
You are taken to the third-party website (e.g., YNAB, Fidelity, Acorns)
A tracking cookie is placed in your browser, valid for a set period (typically 30–90 days depending on the program)
If you make a qualifying purchase or sign up within that cookie window, we receive a commission from the company
You pay the same price you would have paid without our link — sometimes you receive a bonus or extended trial that you wouldn’t get by going directly

Important: We only place affiliate links on recommendations we would make regardless of whether an affiliate program exists. If a product doesn’t earn us a commission, we still recommend it if it’s the best choice — Fidelity’s free FZROX fund and Personal Capital’s free dashboard are two examples.

Our Affiliate Programs

We currently participate in affiliate programs with the following companies and networks. This list is updated as we add or remove programs:

Amazon Associates

Books & Products

We earn a small commission on books and other products purchased through our Amazon links, typically 1–4%.

YNAB (You Need A Budget)

Budgeting Software

We earn a referral fee when readers sign up for a YNAB subscription. Our readers also receive an extended free trial.

Empower (Personal Capital)

Financial Tracking

We earn a commission when readers sign up and link qualifying accounts. The product itself is free to users.

Acorns

Micro-Investing

We earn a referral fee when readers open and fund an Acorns account. Readers may receive a bonus for signing up.

ShareASale Network

Finance & Tools

Various finance merchants including credit tools, insurance products, and financial services.

Impact.com Network

Finance & SaaS

Various financial services and SaaS products relevant to personal finance and side hustles.

ClickBank

Digital Products & Courses

We promote select personal finance courses and digital products. We review all products before recommending them.

Hostinger

Web Hosting

We earn a commission when readers purchase hosting to start their own blog or website through our referral link.

Audible (Amazon)

Audiobooks

We earn a small referral fee when readers sign up for Audible. Readers receive free audiobooks on signup.

Klaviyo

Email Marketing

We earn a recurring commission when readers sign up for Klaviyo using our referral link.

Gumroad

Digital Products

We sell our own digital products on Gumroad. This is direct revenue, not affiliate commission.

Credit Karma / Sesame

Credit Monitoring

We earn a referral fee when readers sign up. Both products are free to users.

Our Standards for Recommendations

Our ability to earn your trust is the only thing that makes this website work long-term. With that in mind, here are the non-negotiable standards we hold ourselves to:

✓ What We Do

✓ Personally test or thoroughly research every product before recommending it

✓ Disclose all affiliate relationships clearly and prominently

✓ Recommend free alternatives even when no affiliate program exists

✓ Update reviews when products change, get worse, or are discontinued

✓ Tell you when we think a product isn’t worth paying for

✓ Give our honest opinion even when it might reduce commissions

✗ What We Never Do

✓ Accept payment to write a positive review or feature a product

✓ Change our recommendation because of the commission rate

✓ Recommend products we wouldn’t use ourselves

✓ Hide affiliate links or pretend they are not affiliate links

✓ Accept free products in exchange for guaranteed positive coverage

✓ Allow any company to review or approve our content before publication

Real example of our standards in practice: We recommend Fidelity’s FZROX fund as one of the best beginner investments available. Fidelity does not have an affiliate program that pays us for this recommendation. We recommend it anyway because it is genuinely the best product for that use case. That’s the standard we hold for everything.

FTC Compliance

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requires that websites disclose any material connection between a content creator and a brand they endorse. This includes affiliate relationships, free products, sponsorships, and other arrangements that might influence the content.

In compliance with the FTC’s disclosure guidelines, we:

Maintain this Affiliate Disclosure page and link to it from our footer on every page
Include a short disclosure notice at the top of any article that contains affiliate links
Use clear language such as “affiliate link” or “we may earn a commission” near individual links where appropriate
Never attempt to conceal the commercial nature of our relationship with any product or service we recommend

If you have any concerns about whether our disclosures are adequate on any specific page, please contact us and we will review and update as necessary.

No Extra Cost to You

We want to be completely clear about this: clicking our affiliate links does not cost you anything extra.

The commission we receive comes entirely from the company’s marketing budget — it does not come from your purchase price. In many cases, using our affiliate link actually benefits you: some of our partnerships include exclusive bonuses, extended free trials, or discounts that you would not receive by going directly to the company’s website.

Using our affiliate links is entirely voluntary. If you would prefer to go directly to a product’s website, you are absolutely welcome to do so. We will still be here writing the same honest content either way.

Other Revenue Sources

In addition to affiliate commissions, MoneyLifeGuru.com earns revenue through:

Digital Products

We sell our own digital products, including budget templates, financial planning spreadsheets, and guides. These are sold through Gumroad and are created entirely by us. When we recommend our own products, we make this clear.

Online Courses

We may publish paid courses on platforms such as Teachable or Podia. If we recommend a course we have created, we will clearly identify it as our own product.

What We Do NOT Do

Display advertising: We do not currently run display ads (e.g., Google AdSense). If this changes, we will update this disclosure.
Sponsored posts: We do not publish paid-for sponsored content. If we ever do, it will be clearly labelled as “Sponsored” at the top of the article.
Data sales: We do not sell subscriber data or any personal information. Period.

In-Article Disclosure Language

At the top of any article that contains affiliate links, you will see a notice similar to this:

Standard Article Disclosure

“This article contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend products we have personally used or thoroughly researched. See our full Affiliate Disclosure for details.”

Within articles, individual affiliate links may also be labelled with the text “(affiliate link)” or “(we may earn a commission)” placed near the link itself. We are continuously working to make our in-line disclosures clearer and more consistent.

Questions or Concerns

If you have any questions about our affiliate relationships, believe a disclosure is missing or inadequate on a specific page, or want to know whether a specific recommendation is influenced by an affiliate relationship, please get in touch. We take these questions seriously and will respond promptly.

MoneyLifeGuru Transparency

Questions about our affiliate relationships or editorial standards? We’re here.

Email: hello@moneylifeguru.com

Website: moneylifeguru.com/contact