Money, explained — ClearValue, a family of money brands
One family of money brands held to a single published standard — loans, cards, banking and more. Founded by Brian Kim, CPA.
Money, explained · with Brian Kim
Payday Routine: Do These 4 Things After Getting Paid!
Start here — pick your lane
ClearValue Lending
You need financing for your business or a personal loan, refi, or debt payoff.
See financing optionsClearValue Cards
You're picking a credit card and want a match, not a pitch.
Take the quizClearValue Books
You want a CPA's plain-English take before you buy a money book.
See the book picksClearValue Insure
You want to understand and compare coverage before you buy a policy.
Compare coverageClearValue Banking
You want to compare accounts and rates before you open one.
Compare accounts- One published standardthe same written rules on every brand, every page
- Methodology in the openhow each rating is scored, published and linkable
- How we're paid, disclosedstated on the page where a brand earns
- Founded by Brian Kim, CPAClearValue Tax · 2.89M subscribers
One standard, five lanes
Four rules. Every brand. Every page.
Same wordmark, same methodology link, same “how we make money” page — every brand, no exceptions. So when you land on any of them, you're reading one family with one standard. Not a pile of random sites that happen to share a logo.
Pick one lane, go deep
Each brand sticks to one money category and goes deep — not a little bit of everything, done badly.
Show how we score
Every brand shows its work. Don't like a rating? You can see exactly what went into it — and argue with it.
Disclose the money
How a brand gets paid is right there on the page where it gets paid. Not buried in a footer nobody reads.
Wall the desk from revenue
The people who score and rank products don't answer to the people who bring in the money. What pays us doesn't move a rating. Ever.
ClearValue started with Brian Kim — a CPA who got tired of watching people get talked into money decisions they didn't understand, and started explaining it in plain English instead. Every brand here runs on the same approach he does: the numbers, the tradeoffs, and the fine print, said plainly — and never dressed up to sell you something.
More about Brian KimThe trust bar
One editorial standard, written down.
Every brand points back to the same standard: how we source, how we score, how we disclose, and how we keep the review desk independent. One document. The whole family answers to it.
Frequently asked
Is ClearValue a bank or a lender?
No. ClearValue is a family of independent money brands — a media house that reviews, compares, and explains money products. It is not a bank, card issuer, or lender, and is never a party to your credit, card, or financing agreement. ClearValue Lending is a funding platform, not a direct lender; ClearValue Cards and ClearValue Books review products, they do not issue them.
What is the single ClearValue standard?
One published standard is four commitments that apply to every ClearValue brand identically: each brand covers one money lane deeply, publishes the methodology it scores by, discloses how it earns on the page where it earns, and walls its review desk off from revenue. It is all written down, so you can check the work instead of taking anyone's word for it.
How does ClearValue make money?
Through disclosed referral and affiliate arrangements, stated on the page where they apply. ClearValue Lending earns a referral fee from lender partners; ClearValue Cards earns an affiliate fee when a reader acts on a card match after the quiz; ClearValue Books earns Amazon Associates commissions. What we are paid never changes a review's score, its order, or which products a brand covers. The full breakdown is on our how-we-make-money page.
Is ClearValue free to use?
Yes. Reading ClearValue's reviews, comparisons, quizzes, and guides is free, and you never pay ClearValue. The brands earn from lenders, card partners, and affiliate programs when you act on a recommendation — not from you. That revenue is disclosed on the page, and it never moves a rating or a ranking.
Do advertisers influence ClearValue's ratings?
No. At every brand, the review desk that scores products is walled off from the revenue side. Ratings come from a published methodology applied the same way to every product in a lane, and partners cannot preview scores, buy placement, or decide coverage. If a commercial relationship ever conflicts with the methodology, the methodology wins.
Does ClearValue sell my personal information?
No. ClearValue does not sell your personal information for money, and does not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising. Each brand collects only what it needs to run its reviews, quizzes, and referrals, and handles it under the ClearValue privacy policy. See the privacy policy for the specifics that apply to each brand.
Who is behind ClearValue?
ClearValue was founded by Brian Kim, a CPA whose plain-English money explainers on YouTube as ClearValue Tax reached 2.89M subscribers. Every brand runs on the approach he built that audience on — the numbers, the tradeoffs, and the fine print, said plainly — and holds to a published editorial standard, so the standard outranks any one person's opinion.
How are the brands related?
ClearValue Money is the corporate hub for five independent brands, each owning one lane: ClearValue Lending (business and personal financing), ClearValue Cards (credit-card reviews), ClearValue Books (finance-book reviews), ClearValue Insure (insurance guides), and ClearValue Banking (savings and accounts). One standard, five lanes — each goes deep in its lane and holds to the same published editorial standard.