A 2009-era affiliate review blog now folded entirely into MoneyWise; by its own disclosure, the products it reviews are its paying sponsors, with editorial claiming the scoring stays separate.
What it's really for A personal-finance review blog paid affiliate and sponsored-content fees by the platforms it rates.
What our grade covers The grade on this page is about its scored investing-platform reviews, not everything the site does.
Medium Scoring Confidence Mostly sourced, but a detail or two still needs a primary source, so the grade could shift slightly.
Financial-product companies (brokerages, fintech apps, banks) pay the most via affiliate commissions and sponsorships; the site says linked products are from its sponsors but claims compensation does not drive its scores.
Source →- Operating since
- 2009 (17 years) · source
- What it costs you
- Free to read The reviews are free to read.
- How they make money
- Earns affiliate commissions and advertising/sponsored-content fees from the brokerages, fintech apps, and banks it reviews.
- What they do
- Published written reviews and rankings of investing platforms, robo-advisors, and personal-finance apps, each given an editorial score.
- What to watch for
- The brand is effectively retired: investorjunkie.com simply redirects to MoneyWise, and the reviews are desk-research editorial scores funded by affiliate deals with the same companies, not independent hands-on testing.
- Composite score
- 1.90 / 5.00 → grade C-
How the grade was reached
Does the site take money from the very entities it ranks? Pay-for-placement, vendor-funded data, and affiliate commissions all pull this down. The less the ranking can be bought, the higher the score.
What is the ranking actually built on? Hands-on testing scores highest, then verified first-hand reviews, then opinion or popularity surveys and self-reported figures, then pay-to-rank, which scores lowest.
Is the methodology published, specific, and reproducible? Can a reader see how a given rank was reached, or is it a black box?
Are commercial relationships, sponsorships, and affiliate arrangements disclosed clearly and near the rankings themselves, rather than buried?
How hard is it to game? Controls against fake reviews, solicited reviews, and vendor gaming raise this; an open box anyone can stuff lowers it.
Evidence
- Investor Junkie was founded in 2009 by Larry Ludwig and made money primarily through affiliate marketing on content about investing firms, fintech apps, and bank accounts; it sold to XLMedia's Webpals Group for $5.8M in 2018 and was later resold to MPD Media in 2023. Source: They Got Acquired →
- XLMedia divested its personal-finance affiliate sites, including Investor Junkie, to MPD Media; the investorjunkie.com domain now 301-redirects to MoneyWise.com, where the brand's content now lives. Source: Gambling Insider →
- MoneyWise's advertising disclosure states linked products and services are from its sponsors and that it earns a commission on reader purchases; its review-methodology page claims scores are kept free of marketing or affiliate influence and assigns each product a unique editorial score. Source: MoneyWise advertising disclosure & methodology →