About HarborPlain

Why this site exists

Becoming a parent triggers a wave of consequential decisions: life insurance, a will, guardianship, how to start saving for college. They usually land at the exact moment you have the least time and sleep to think about them, and most of the information out there is either written to sell you something or buried in jargon.

HarborPlain exists to fix that. I build plain-language calculators, trackers, and guides that turn each of these decisions into a clear number and a simple next step, so you can walk into any conversation (with an agent, an attorney, or your partner) already knowing what you need.

Who writes this

HarborPlain is written and maintained by Cholilur Rohman. It is one person, not a team or a newsroom: I research each topic, build the calculators, and write the guides, and I hold every piece to the standard set out in the Editorial Policy. See the Terms of Use for the full disclaimer.

I am not a financial advisor, a lawyer, or a medical professional, and nothing here is professional advice. What I do instead is show the work behind every number. Where a figure has an official source, I use it: tax and 529 rules from the IRS, health guidance from the CDC, wills and guardianship from state law, and product specifications (such as diaper sizing by weight) from the manufacturer that publishes them. Some figures have no official source at all. Nobody publishes an authoritative price for life insurance, because insurers do not release their rate tables, and some numbers are conventions rather than published data (for example, the “ten times your income” guideline for sizing coverage, which comes from an industry body such as the Insurance Information Institute). For these I name who publishes the price or the rule, date it, and mark it as an estimate or a rule of thumb rather than an official figure. You decide, ideally with a qualified professional when it matters.

How the site makes money

The tools and guides are free. The site is funded mainly through advertising, and over time may include selected affiliate partnerships. Advertising and partnerships never decide what I recommend or how the calculators work, a separation set out in the Editorial Policy.

One conflict I want to name directly: a few of the companies I cite for market-price figures, including Policygenius, LendingTree, NerdWallet, and Insure.com, sell products in the same markets this site covers, and any of them could become an advertising or affiliate partner later. I cite them because they publish market-price data that no government agency or regulator does, not because of any relationship, and I name them here so you can weigh that for yourself. If a specific page ever carries an affiliate link, it will say so on the page.

Get in touch

I read everything. Spotted an error, have a question, or want to suggest a tool? Email hello@harborplain.com or use the contact page.