How Facts Are Organized
Understanding the Facts Hierarchy
Sterling organizes household information using a four-level hierarchy. Let's build up from the smallest unit, an individual Fact, to understand how everything fits together.
Facts
A Fact is the smallest unit of data in Sterling, which is a single piece of information about a household. Facts are the actual values you enter: names, dates, dollar amounts, percentages, and selections.
Example: Interest Rate: 6.5% is a fact. It's one specific data point about a mortgage.
Fact Groups
A Fact Group is a collection of related facts that describe one thing and are displayed as a card in the interface. Each card represents a single instance: one person, one account, one property, one loan.
Example: All facts that make up a single mortgage is a Fact Group. It contains multiple facts: the interest rate (6.5%), original balance ($450,000), current balance ($380,000), origination date, monthly payment, and more. Together, these facts fully describe one mortgage.
Fact Groups are displayed as a single unit, and the Fact Status of that Fact Group is equal to the lowest quality individual Fact inside the group.
Fact Sets
A Fact Set is a section that groups similar Fact Groups together. It's important to always mark the completion status of a Fact Set.
Example: Mortgages is a Fact Set. It contains all the mortgages for a household, whether that's one mortgage, three mortgages, or none at all.
The status of a Fact Set matters!
Always mark a Fact Set with the appropriate status (Complete or Incomplete), even if it's empty. If the Mortgage section is empty and marked Complete, that tells Sterling "this household has no mortgages." If the Mortgage section is empty and marked Incomplete, this tells Sterling "we don't know if they have any mortgages at this time." This distinction affects the advice Sterling will generate.
Fact Categories
A Fact Category is the top-level category for Facts. Sterling uses eight categories to organize all household financial data: People, Income, Expenses, Investments, Real Estate, Liabilities, Insurance, and Other Information.
Example: Liabilities is a Fact Category. It contains multiple Fact Sets: Mortgages, Auto Loans, Student Loans, Credit Cards, and other debt types. Click the Liabilities tab to see all debt-related information for the household.
Fact Categories must be marked 'Ready'
Before creating advice, you must mark all Fact Categories as Ready. The Generate Advice button remains disabled until all Fact Categories are marked Ready.
Putting It All Together
Here's how the hierarchy works using our mortgage example:
| Level | Example | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Fact | Interest Rate: 6.5% | A single data point |
| Fact Group | Primary Residence Mortgage | A card containing all facts about one mortgage |
| Fact Set | Mortgages | All mortgage cards for the household |
| Fact Category | Liabilities | The tab containing all debt-related information |
Quick Reference
Facts are fields. Groups are cards. Sets are sections. Categories are tabs.