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This is also a proposal to bring an existing SE 1.0 site, Basically Money, into the StackExchange 2.0 network. Please check out the existing site at basicallymoney.com. Your participation at Basically Money is also highly valued and appreciated! – Chris W. Rea Jun 2 '10 at 1:47

Is this meant to be US only (based on the questions so far) or international? As regulation and institutions are largely country specific many (if not most) Q&As will be country specific. – Richard Jun 2 '10 at 8:52

@Richard the existing site allows for questions to be marked as country-specific, but many of the questions are cross domain, or relate to cross-border issues. To my knowledge 5 of the top 10 users at basicallymoney.com are Canadian or British – Rich Seller Jun 2 '10 at 10:59

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85 Example Questions (13 closed)

active newest votes

up vote 27 down vote

added by Jonathan Sampson Jun 2 '10 at 5:55

up vote 23 down vote

added by brainimus Jun 2 '10 at 12:14

	Actually, it's a real question on the site already: basicallymoney.com/questions/5/… ... and on-topic. – Chris W. Rea Jun 2 '10 at 14:21
	I like this question in general retirement investing is a fun subject. – percent20 Jun 3 '10 at 6:36

up vote 22 down vote

added by Aaronaught Jun 4 '10 at 0:23

	Similar to a real question on the site: basicallymoney.com/questions/430/… – Chris W. Rea Jun 4 '10 at 1:03
	Interesting @Chris - gives some idea of the kinds of answers such a question might pick up. Guess this is the PF version of a bikeshed question! (And the jury's still out on whether that's good or bad...) – Aaronaught Jun 4 '10 at 1:38
	Eat less... it's a diet that saves you money :) I think this type of question should be off-topic since any good answer will have to dive off into dinner menus, ingredient substitutions, etc which have nothing to do with personal finance. – Jerry Fernholz Jun 4 '10 at 18:08

up vote 21 down vote

added by Chris W. Rea Jun 2 '10 at 1:49

See the real question at basicallymoney.com/questions/19/… – Chris W. Rea Jun 2 '10 at 1:50

up vote 21 down vote

added by Jaydles Jun 4 '10 at 15:43

	If this is going to be voted one of the great examples: Could we perhaps change "401k" to "retirement account", and remove the parentheses, adding a comma before instead? – Chris W. Rea Jun 8 '10 at 1:06
	@Chris: The question might be kind of region-specific. I can freely take money out of my RSP here (it'll just get taxed as income), so unless I'm missing something, the generic wording doesn't make much sense for Canada at least. I believe that a 401k is a special kind of locked-in or quasi-locked-in account, so it's got to be specific... – Aaronaught Jun 8 '10 at 3:01

up vote 14 down vote

added by Rog Jun 2 '10 at 5:39

Curious why y'all think this is off topic? – C. Ross Jun 2 '10 at 19:00

It is a silly question – Casebash Jun 3 '10 at 1:37

@Casebash, why is it silly? It's akin to "why is it bad to use my local file system for backups?". A basic question that many people have – Rich Seller Jun 3 '10 at 9:54

up vote 11 down vote

added by rlb.usa Jun 3 '10 at 18:26

up vote 9 down vote

added by Aaronaught Jun 3 '10 at 2:51

See a similar question and it's answers at basicallymoney.com/questions/317/… – zephyr Jun 5 '10 at 12:18

up vote 8 down vote

added by B. Onstot Jun 3 '10 at 17:47

up vote 7 down vote

added by Jaydles Jun 4 '10 at 15:41

up vote 6 down vote

added by msemack Jun 4 '10 at 17:41

closed as off topic by justkt, Jon Erickson, Jedidja, chollida, David Fullerton Jun 11 '10 at 14:25

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

Probably not relevant for most people, but still on topic I think – Eric Petroelje Jun 16 '10 at 21:09

I think this should be on-topic as well. – Chris W. Rea Jun 16 '10 at 22:48

What if you're in Switzerland? It would be legal then. What about if I wanted to open an Australian bank account to reap the higher interest rate there, would that be off topic too? – C. Ross Jun 17 '10 at 21:16

I think this one is just suffering from negative momentum. I maintain too that it should be on-topic (but not necessarily a great example of on-topic.) – Chris W. Rea Jun 17 '10 at 21:44

@Mike Even if they're hiding money (as you put it), in itself that's not illegal, avoiding tax is (and question does not ask about that). Hedging into different currencies, or protecting the money in a more trustworthy bank could be the reasons. I, for one, think banks in the U.S. and U.K. deserve about zero trust (they're reliable only due to gov't guarantees). – dbkk Jun 18 '10 at 3:36

show 3 more improvement suggestions

up vote 6 down vote

added by Stefan Lasiewski Jun 5 '10 at 4:21

Idea borrowed from answers.mint.com/… – Stefan Lasiewski Jun 5 '10 at 4:22

up vote 5 down vote

added by Aaronaught Jun 3 '10 at 2:38

I've found that retail investors seem to be terrified of what's not really that difficult a concept, probably because they associate it with hedge funds, so IMHO this would be a very good question to have. Of course the answers would have to be relevant to retail investing as opposed to professional/institutional - feel free to edit the title if you can think of a concise way to narrow it down. – Aaronaught Jun 3 '10 at 2:48

Questions to gain a basic understanding of such concepts should be on topic. – Chris W. Rea Jun 3 '10 at 3:22

up vote 4 down vote

added by Chris W. Rea Jun 2 '10 at 1:49

See the real question at basicallymoney.com/questions/774/… – Chris W. Rea Jun 2 '10 at 1:51

up vote 4 down vote

added by Good Person Jun 2 '10 at 12:52

Duplicate of area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/1721/… – sblair Jun 2 '10 at 20:01

Not a duplicate. The other one is far too vague – Casebash Jun 3 '10 at 1:38

Agree, this question is way better formulated than the one it supposedly duplicates. Keep this one please. – Aaronaught Jun 3 '10 at 2:26

I think this is a good on-topic question, assuming you are taking about the financial pros and cons – Jerry Fernholz Jun 7 '10 at 16:42

It seems poorly phrased. Could something be done to make the grammar less awkward. – C. Ross Jun 9 '10 at 16:26

up vote 4 down vote

added by justkt Jun 3 '10 at 13:12

up vote 4 down vote

added by Gelatin Jun 4 '10 at 1:22

"schemes" is a kinda loaded word. – BCS Jun 17 '10 at 3:54

up vote 4 down vote

added by Jaydles Jun 4 '10 at 15:51

up vote 3 down vote

added by Chris W. Rea Jun 2 '10 at 1:49

closed as off topic by Jerry Fernholz, Jon Erickson, Massimo, The Real Bill, Eric Petroelje Jun 16 '10 at 21:09

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

See the real question at basicallymoney.com/questions/482/… – Chris W. Rea Jun 2 '10 at 1:50

This is really a legal question. Personal Finance should be about saving, investing, taxes, retirement, etc not about spending money ;), what constitutes legal tender, other legal matters not related to finance – Jerry Fernholz Jun 7 '10 at 16:39

I think this should be on-topic. Understanding what money is, how it works, how it can be used, etc. So what if it is a legal question; the concept of "legal tender" is fundamental to money. – Chris W. Rea Jun 9 '10 at 13:57

@Chris I really agree with you, this should be on topic, I think we're seeing a follower effect on this question (It has one off topic vote, so I'll vote it off topic). – C. Ross Jun 9 '10 at 16:25

I voted this on topic because it is about money – Rich Seller Jun 10 '10 at 9:24

show 1 more improvement suggestion

up vote 3 down vote

added by Adam Davis Jun 2 '10 at 2:58

Likely to not have a good solid answer; highly subjective perhaps? – Chris W. Rea Jun 2 '10 at 14:20

@Chris - but there are solid numbers here (although they are quite regional) – justkt Jun 3 '10 at 13:15

With very small tweaks, this seems on-topic. If you add "in new York" or "compared to stocks" to the question, it becomes completely answerable with solid data to back it up. Possible answer would be: "yes, homes have appreciated X% in new York this year, which is a good rate of return relative to most other opportunities availablle today" – Mike Sherov Jun 3 '10 at 18:48

up vote 3 down vote

added by Stefan Lasiewski Jun 5 '10 at 4:10

up vote 3 down vote

added by derobert Jun 17 '10 at 3:08

up vote 3 down vote

added by derobert Jun 17 '10 at 3:09

up vote 2 down vote

added by Chris W. Rea Jun 2 '10 at 1:48

See the real question at basicallymoney.com/questions/706/… – Chris W. Rea Jun 2 '10 at 1:51

up vote 2 down vote

added by Chris W. Rea Jun 2 '10 at 1:48

	See the real question at basicallymoney.com/questions/1190/… – Chris W. Rea Jun 2 '10 at 1:52
	I don't think it's necessary to tailor this question to persons moving to the US. This question could also help individuals that live here but don't have much credit yet (teenagers for example). – brainimus Jun 9 '10 at 17:14
	Yes, a similar question could apply to teenagers. But the issues are different; a teenager, for example, likely has an adult that can lend a hand, e.g. co-sign for a card. I'd suggest the questions ought to provide specific context where available, like this one has. – Chris W. Rea Jun 9 '10 at 18:00

up vote 2 down vote

added by Chris W. Rea Jun 2 '10 at 1:49

See the real question at basicallymoney.com/questions/1014/… – Chris W. Rea Jun 2 '10 at 1:51

up vote 2 down vote

added by Adam Davis, edited by Joel Spolsky Jun 16 '10 at 22:06

title should be "and no**w** see that was" – Rich Seller Jun 3 '10 at 21:33

up vote 2 down vote

added by d03boy Jun 2 '10 at 3:15

	Subjective Question – AttilaNYC Jun 13 '10 at 12:44
	@AttilaNYC: Not really that subjective due to the 'when is'. Answers could discuss the benefits and drawbacks of the product and competing products in relation to different financial situations. – derobert Jun 17 '10 at 2:51

up vote 2 down vote

added by d03boy Jun 2 '10 at 3:19

I'm not sure I understand the question. Could you clarify? – C. Ross Jun 2 '10 at 14:28

Basically I'm asking how to determine what price of home I can afford before going to a lender and finding out first hand – d03boy Jun 2 '10 at 21:26

up vote 2 down vote

added by Rog Jun 2 '10 at 5:41

This question is already asked, with "Is gold a good investment?" – B. Onstot Jun 3 '10 at 17:43

up vote 2 down vote

added by Casebash Jun 2 '10 at 11:20

up vote 2 down vote

added by rlb.usa Jun 3 '10 at 18:24

closed as off topic by AttilaNYC, Leigh Riffel, JohnFx, Edd, AaronSieb Jun 18 '10 at 14:44

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

Seems like more of a legal question than a financial one. – JohnFx Jun 17 '10 at 15:17

up vote 2 down vote

added by Jerry Fernholz Jun 4 '10 at 17:29

closed as off topic by C. Ross, Kensai, Jedidja, Lee, MaurizioPz Jun 16 '10 at 7:51

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

	Could we discuss why this should be off-topic? Are we going to exclude financial career-path type questions or is this off-topic on some other basis? – Chris W. Rea Jun 5 '10 at 12:25
	Definitely gray area. But I think the precedent is that institutional investing is beyond the realm of personal finance, and if you accept that, then financial career advice questions don't seem much different from any other career advice question. Career advice questions barely work on Stack Overflow, but SO is at least supposedly a site for "professionals" who could be expected to offer some reasonable advice (even though they usually don't). To be perfectly honest, I think career questions are off topic on any site except a career site. – Aaronaught Jun 5 '10 at 13:43
	I wouldn't want all "career" topics to be off-topic @ Basically Money, because earning money should be on topic. But I agree there is probably a line somewhere that needs to be drawn. – Chris W. Rea Jun 7 '10 at 19:37
	If the question was "What do you have to do to become a stock trader?", would this be on topic? "Stock broker" is a job title, but isn't "stock trader' more generic? Many people have a day job, and trade stocks some on the side. Some of us trade stocks as part of our retirement account. Still too ambiguous? – Stefan Lasiewski Jun 7 '10 at 21:28
	This is perfectly on target since it has an answer: You need to register with a Broker/Dealer, who will in turn sponsor you for a Series 7. – AttilaNYC Jun 13 '10 at 12:48

show 1 more improvement suggestion

up vote 2 down vote

added by Stefan Lasiewski Jun 5 '10 at 4:11

up vote 2 down vote

added by Stefan Lasiewski Jun 5 '10 at 4:25

	Reworded (something along the lines of how gold can fit into someone's portfolio) might work, but this sounds like a psychology or economics question. – derobert Jun 17 '10 at 3:00
	Great offtopic example, because it shows the fine line between personal finance and economics. – Mike Sherov Jun 17 '10 at 23:23