Elle wrote:
- quote -

Well let's see how it goes, I'll try to muddle through with my dog-eared
Strunk & White. But I hope people email in about grammatical errors,
typos, convoluted sentences, unclear explanations, and just-plain-wrong
info. If this happens often enough Skip will dock my pay then fire me
(as he should).

- quote -

The putative conflicts exist whether my name is there or not, right? At
least with a name someone knows what I do and what my biases might be.
It seems worse not to put that out there.

- quote -

The purpose of any FAQ is to complement the newsgroup, addressing the
common questions, and drawing from posts for material. So I'll use the
deja/google archive as the main gauge of what's "frequent," but I'll
also draw from other places. I answer questions on some other sites and
I have a personal archive of a couple thousand Q&As, with quite a bit of
repetition. For the most part they mirror MIFP but I'll probably throw
some in that aren't that common on MIFP. If I had a fiver for every time
I've answered "should I buy stock in [bankrupt company]?" and "how do I
find out if this stock certificate from my Aunt Mabel's closet has
value?" we could hire that professional writer you wanted.

And yes anyone can propose a question but the idea of the FAQ isn't to
put up a comprehensive wiki about personal finance. If it's not a common
question or is overly complex it's more appropriate to leave it to
regular posting. As an example that recent question about muni bond
taxation -- doesn't come up often, and a thorough answer is extremely
complicated, so I don't think that fits in the FAQ, even if someone were
to email in and ask for it.

-Tad

On Tue, 16 May 2006 10:47:22 -0500, Elizabeth Richardson wrote:

- quote -

As a lurker for several years, I agree with Elizabeth 100% regarding
Elle's posts--Tad, do the writing yourself. Folks will let you know if
something is not written clearly.

--
__
Have you done your Asphalt Dance today?

Sandra Loosemore wrote:
- quote -


Sandra, I agree, and I'll prioritize things differently when building
this out. I'll be shooting for "FAQs of self-directed investors" rather
than "FAQs of people looking to hire a financial advisor." Questions
about hiring a planner don't come up nearly as often as actual planning
questions. Though eventually both can fit in, of course.

-Tad

"Elle" <honda.lioness[at]nospam.earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:yJkag.5285$u4.4635[at]newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net...
- quote -

I find Tad's posts on this newsgroup to be some of the most direct, succinct
and helpful posts to be found. I rarely read Elle's posts because they
circle the point until it is entirely obfuscated. Please, Tad, write your
own stuff - and thanks for taking on the task!

Elizabeth Richardson

I suggest you get someone else to handle the grammatical
editing of this site. That is, you be the "substance
editor." You have at least some expertise of substance to
offer, without question. Someone else handles putting the
material into a well-written format.

Since it's easy to criticize without offering constructive
solutions, I hereby offer to do this. Your highly likely
rejection is duly noted in advance. In which case, find a
pro to do the writing.

I agree the current site omits some of the more frequently
asked questions here. Maybe you can clarify: Is this MIFP
supported site supposed to be an informational site? Or is
it supposed to truly reflect questions that are asked at a
high frequency here?

Some of the current FAQs should stay. More on that in the
future, maybe. First nominees for new FAQs:

"How should I invest X dollars?"

"How should I save for retirement? Is there a prioritization
guideline for IRAs vs. 401(k)'s"

"Should I pay off my house mortgage?"

Lastly, I suggest you not list your name at this FAQ site in
any way. At a minimum, an appearance of conflicts of
interest exists.



"Tad Borek/MIFP" <mifp_faq[at]pacbell.net> wrote
- quote -

You're going to have to clarify: Is this MIFP FAQ supposed
to reflect FAQs that appear here at the newsgroup? Or can
anyone propose a question that they think generally comes up
a lot, but not necessarily at the MIFP newsgroup?

Tad Borek/MIFP <mifp_faq[at]pacbell.net> writes:

- quote -

Hmmm. The old FAQ has a lot of material about choosing a financial
planner and insurance coverage. OTOH, the kinds of questions I see
discussed most often in this group are things like: Should I pay off
my (mortgage|student loan|car loan|credit card) or invest the money
for retirement? Should I invest extra money in a 401(k) plan, a Roth
IRA, or in a regular taxable account? How should I invest the money
I'm saving to buy a house? Should I invest in (internet stocks|REITs|
emerging markets|commodities|other hot sector of the day)? In other
words, questions seeking advice about common financial situations
rather than information about how to hire a financial planner. While
some of the answers are bound to be POV, I think there's also a core
of "conventional wisdom": pay off the highest-interest-rate loan
first, invest enough in your 401(k) to get the full employer match,
set up an emergency fund, don't invest money you'll need in less than 5
years in equities, don't cash in or borrow from your 401(k) plan, etc.

-Sandra

As Skip posted earlier today, I've taken on the job of updating the FAQs
(frequently asked questions) for this newsgroup. I'm looking forward to
working on this and with everyone's help it should become a very useful
resource.

For a first step I'd like to solicit ideas for additions & changes (the
old FAQs are here: http://www.algebra.com/~mifp/faq.txt ). I have an
idea of what questions are "frequent" from both my participation online
and my advisory practice, but I'll defer to MIFP readers when adding
topics or prioritizing changes.

Once I've outlined a topical list of FAQs I'll fill in as much as I can
from existing material (eg the old FAQs) and put that up. Then over time
I'll collect articles and updates from anyone interested in submitting
them. I'll edit & combine as needed and post the changes. Ideally each
answer will reflect the collective wisdom of this entire community, and
air conflicting points of view where that's appropriate.

As part of updating the FAQs, I'll put them into a Wiki that the MIFP
administrator set up for us. For those not familiar with the format,
check out www.wikipedia.com. The FAQs will have the same basic look, but
they won't be open to edits by anyone, just myself and at times the MIFP
moderators Skip & Ed (who as always have final say). While it won't be
as open as wikipedia, I want the concept to be the same: "if you see
something that's wrong, change it!" The only difference is that the
change will go through the FAQ editor (me).

I've posted to MIFP in the past using a different address, but please
use mifp_faq[at]pacbell.net for any FAQ-related email, and feel free to
send me any ideas or questions. Or, reply to this thread.

Let's get started!

-Tad

Tad Borek
MIFP-FAQ Editor
San Francisco, CA
mifp_faq[at]pacbell.net