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HERE’S YOUR CHANCE to help others with your financial insights. To comment, log on using your username and password from Disqus, Facebook, Google (Gmail), Twitter or WordPress. For more on how to comment, click here. And please come back often. We’ll be regularly updating the list of questions.

What’s the best financial book you’ve ever read?
" 2 months ago What is the Best Book about Finance? I have read all the books suggested at Humble Dollar, but by far the Best Book was Psychology of Money, by Morgan Housel. I wish it was around in the 1970’s when I was in my 20’s. Check out the chapters and quotes. Fascinating! From book Psychology of Money Timeless lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness A genius is the man who can do the average thing when everyone else around him is losing his mind. Napoleon The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes Sherlock Holmes Chapter 1. No One’s Crazy Your personal experiences with money make up maybe 0.00000001 % of what’s happened in the world, but maybe 80% of how you think the world works 2. Luck & Risk Nothing is as good or as bad as it seems 3. Never Enough When rich people do crazy things 4. Confounding Compounding $81.5 Billion of Warren Buffett’s $84.5 Billion net worth came after his 65th Birthday.  Our minds are not built to handle such absurdities. 5. Getting Wealthy vs Staying Wealthy Good investing is not necessarily about making good decisions.  It’s about consistently not screwing up 6. Tails, You Win You can be wrong half the time and still make a fortune 7. Freedom Controlling your time is the highest dividend money pays 8. Man in the Car Paradox No one is impressed with your possessions as much as you are 9. Wealth is What You Don’t See Spending money to show people how much money you have is the fastest way to have less money 10. Save Money The only factor you can control generates one of the only things that matters.  How wonderful. 11. Reasonable>Rational Aiming to be mostly reasonable works better than trying to be coldly rational 12. Surprise History is the study of change, ironically used as a map of the future. 13.  Room for Error The Most important part of every plan is planning on your plan not going according to plan 14. You’ll Change Long-term planning is harder than it seems because people’s goals and desires change over time 15. Nothing’s Free Everything has a price, but not all prices appear on labels 16. You & Me Beware taking financial cues from people playing a different game than you are 17. The Seduction of Pessimism Optimism sounds like a sales pitch.  Pessimism sounds like someone trying to help you. 18. When You’ll Believe Anything Appealing fictions, and why stories are more powerful than statistics 19. All Together Now What we’ve learned about the psychology of your own money. 20. Confessions The psychology of my own money. "
- William Dorner
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When does it make sense to buy a home?
"I think that yes a house can be a sensible asset as long as you are not buying too much house. The utility benefit can be great in terms of saving on potential rent (depending on where you choose to live). A mortgage is the minimum you'll pay for accommodation, whereas rent is the maximum. But a sensible house in a good area may also appreciate in price (but its kind of irrelvent unless you plan to downsize in the future as you'll always need somewhere to live). One of the biggest benefits comes from the peace of mind you get from not being evicted!"
- Captain FI
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What are the smartest financial moves you’ve ever made?
"Marrying a woman who is content with a simple life. And she's beautiful. And she's ok with me buying a new truck next week. What more could a guy want?"
- Frank Stanford
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Which banks, brokerage firms and other financial companies would you recommend to friends?
"I use both Fidelity and Vanguard since the 1980's. I learned early on never to put all your eggs in one basket, especially like one stock where you work. Anything can FAIL no matter how Big. Overall these two companies have served all my needs, and yes they both have had some ups and downs, but are solid companies and plan to use them until my death, currently I am 76. For banks, I chose online accounts at Ally and Marcus, both always competing for a good rate, and compete with the highest. Also I manage all my investments, as paying 1% and more adds up over a lifetime, I primarily use ETF's for Dow Jones, S&P, and Nasdaq. I use a small percentage 3.4% of my portfolio to deal in individual stocks, as we all like to think we can do better!"
- William Dorner
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Should investors own alternative investments—and, if so, which ones?
"If you do, be sure to read the fine print. We own an "alternative investment fund". You can only sell it during periods at the end of the quarter and then only if there are enough buyers. It has been almost a year and we still have money there. It has done well but it is highly illiquid."
- Rob Thompson
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What are your top financial worries?
"1. Medical insurance and costs. 2. Radical politicians who don't understand the stability of the world financial system relies on the full faith and credit of the USA and that "regulated" before "capitalism" is essential. 3. Hacking or other widespread computer glitch. (Another comment mentioned identity theft; it's a subset of a larger universe of weakness of the financial system.)"
- Cammer Michael
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Is rental real estate a good investment?
"Yes I think residential property investments can be great - I did a small development and built two duplexes, and they are cash flow neutral and become more positive over time as the property appreciates in price and rent, and I pay the loans down. Definitely something to consider for a long term investor if you have a consistent income and risk tolerance and can manage the upkeep and also have a sensible LVR loan"
- Captain FI
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What should investors do about the possibility of higher interest rates?
"Personal Opinion, but these comments are 10 months to 2 years old. Bond funds seem to change more like stocks these days. If you want stability, buy iBonds or Treasuries and the like. Be careful of Bond funds at times like these."
- William Dorner
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If you couldn’t buy index funds, how would you invest?
"I would be investing in the old school Listed Investment Companies such as AFIC, Brickworks etc "
- Captain FI
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Should children be paid for doing chores?
"My family’s guideline was that routine household chores are part of family life, so no pay for making beds, dusting, doing laundry, or washing dishes. One of our routine chores as children was to pick up sticks, while Dad pushed the lawnmower on our 3/4 acre property. As my brother and I neared our teens and were physically capable of doing the heavier yard work, Dad made us an offer. We could take turns on the lawn mowing, and Dad would drive the family 30 miles to for a hamburger and movie weekly during the summer. Or, Dad could hire someone to mow the lawn, relieving all three of us of that chore, but also using the money that could have been spent on a weekly outing. Fast food and movies were a rare treat for us, so we leaped at the chance to do the yard work ourselves. Years later, while arranging to share the costs of a yard service for our parents, my brother brought up that annual offer from Dad. Looking at his own young children, my brother was trying to figure out how he could teach them about working for what you want as effectively as Dad taught us. My brother could easily afford European vacations for his family, so he had to adapt Dad’s strategy, but his three seem to have learned the lesson."
- Ginger Williams
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What everyday purchase do you consider a bargain?
"Food. Gasoline. Water. Food is less of American household spend. Gas, adjusted for inflation and better gas mileage is half the cost of 40 years ago. Water, precious at any price. sure some other countries may have better bargains when it comes to food or gas or water, but you can count the ones where all three are better on fingers on one hand. watch Moscow on the Hudson - coffee, coffee, coffee"
- BenefitJack
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What popular financial advice do you ignore?
"Lately it’s been 50/30/20 budgeting. I follow “pay yourself first”, so my retirement account gets funded first, then I pay bills, then whatever’s left is available to spend. 50/30/20 is needs/wants/saving. I really dislike savings being in last place."
- Ginger Williams
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