Share Your Wisdom

BELOW ARE THE 133 questions that occasionally get featured on the homepage. Please click on any of the questions below and post a comment—and your thoughts may help and inspire other readers. Not sure how to comment? Click here.

Mind Over Money

• Does money buy happiness?
• How has financial thinking changed over the past year?
• How would you define “enough”?
• How would you summarize your financial philosophy in one sentence?
• If money were no object, what would you change about your life?
• If you could live your financial life again, what would you do differently?
• If you inherited an unexpected $5 million, how would you use the money?
• Is it possible to have too much money?
• Should our values—religious, civic or otherwise—guide our investment choices?
• What are the smartest financial moves you’ve ever made?
• What are your top financial worries?
• What dangerous financial myths do you regularly hear?
• What do you consider your greatest financial achievement?
• What do you consider your greatest financial mistakes?
• What do you do that’s financially foolish—but you do it anyway?
• What do you need to feel financially secure?
• What do you wish your younger self knew?
• What financial topic do you find most confusing?
• What should be the top financial priorities for those in their 20s?
• What Voices questions would you ask?
• What’s the best financial book you’ve ever read?
• What’s the most important financial concept?
• What’s your biggest financial regret?
• What’s your favorite financial quote?
• When during your life were you happiest—and what role did money play?
• Which financial figure—dead or alive—would you most like to spend an hour with?
• Which financial tasks do you find most irksome?
• Which financial tasks do you keep putting off?
• Which life decisions shouldn’t involve financial considerations?
• Who has had the greatest influence on your financial thinking?

Spending

• Does it ever make sense to carry a credit card balance?
• How do you save money on travel costs?
• Is buying a used car always the smarter financial choice?
• Is it okay not to leave a tip at a full-service restaurant?
• Should folks create and follow a written budget?
• What costs are you most loath to pay?
• What do other people spend too much money on?
• What do you spend too much money on?
• What everyday purchase do you consider a bargain?
• What everyday purchase do you consider most overpriced?
• What items would you happily buy even if they were twice the price?
• What purchase do you most regret?
• What spending brings you greatest happiness?
• What’s the best strategy for collecting and using credit card rewards?
• What’s the best strategy for getting a good deal on a car?
• What’s your most prized possession?
• When does it make sense to buy the extended warranty, if ever?
• When does leasing a car make financial sense?
• When have you insisted on paying the lowest cost possible—and regretted it?

Investing

• Can the market be beaten?
• Does it ever make sense to buy actively managed funds?
• How did you get started as an investor?
• How often do you check your portfolio and the markets—and why?
• If you could buy just three funds or less, what would they be?
• If you couldn’t buy index funds, how would you invest?
• If you want long-run growth, is there an alternative to owning stocks?
• Is bitcoin an investment or a speculation—and why?
• Is it wise for everyday investors to buy individual stocks?
• Is there a downside to the current popularity of indexing?
• Should investors own alternative investments—and, if so, which ones?
• Should investors tilt toward growth or value?
• Should political views influence how we invest?
• Should U.S. investors own foreign bonds?
• Should you buy bond funds or individual bonds?
• What are your favorite financial apps and websites, present company excepted?
• What aspect of Wall Street do you find most distasteful?
• What investment will perform best over the next 10 years?
• What percentage of a stock portfolio should be invested abroad?
• What should investors do about the possibility of higher interest rates?
• What stock would you happily hold for the next 10 years?
• What’s the best place to earn a safe yield?
• What’s the best place to stash money you’ll spend in the next few years?
• What’s the best strategy for rebalancing a portfolio?
• What’s the best way to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance?
• What’s your favorite actively managed fund—if any?
• Which banks, brokerage firms and other financial companies would you recommend to friends?
• Which financial markets are in a bubble, if any?
• Which investments will perform worst over the next 10 years?

Family

• Are children a good investment?
• Are top private colleges worth the cost?
• Do parents have an obligation to pay part or all of their children’s college costs?
• Do we talk too little about our personal finances—or too much?
• How much allowance should children receive?
• How much financial help should parents give their children?
• Should affluent parents insist their children pay a portion of college costs?
• Should children be paid for doing chores?
• What financial lessons—good or bad—did you learn from your parents?
• What money advice do you recall hearing from your parents?
• What obligations do we have to our heirs?
• What’s the best way to teach children about money?
• When is it okay to drop life insurance coverage?
• When should parents stop supporting their adult children financially?
• Would you risk your own finances to help your retired parents?

Houses

• Is a home a good investment?
• Is rental real estate a good investment?
• Should you prepay a mortgage?
• What should you look for when buying a home?
• What’s the best strategy for selling a house?
• When does it make sense to buy a home?
• When is it worth remodeling a home?
• When is renting a home a good idea?

Retirement

• Are annuities ever worth buying—and, if so, which type?
• Do you favor Roth or traditional retirement accounts, and why?
• Given a choice, should you take regular monthly pension payments or a lump sum?
• How long before retirement should you dial down your portfolio’s risk?
• Is “die broke” a smart retirement strategy?
• Is it okay to retire with debt?
• Should retirees use a 4% portfolio withdrawal rate?
• What criteria should you use when picking a retirement location?
• What do you need for a fulfilling retirement?
• What do you need to be financially independent?
• What’s the best strategy for generating retirement income?
• What’s your No. 1 goal for retirement?
• When should you claim Social Security retirement benefits—and why?
• Which is better, traditional Medicare or Medicare Advantage?

Personal Finance

• How much emergency money should you hold?
• Is buying long-term-care insurance a good idea?
• Is it better to give away money now or upon death?
• Is term life insurance always better than cash value?
• What are your favorite charities?
• What’s the best strategy for charitable giving?
• What’s your favorite tax-savings strategy?
• When is it okay to go into debt?
• Where do you see signs of inflation?
• Which aspect of the tax code do you hate the most?
• Will tax rates inevitably increase—and, if so, how should we prepare?

Advice

• Is a good financial advisor worth 1% of assets per year?
• What are the hallmarks of a good financial advisor?
• What financial advice would you give to those in their early 20s?
• What popular financial advice do you ignore?
• What’s the wisest financial advice you’ve ever been given?
• What’s the worst financial advice you’ve ever acted on?
• When does it make sense to hire a financial advisor?