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I haven't updated recently so pm's are welcomed with suggestions.

impoverished said:There is a thread called "Flushing Saving Bank CD GREAT GIFTS!!!!!!!! and a Great rate also". Going to the web page (http://www.flushingsavings.com/gifts/Gifts.htm) displays a long of list of gifts and the deposit amount required to get them. I'd be curious if someone would be willing to go through and get the street prices of the items listed and calculate the net interest yield. Any takers?

Forget it. It's not the street price that matters. You will be paying tax on the inflated "declared price".
So after tax you may actually be LOSING money!

zry said:
Forget it. It's not the street price that matters. You will be paying tax on the inflated "declared price".
So after tax you may actually be LOSING money!
Sure, they'll 1099 you for the full MSRP, but you can always declare on your taxes what the actual "street price" of the item is and pay tax only on that amount. Just be sure you have supporting documentation (ads from retailers would probably work well, printouts from respectable websites like Amazon.com perhaps would be the next best).

Since most newbies (myself included) create a new thread when they have a question that has unknowningly been covered and or are not familiar with how this forum tries to limit new threads, or don't know how to utilize the search feature to it's full capacity, should there be a sticky thread with a title saying something like, "Ask here first before starting thread"

Correct me if I'm wrong, sticky thread = stays at top of thread lists like Daughter thread.

I know idea seems off a bit, but I see a lot of seniors telling newbies to search, etc and it comes off as rude or flamming when they are probably just tired of answering the same question over and over. The Ask here thread could (hopefully) point people in the right direction before they start a new thread.

I thought about that when I was typing the message, different title should cover it to some extent, but then everyone that is subscribed to the current thread may get tired of reading about every tom, dick and harry's unsearched question. This would get in the way of the purpose of this thread as I can see a lot of people, including you getting tired of telling everyone where links are etc.
I see the Ask here thread as being a Newbie connection ground so they can get their feet wet.

I really believe the sticky secrets thread could be utilized in the same manner. Only downfall to it is that the instructions for searching and the tips by Tyler are at the bottom of the OP. Moderate tips to top, followed by search and then links to popular discussions, I'd also change the title to Include "Newbies Read This Before Posting: Tips and Tricks". Tip number one would go along way to keep newbies from thinking FW members are rude (particularly when they get edited on their first post, etc).

Tip 1 Be prepared to be referred here:

If another poster suggest that you take a look at this thread, don't take it personally. That suggestion is likely done to help you and other members make FW Finance the best finance forum it can be.

Secrets thread is locked.

Newbies would be able to answer Newbies question. I agree that eventually the'd venture out but if Mods can make it such that new threads can only be started by >1 yr members that have some # of posts it may work to limit the amount of useless threads (the ones that you can google an answer to are really pathetic) Some would still read newbies replies, but it might help limit the number of new threads, until all newbies get >1 yr etc, but flaming should get them on the right track, particularly telling them to use the secrets thread first and then google, then post.

It's scary how you knew what grade I was in....

In another thread, slimcustomer said, "I'm always cautious of links that I can't find on my own... I know others on this forum are better at checking links to make sure they aren't being phished, but I always like to be able to locate the links myself and verify the deal with the company directly rather than rely on a direct link on an internet forum.

So, maybe a thread dealing with the best ways to check the validity of a link & protect oneself from phishing?

Quick Summary is an "edit-by-all" format that might be more useful if it rides at the top instead of resting just above the initial post at the very bottom of as many pages as develop. I sometimes dive down to see what the OP's comments on beginning a thread were. If that were secured up top, near the title, we might all stay on thread a bit better than we do. Thread drift blights a lot of discussions. Of course, it is sometimes useful when new aspects are brought up. I'd also like to see more FINANCE discussed on the Finance forum, with the hot deals not so mingled with true financial discussion. Maybe a DireStraits forum could handle desperate pleas for help? So much on Finance forum is just NOT about finance, as I understand the word. But... well... I've barely skimmed FWF topics. Learned a lot here. I've benefited even as I was castigated for asking questions and for posting responses. So it goes. -Zer DaveHanson said: Many highly rated FW threads have grown out of user requests in the course of a seperate discussion. Some very recent examples are here and here .

At the same time, we get many questions over and over again, in various OT threads, where FW members are (justifiably) reluctant to answer them.

Anandtech has had an "I wanna" thread that would handle requests for hot deals, which avoided cluttering the forum up with numerous threads begging for a deal. In that same tradition, the purpose of this thread is to serve as a centralized location where FWF members, new and old, can request threads devoted to particular subjects. People who are looking for answers that they can't find good information on can ask their questions here. Likewise, folks who are looking for a suitable way to contribute back to the community can look for suitable projects here as well.

One nice way to handle this might be to have an "edited-by-all" post after this one keep a member-updated list of requested threads, along with posts by volunteers willing to tackle these projects. I'll start with a couple of projects, one of which I'll volunteer to do myself.

Please offer suggestions for refining this thread in order to increase its usefulness to all. TIA.

QS is second post on page 1, which falls at the end of what is displayed on my screen. Newest post on last page is what is displayed at top on my browser (IE5). Is this an option/preference that I can change so that QS and OP's initial post are immediate accessible at top of each thread? -Zer DaveHanson said: Some good suggestions, but no one is updating the quicksummary (1st post after the OP). Please do so, since that will make the thread much more useful!

Zer92780, I don't understand your post. Again, the QS doesn't stay at at the bottom.