8/29    Applying for a home loan now. The loan officer keeps asking why
        I wrote large amounts of check, and what they're for, and fax
        her proof to support what I said. She said loan regulations have
        tightened a lot to prevent money laundry. What is the max amount
        of money I can transfer these days without triggering annoying
        audits? I am not a terrorist.
	...

5/13    Does FDIC ever matter? How likely is it that your deposit of
        over $250k going to be screwed over in a major US bank?
        \_ Was Washington Mutual a major bank?
        \_ Was Washington Mutual a major US bank?
        \_ Hahahahahahahahahahaha. Good one.
        \- As with nuclear weapons, this insurance produces much of its value
	...

3/9     In a 15/30 year loan, the amount of payment stays the same but
        the payment on interest decreases while the principal increases.
        Suppose I decide to pay off a huge chunk of principal, will
        the amount of interest I need to pay decrease drastically, or
        do banks still want to take out a huge chunk of interest rate?
        \_ You don't actually have separate "interest" and "principal"; you
	...

11/21   I'm trying to figure out how much I save. Does money I contribute
        to debt (student loans and car loan) considered money I "save"?
        \_ "I'm trying to figure out how healthy I am. I normally
           smoke 2 packs a day but now I've cut it down to just
           1 pack a day. Does the reduction count towards health
           that I hope to 'gain'?"
	...

5/18    What's a good bank with decent interest rate for savings or MM?
        I'm looking for something that's not too inconvenient (with tellers
        within 20 miles of major cities) and with higher interest rates
        than BofA and Wells Fargo.
        \_ Isn't there a canonical approach to keep a small amount of money
           ~$1000 in a large bank with prevalent ATMs and keep the bulk of
	...

3/10    I'm trying to help my parents, in their mortgage there's an
        "escrow" amount. What exactly is this? From reading Google,
        the loan company uses the escrow account to pay for home
        insurance, but they've been paying home insurance themselves.
        I'm really confused on what this fee is.
        \_ Without an escrow account, you write checks to your insurance
	...

4/12    My gf did her taxes. She was unemployed most of last year and only
        paid about $500 in federal tax. She is getting a refund of $1300.
        We are both rather annoyed at this. How can you get a refund of
        more than you paid in?! (This is a rhetorical question. I know
        how.) Another acquaintance of mine makes less than half of what I
        do, but her take home is only 20% less. Even though I put money into
	...

4/5     In the Exurbs, the American Dream Is Up for Rent:
        http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123845433832571407.html
        \_ "As land values rose, the couple's combined mortgage and property
           tax payment soared, to $2,900 from $1,500."  Uhh, for some reason
           I don't think the wsj is being totally honest here.  Property taxes
           doubled the mortgage?  Really?
	...