Harold_Pollack

I don't believe this will be eliminated, but it may be capped. I would certainly support such a policy. Subsidies for home ownership are quite costly, have a terribly regressive impact, and distort people's choices to own rather than rent, and to assume large mortgages. Buying a home would still be worth it, though people would probably be less ambitious at the margin in borrowing to buy a nicer home.

Three questions: --Please document your expertise in quantum mechanics and Urdu. --Identify at least one project you have conducted that has reduced infant mortality in at least one country. --Identify at least one translation error in Proust's Swann's Way. Feel free to compare common translations.

Some items on the card are self-explanatory--e.g. never buy or sell individual stocks. Others require some explanation or help in the execution. I can tell you to commit your financial professional to a fiduciary standard. You may need some explanation regarding what the heck I am even talking about. We tell people to buy a home when they are financially ready. How do you know you are ready? And so on.

Arthur Ashe once upset Jimmy Connors to win the US Open. Reporters asked Ashe how he did it. Ashe responded: "I hit the ball low." The reporters complained: "Everyone knows you're supposed to hit the ball low against Connors." Ashe responded: "But I actually did." There was some skill and experience that came in useful there.

Here's a question from me to redditors -- what should my next index card book be about?

That's great. This is a great time in your life to save a large proportion of your income and to live below your means. I would emphasize your 401(k) first--at least up to the level of employer match. Make sure to pay off all high-interest debt such as credit cards. You want to save 20% down payment on a house, plus a nice emergency fund. I would be pretty conservative with that component of your saving and emergency fund. Your first three months' expenses should be in save short-term securities. Once you have that, you might mimic the asset allocation in a target date 2016 fund as a pretty reasonable approach.