Following up on
this exchange, Koogie asked this question of me:
Koogie wrote:Did it ever occur that perhaps newbies such as ourselves are not sufficiently confident yet to contribute much to the financial conversation ? (due to lack of experience on the topic or the fact we prefer to learn by reading what other, older "wiser" people are posting
Absolutely. After all we were all newcomers to FWF at some point in time. I know I was mostly a reader when I first joined FWF and gradually got involved in the financial discussions by asking questions and contributing to topics that either interested me or where I had some experience. I would expect that many other members have had the same experience. I suspect that secretly we all hope that someday we'll be one of your older "wiser" people of FWF.
But it is a two-way street, without newcomers arriving with new financial questions or seeking clarifications on what they've read, what will the older (in terms of forum membership years) people have to post in the
Your Money ... forums? Not many benefit when the same old information is continually re-hashed.
Newcomers are the lifeblood to the ongoing success of FWF (and finiki). Sure there is a wealth (pun-intended) of information among the over 4000 topics in the Your Money ... forums. It has been built up through discussions between all the members of FWF, new and old. As part of the
management team of FWF, I clearly want FWF to the best Canadian site where investors meet for financial education and empowerment. I'd strongly encourage newcomers to read what FWF has to offer, but also hope that we, the membership of FWF, have created an environment where everyone feels comfortable to post questions and comments and contribute to the discussions.
If we need to do more to help newcomers gain the confidence to contribute to the financial conversation, then I'm all ears for suggestions on how we can help.
Personally my lifelong financial education continues from interactions with the FWF members, new and old, who post in the Your Money ... forums.