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Official rules for discussing investment and other products
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MSE_Martin
Posts: 8,272 Money Saving Expert
Rules for discussing investment and other products in the Forum
Recently I’ve had some complaints about differences of opinion over ‘good and bad advice' on these boards. It’s made me do some thinking and I wanted to write this note so everyone knows what the official MoneySavingExpert.com position is on this, and what is and isn’t allowed. Of course this is all governed by the site’s Terms and Conditions but let me do it a more ‘human’ way.
WARNING! This is an open forum.
Let me start by reiterating the very first note at the top of every Forum page. This is an open forum; you should not rely on any information given here without checking it yourself first. This is especially true with investments, where for any one product there can be 100 different opinions.
Although I believe this is an amazing forum with a huge wealth of information of benefit to many people, and most people are keen to help others, sometimes messages are posted that are poorly researched, ill-conceived, downright wrong or sadly even worse, misleading and deceptive
You should not therefore rely on information being accurate or complete. If you do, you do so at your own risk. Therefore please, please take care to check everything out yourself, and be very careful. I would hate to think people were getting money wrong because of this site!
It's important to remember any posting of information is the opinion of the person posting only and in no way reflects MoneySavingExpert’s opinions or attitudes.
What do I do if I think someone’s giving bad info?
You have a right to respond and explain your point of view; however please remember to always be courteous even if you strongly disagree with someone.
Can I complain to [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL]?
It’s important to understand that more than two paperback books of print are added to this Forum every day. We cannot and do not monitor posts, so please do not expect us to spot bad advice.
The hardworking forum team are just that, a Forum team: they are not investment, tax or money advisers or experts so please do not expect them to mediate between users arguing about what is or is not good investment or tax advice – they’re not qualified to do it and won’t.
This applies even if one side is (or claims to be - again we don't know) an IFA or other qualified adviser. The team doesn't have the information, time or skills to interpret any advice given by either side and so we will not try. We have a very effective abuse reporting system, but a post that is just plain wrong isn’t abusive, unless it breaches our terms and conditions in some other way.
I should also note, this means that we won’t automatically accept that because someone is a Financial Adviser (or says they are) that we will automatically take their word for it – it is simply impossible to police this. This isn’t a bias against advisers, simply a practical response to the inability to judge ‘good or bad info’. You can see the site’s stance on when and how to use a financial adviser in our “When to use an adviser” article.
For the site’s official info on saving and investing read the Savings Articles.
What you can’t do
This Forum isn’t a place for what’s technically known as ‘making investment arrangements’ and so therefore the FSA regulation isn’t applicable. Plus there are specific guidelines detailing this with the FSA, that mean that a Forum cannot be held responsible for information given out by unrelated posters on the Forum (though of course that’s the FSA there are still normal legal requirements).
Having checked this out, to comply with FSA guidelines, I’ve updated the site’s Terms and Conditions to specify exactly what they are.
Let me just spell that out here too.
You may NOT:
Use the forum to give investment advice by way of business, make financial promotions or make misleading statements with a view to manipulating market prices.
Thanks for reading folks, I hope this clears up the situation.
Martin
Martin Lewis, Money Saving Expert.
Please note, answers don't constitute financial advice, it is based on generalised journalistic research. Always ensure any decision is made with regards to your own individual circumstance.
Please note, answers don't constitute financial advice, it is based on generalised journalistic research. Always ensure any decision is made with regards to your own individual circumstance.
Don't miss out on urgent MoneySaving, get my weekly e-mail at www.moneysavingexpert.com/tips.
Debt-Free Wannabee Official Nerd Club: (Honorary) Members number 000
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Comments
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I think if a post is from someone who is an IFA, or in the bank industry, they should declare it on the post. This will allow the rest of us to assess any bias.0
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They already do in their signatures.
It makes not a jot of difference what anyone puts in their signature.
How many times do we hear accounts of people who have successfully carried out operations in hospitals, because the hospital believed they were who they said they were. Only to find out they had started at the hospital as a kitchen assistant.
It is only our own due diligence that can guard us against bad advice.
As any student at university will testify, if you do not source your arguments and assertions you get no marks for your assignments.
I can still feel the destitution when I got assignments back, ripped in half, with a post-it note attached saying "No sources, no references, no bibliography, no marks".
Any articles without references should be checked out, after all we have a search engine in front of us that puts the Library of Alexandria to shame, there is no excuse for people who swallow duff info.0 -
I am an honorary treasurer of a charity account. We are having great difficulty finding a bank/building society that we can have a savings account with a decent interest rate. We are not able to put the money in shares or in bonds that require individual trustee names. The money must be invested in the name of the club. Can anyone help?0
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Marjorie, you would do best to click 'New Thread' and post your question separately, with your own subject header. You will stand more chance of replies that way.0
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I don`t know where to put this so put it here,
The Punjab bank has a 1 year fixed bond at 3.1%, it also has a 3 year bond at 4.3%, if you take out the 3 year bond and decide you want your cash out at 1 year there is NO penalty other that you only receive interest at the 1 year rate of 3.1%. This gives you the option to go for the 4.3% rate and leave it in for 3 years or withdraw it in one. All other banks do NOT allow you to withdraw before the end of the fixed term without penalty.0 -
They already do in their signatures.It makes not a jot of difference what anyone puts in their signature.
How many times do we hear accounts of people who have successfully carried out operations in hospitals, because the hospital believed they were who they said they were. Only to find out they had started at the hospital as a kitchen assistant.
It is only our own due diligence that can guard us against bad advice.
As any student at university will testify, if you do not source your arguments and assertions you get no marks for your assignments.
I can still feel the destitution when I got assignments back, ripped in half, with a post-it note attached saying "No sources, no references, no bibliography, no marks".
Any articles without references should be checked out, after all we have a search engine in front of us that puts the Library of Alexandria to shame, there is no excuse for people who swallow duff info.
Again search engines can and can't be a good 'source' of reference.
I would just like to emphasise and rehittorate Martin's comment of 'Due Dilligence'.
Many members (such as myself - pat on the back) will include 'reliable' references/sources of information such as accredited websites, governmental websites (say when someone has a particular tax query) or recommend that they visit the HMRC website or Direct Gov or the Pensions Service website for further information.
Take everything with a pinch of salt as well. People can be very serious (also passionate) about expressing their opinions on here. It's just a question of being able to guage 'genuine' responses and pure 'hokus-pokus'. Most of it is common sense and logic that prevails in the end.They already do in their signatures.
It is at an individuals discretion whether they wish to disclaim their occupation/profession. There is no mandatory obligation to do so. You can take it as gospel truth if you wish, or alternatively you can simply give it lip service. - Hope this compliments and sheds some light on Martin's foreword.
Regards.Young At Heart and Ever The Optimist: "You can't sell ice to Eskimo."
Waste Not, Want Not. - Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.0 -
Does this also mean forum admins go about deleting posts which they don't like? I think I probably upset one of the IFAs on here with a big signature, and my post was deleted without a trace few months ago.Look after your pennies, and your pounds will look after themselves!0
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How you police this though is highly contentious, can there be no thread discussing silver as investment ?Proudly voted remain. A global union of countries is the only way to commit global capital to the rule of law.0
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