site banner
PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   1629 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for November 16, 2025

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

2
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

I am an inveterate saver, and due to a dirt-poor upbringing I am probably more financially conservative than 90% of the people on this board.

That said, I am trying to change that, and I'd like to take a few grand of my savings and put them to better work.

If you had ~$3,000 right now that you could use to try and get a better than 3.8% return from, what would you do with it?

Right now I can get 4.10% from a 9 month CD. I could, in theory, invest it, but I have some concerns about the economic fundamentals of the market right now.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Buy VTI with all of it as soon as you can. You should own assets, not dollars, unless you think the USD is going to deflate meaningfully in your lifetime.

I have some concerns about the economic fundamentals of the market right now.

People have been saying this since the instant the major indexes broke through the dot-com highs in 2013 or so. I (and many others!) have more than tripled what I socked away during the 2016 election cycle when others who are too smart for their own good were concerned about what Trump would do to the economy.

My sister sold everything in November 2016 and she is much poorer for it.

I gave aiislove similar advice, and I really hope he took it.

Why do you recommend VTI over VT or VOO, if you don't mind my asking?

If a friend said he was 100% allocated to any of those three, I wouldn’t tell him he needed to switch.

Honestly, I like VTI (or VTSAX) because it was what all the smart financial people online were talking about when I became interested in personal finance. That, plus when I was shopping funds on Vanguard all that time ago, I think it may have been performing better than VOO at the time. Now I’m pretty much married to it for tax reasons and simplicity’s sake.

I became uninterested in international stocks after watching them underperform for years (I know this year it’s a different story). I will reconsider if and when VT consistently outperforms VTI.

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats