Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2018 January 24

= January 24 =

are freedom checks a scam?
I saw a ad for something called a freedom check, are they for real or a scam?
 * First, tell us what they are. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 00:14, 24 January 2018 (UTC)
 * If you mean slavery reparations scams then yes, those are scams. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 00:42, 24 January 2018 (UTC)
 * I suspect he is referring to a get-rich-fast scheme where some sleazy guy in a suit sells you his investment/income advice, down from US$199 per year (and a bargain at that!) to now only US$47 per year! Yes, it has all the signs of a scam. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 00:54, 24 January 2018 (UTC)
 * Sheldon Leonard used to play a character like that on the Jack Benny Program. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 01:36, 24 January 2018 (UTC)

The "freedom checks" advice making the rounds on the internet very recently are just ordinary investments in master limited partnerships. So, the company in most of these cases does actually exist, but it's no more magical of a get-rich-quick scheme than investing in the stock market, which we all know always works out for investors. Someguy1221 (talk) 01:43, 24 January 2018 (UTC)
 * You have to follow the advice of Calvin Coolidge, as characterized by Will Rogers: "Buy only good stock. Wait till the price goes up, then sell it. If it don't go up... don't buy it!" ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 01:45, 24 January 2018 (UTC)
 * So like LeBron James joked about CC Sabathia or Chien-Ming Wang (I forget who), pitching is easy, just throw strikes! Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 02:07, 24 January 2018 (UTC)
 * Depending on where they throw the strikes. It's more like, "Don't give him anything good to hit, but don't walk him!" ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 04:02, 24 January 2018 (UTC)