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A concept is presented serving to guide in the search for materials with high spin polarization. It is shown that the magnetic moment of half-metallic ferromagnets can be calculated from the generalized Slater-Pauling rule. Furthermore, it was found empirically that the Curie temperature of Co 2-based Heusler compounds can be estimated from a seemingly linear dependence on the magnetic moment. As a successful application of these simple rules, it was found that Co 2 Fe Si is, actually, the half-metallic ferromagnet exhibiting the highest magnetic moment and the highest Curie temperature measured for a Heusler compound.