Are you an invester?

Discussion in 'Finance' started by Marine1, Aug 7, 2014.

  1. Marine1

    Marine1 Well-Known Member Past Donor

    Joined:
    Aug 17, 2011
    Messages:
    31,883
    Likes Received:
    3,624
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    I think everyone should have some investments. If you do, what kind of investments are you in? Are you well diversified? What do you do to try and save money?
     
  2. Just A Man

    Just A Man Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 8, 2009
    Messages:
    12,300
    Likes Received:
    9,291
    Trophy Points:
    113
    All my working years I saved via payroll deductions to a credit union. I believe in saving part of your salary and live on what is left. I also began investing in the Market at age 30, always mutual funds, which by nature are diversified. I like old conservative steady growth mutual funds. I managed to retire at age 55 and today I am financially secure.
     
  3. Margot2

    Margot2 Banned

    Joined:
    Sep 9, 2013
    Messages:
    73,644
    Likes Received:
    13,766
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Investor..............
     
  4. galant

    galant Banned

    Joined:
    Nov 5, 2014
    Messages:
    876
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    0
    I got into big old houses, renting out rooms by the week. If you are careful and knowledgable, it's quite feasible to make 100% annual return on your investments, if you run the places yourself, or 50% if you hire managers to do it for you. By far the best way to do this is with VA loans, cause you don't need the 20% downpayment, nor the 5k of closing costs. That means that you can get into it with as little as 10k of your own money, although 20k is a lot more like it (safer, having a reserve for surprise expenses). Having enough credit can substitute for the second 10k, and building credit is easy (but takes a year or so). You do not have to have the entire building be habitable in order to start having paying tenants, and the tenants can do a lot of the refurbishing/repairs (while under proper supervision, of course).

    In this manner, you can be retired in 5 years, not 35 years. :) You have to find some suitable vets, and there's a couple of :"wrinkles' that are extremely helpful, but I aint gonna tell you all my secrets;.
     
  5. pjohns

    pjohns Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2009
    Messages:
    6,916
    Likes Received:
    658
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    Prior to my retirement in 2005, I put 27 percent of my paycheck into a 401(k) (which does not include matching funds). And my wife (now my late wife) and I each put $2,000 into an IRA (which was then the maximum allowed).

    I have since dissolved these financial instruments into lifetime annuities (a.k.a. "SPIAs").

    I do, however, continue to save into my "share" account at the credit union (essentially, a savings account), to the tune of a little over $1,000 per month. (Basically, it is my Emergency Fund. And it is really not a question of if an emergency will occur, but when; and what form, specifically, it will take.)
     
  6. Doug_yvr

    Doug_yvr Well-Known Member Past Donor

    Joined:
    Aug 8, 2008
    Messages:
    19,096
    Likes Received:
    1,827
    Trophy Points:
    113
    I started with bank mutual funds then back in '08 direct invested in companies that were solid but temporarily pulled down by the market crash. The share price gain and the dividends (actually just the dividends on their own) showed just how sad the return on mutual funds is. I'm now out of mutual funds altogether and direct-invest mostly in Canadian Banks and energy companies. So it's a mix of low and moderate risk with a return of at least 4.5% annually. The only fee the bank charges is 9 dollars a trade but I only trade a few times a year so it's insignificant.
     
  7. the207life

    the207life New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 23, 2015
    Messages:
    2
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    1
    I currently have my funds divided up (70% & 30%) into two vanguard ETF's.. one total stock market and one bond while utilizing a dollar cost averaging strategy.
     
  8. maat

    maat Well-Known Member Past Donor

    Joined:
    Jul 18, 2010
    Messages:
    6,911
    Likes Received:
    282
    Trophy Points:
    83
    Gender:
    Male
    We fully fund our Roths and to the match on my wife's 401k. Additionally, I will be paying off a commercial building next month. We invest in several funds with T.R. Price.
     
  9. mdh5

    mdh5 New Member

    Joined:
    Sep 9, 2015
    Messages:
    15
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    I am a stock trader that trades mostly technology stocks. I look for IPOs that look to be very in-style (i.e. I bought FitBit on it's first day of trading).
     
  10. jdog

    jdog Banned

    Joined:
    Jul 20, 2014
    Messages:
    4,532
    Likes Received:
    716
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Being an investor is not simply putting money into assets, it is understanding why assets go up and why assets go down. If you do not understand the nuts and bolts of economic cycles, you are not investing, you are gambling. A real investor know when and why to invest, and when and why to sell that investment.
    If you do not know why an investment is going up, you will not know when or why it will go down. You are just putting up your money on faith and hope.
     
  11. Just A Man

    Just A Man Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 8, 2009
    Messages:
    12,300
    Likes Received:
    9,291
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Excellent strategy. And Vanguard is a great company.
     
  12. Durandal

    Durandal Well-Known Member Donor

    Joined:
    May 25, 2012
    Messages:
    55,518
    Likes Received:
    27,044
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    No one ever taught me to invest. I just work, so I stay poor.
     
  13. Just A Man

    Just A Man Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 8, 2009
    Messages:
    12,300
    Likes Received:
    9,291
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Simple -- call an investment firm like Vanguard. They will instruct you. Stay with conservative mutual funds. There, you have been taught.
     
  14. smalltime

    smalltime Active Member

    Joined:
    Jan 27, 2012
    Messages:
    846
    Likes Received:
    142
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Or Fidelity, Even Edward D. Jones is kind of OK if you monitor them closely.



    I would go with a few aggressive funds to make up for lost time. Pair those with blue chip based funds and you should see gains.

    Either way, ask questions, write stuff down, keep track. Most importantly, STAY AWAY FROM TARGETED DATE FUNDS........THEY ARE CARP.
     
  15. Matt84

    Matt84 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 29, 2015
    Messages:
    5,896
    Likes Received:
    2,472
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    I have a Roth IRA, brokerage account, and I keep my savings separate from each other: One for cash on hand, one for an upcoming purchase and one just for the hell of it. I also have a pre-tax retirement plan at work.

    And just for kicks, I maximize my cash back on all my credit cards. I've started to just dump the cash into my just for the hell of it account.
     
  16. pjohns

    pjohns Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2009
    Messages:
    6,916
    Likes Received:
    658
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    I do the same.

    I used to use my Discover Card, as it gives me one percent cash back.

    Recently, however, I have gone to a SunTrust MasterCard, as it gives me five percent cashback of the first year on all dining, grocery purchases (except at warehouse clubs) and gasoline--the things that I principally purchase.

    (By the way, the person who issued the SunTrust MasterCard told me that many people choose to destroy it after one year, and get a new one--so that the five-percent bonus will start again. And she encouraged me--tacitly, at least--to do the same thing.)
     
  17. Quadhole

    Quadhole Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Nov 30, 2016
    Messages:
    1,702
    Likes Received:
    692
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    i use to like Tech, until I figured out following the Baker Brothers was a gold mine. Just look at MYOK today... They are Legalized crooks and getting away with rape of the system, but if you know how to use whale wisdom and Edgar, follow, copy, wash, rinse repeat and make blng... MYOK for me in 3 months is a 140% return.
     

Share This Page