Young and Investing?

I highly recomend checking out investools.com

I had this same question about a month or 2 ago. And am starting with alot less money that you will be. But i am really making alot of money in the market since then.

Basically its a giant stock analysis system where you pay a 50 dollar monthly subscription for access to fundamental and technical analysis. They also hae rules of when to get in and out of positions. If you dont know anything about investing this is an incredible eduation. All colleges should teach their methods.

It’s like 2000 dollars for the “education” of how to use the system, which i thought was complete crap. But through using investools (and scottrade) and starting with 8,500 dolars in a margin account, i bought 720 shares of DRYS on April 1st and have made 7,365 in less than a month.

I’ll simply sell it when i see the technical analysis signals to do so.

I DO NOT work for investools so this is not in any way an add for this system.

You should learn how to invest your own money, take 15 minutes every day to review your portfollio and beat the market by leaps and bounds.

no one cares about your money more than you do

Your mix of funds looks really good. The best news is you are starting early - I started in my early 20’s by maxing out my 401k at around 20%.

Not only have I never missed the money I invested, but at 36 years old my wife and I are approaching $500k in our combined funds. By the time we’re 40 it will be around $1 million.

I’ve always done a simple mix of stock index funds with Fidelity, some international funds (they’ve done incredibly well), and some small-cap funds. That’s it. Nothing fancy.

I check my funds once a year to see how they’re doing.

I disagree about the money market funds or bond funds. I like going 100% stocks at such a young age - even at age 60 I will be predominantly stocks, because you still have a life expectancy of 80 years old.

Good luck.

I agree with ProRaven.

The advice to have some bonds and guaranteed investments in the portfolio was made popular because it helps stabilise your portfolio when the economy is going bad … so you dont pick up the phone and complain about it to whomever sold it to you.

If your goals are LONG TERM, why would you care to reduce the yearly volatility of your investments if it means losing out 1000s and 1000s of dollars in the long run?

When you get near retirement or are at retirement than it’s another story but till then, go all out.

I’m gonna go slightly against the grain, in terms of what most people have been saying: get an investment manager.

Obviously, this is just my opinion but I think that it’s always better to have the advice of a professional, who’s taken the exams, has access to the newsfeeds, research notes and can react to changes in the market immediately. Most people don’t want to spend all their spare time researching stocks or funds- pay a professional to do it.

Start-off with some collective investments, preferably funds of funds, then when you’ve got a portfolio in excess of say $100k, you can start investing in stocks and bonds directly.

I have a question…

How come a lot of you are advocating IRA’s? What makes an IRA different from a 401k? Why would you want to maximize investing in one over the other?

Ok, so thats more than “a” question… Thanks in advance…

[quote]Revo09 wrote:
Ok, so thats more than “a” question… Thanks in advance… [/quote]

A lot of people don’t have access to 401Ks. Everyone can fund an IRA.
The rules have changed now, and you can contribute to both a 401K and an IRA, which makes it an attractive option.

Also, the IRAs people are generally referring to have no tail-end tax. So if I invest in a mutual fund that gives me a 10% return each year, I pay taxes on the dividends and on the capital gains when I finally liquidate the asset. I can avoid the tax liability if I invest in the IRA instead.

There is a lot to be said for 401Ks, and more knowledgeable posters than I will probably say those things. Importantly, because what you put into the 401K is not taxed, you are putting more money into the fund sooner - which means more money to compound and grow over time.

With contribution limits to 401Ks being raised, I do not know whether it is better to just put money you would’ve put into an IRA into the 401K. Of course, if you expect that you’re going to be in a higher tax bracket when you pull money out, that is worth considering an IRA for. Although again, the compounding benefits of the 401K might outweigh it.

[quote]nephorm wrote:
Revo09 wrote:
Ok, so thats more than “a” question… Thanks in advance…

A lot of people don’t have access to 401Ks. Everyone can fund an IRA.
The rules have changed now, and you can contribute to both a 401K and an IRA, which makes it an attractive option.

Also, the IRAs people are generally referring to have no tail-end tax. So if I invest in a mutual fund that gives me a 10% return each year, I pay taxes on the dividends and on the capital gains when I finally liquidate the asset. I can avoid the tax liability if I invest in the IRA instead.

There is a lot to be said for 401Ks, and more knowledgeable posters than I will probably say those things. Importantly, because what you put into the 401K is not taxed, you are putting more money into the fund sooner - which means more money to compound and grow over time.

With contribution limits to 401Ks being raised, I do not know whether it is better to just put money you would’ve put into an IRA into the 401K. Of course, if you expect that you’re going to be in a higher tax bracket when you pull money out, that is worth considering an IRA for. Although again, the compounding benefits of the 401K might outweigh it.

[/quote]

Thanks a lot for that post, Neph. I contribute the max to my 401k but havent really considered the Roth IRA. What about Roth 401ks? They seem like a pretty good deal, right?

Unlike one of the posters who said not to, I also have a Scottrade account where I’ve taken on a few options so I can learn. Is this a really stupid idea?

[quote]cesliwakan wrote:

You should learn how to invest your own money, take 15 minutes every day to review your portfollio and beat the market by leaps and bounds.

[/quote]

I agree that everyone should learn how to invest their own money, but do you really think it only takes 15 minutes a day to “beat the market by leaps and bounds”?

I know a lot of professional portfolio managers who might disagree with how simple it is to beat the market.

Think about it. When you’re buying a stock(excluding IPOs, risk rebalancing and other special circumstances) you are buying it from someone who more than likely thinks it’s time to sell it.

It is not easy to beat the market on a consistent, long-term basis and it’s foolish to think you can, let alone on 15 minutes a day. I would be highly skeptical of anyone who advises otherwise.

DB

[quote]dollarbill44 wrote:
I agree that everyone should learn how to invest their own money, but do you really think it only takes 15 minutes a day to “beat the market by leaps and bounds”?

I know a lot of professional portfolio managers who might disagree with how simple it is to beat the market.

Think about it. When you’re buying a stock(excluding IPOs, risk rebalancing and other special circumstances) you are buying it from someone who more than likely thinks it’s time to sell it.

It is not easy to beat the market on a consistent, long-term basis and it’s foolish to think you can, let alone on 15 minutes a day. I would be highly skeptical of anyone who advises otherwise.

DB[/quote]

I agree. One must keep one’s expectations realistic. It is also reasonable to assume that professional investors won’t beat the market by “leaps and bounds” either… and you’re going to be paying a heavy penalty for whatever gains they do make.

[quote]Revo09 wrote:
nephorm wrote:
Revo09 wrote:

Unlike one of the posters who said not to, I also have a Scottrade account where I’ve taken on a few options so I can learn. Is this a really stupid idea?
[/quote]

No. It’not an inherently bad idea, just be prepared to lose what you’ve paid for the options. I would point out that your money would be better spent on an options textbook before trying out any options strategies. John C. Hull’s “Options, Futures and Other Derivatives” is widely regarded as the best, but it might be overkill for the casual investor.

DB

[quote]dollarbill44 wrote:
Revo09 wrote:
nephorm wrote:
Revo09 wrote:

Unlike one of the posters who said not to, I also have a Scottrade account where I’ve taken on a few options so I can learn. Is this a really stupid idea?

No. It’not an inherently bad idea, just be prepared to lose what you’ve paid for the options. I would point out that your money would be better spent on an options textbook before trying out any options strategies. John C. Hull’s “Options, Futures and Other Derivatives” is widely regarded as the best, but it might be overkill for the casual investor.

DB[/quote]

Thanks DB. I really appreciate the feedback. Ill go pick up the book and take what I can from it.

[quote]Petedacook wrote:
A story about Jack & Jill.[/quote]

I think I might go kill myself now.

Thanks for the depressing story, Pete.

–Miserere (Real Name: John; Jack & Jill’s retarded brother)