41–50 of 172 posts
i.e. fyi it's generally silly to invest when you have a credit card balance outstanding.
See a financial advisor and figure out what plan is right for you. Not only is this question open ended, but answers are and should be tailored to the individuals needs, plans, and long-term goals. To "hack" investing, just focus on figuring out what type of long-term goals you have. 5, 10, 15 years, and retirement, what do you want to have achieved or saved by then. When do you want to retire? Are you wanting to man…
Although, there's definitely value in getting help from specialists in certain areas (estate planning, taxes).
I have share trading accounts for savings I intend to use before retirement. One is for US shares the other for Australian shares.
The main use of this money would be to buy a house (in australia), if and when this ever makes any sense based on NPV calculations. I independently value any investment I make to the best of my ability.
I do not buy and sell assets frequently as I believe the market is probably very efficient on a short term basis (I know I don't know how to beat it). I tend to focus on longer timescale macro trends which I spend an enormous amount of time thinking about (for enjoyment, regardless of investment purpose). I would like to think (at least some) markets are not efficient on longer timescales (but short compared to my lifespan). I do not know if this is true, but I believe it probably is. This timescale is at least 5 years.
I rarely buy individual stocks, but there are some exceptions such as BHP as a proxy for commodities. I tend to buy targeted aggregate securities (ETFs are great) to get exposure to the trends I'm interested in. The less fees the better, so index tracking funds are preferred. I don't trust a random "expert" to be able to beat the market above fees. I know enough people in finance to know the way you get places is ability wear a suit nicely and talk confident (i.e. sell), independent of actual ability.
I rarely make large trades. If I'm moving from one asset (or cash) into another, I'll do so using a number of trades over a number of months.
I'm always diversified on a global basis. I always have some exposure to assets in the currency where my future expenses are likely to be incurred, even when I have a negative outlook on that currency (as is the case currently).
2. Payoff all debts (including house and student loans)
3. Only invest in stock market through IRA's where there is a tax advantage.
3.1 Only invest in company 401(k) to get the match.
3.2 Invest the max in Roths (if you qualify)
3.3 Find an index fund and forget it. You've got better things to do then worry about stock picking. (I suggest Vanguard, it's investor owned).
4. Fund your war chest you started in step one. This is cash you can use for starting your company, investing in real estate, etc.
5. Find something you know about and stick to it. Whether it's real estate, starting software companies, etc.
6. Only buy things you can par for with cash. That includes cars/computers/TVs.
7. Beware the mortgage tax deduction. (Not everyone can deduct the interest/the standard deduction is pretty high already). You need a _lot_ of expenses to itemize. That means you have a lot of mortgage interest || medical bills || etc. This is not a good place to be in financially.
You'll be amazed how much money you can accumulate (even if you are a "wage slave").
A Roth IRA, maxed every year, is my main form of "real" investment. I try to put about 75% into index funds and 25% into handpicked stocks, which are my concession to desire to gamble. I don't buy bonds or CDs -- I'm young enough that short-term loss is a non-event, since nothing short of "my children are starving on the street" will induce me to touch the Roth ahead of schedule. Wild volatility doesn't matter becaus…
A lot of people would argue that even for a young person a portfolio with a small bond allocation is actually less risky with higher returns then a 100% allocation to stocks.
Given the abundance of academic research on the subject of the efficient-market hypothesis, I think it is futile and foolish to try to "beat the market" by trying to pick individual stocks that are mispriced. Therefore, I own low-cost index funds and try to own the market as a whole. I do try to shelter as much of my portfolio as possible since taxes reduce returns. I have a 401k, 403b, Roth IRA, Traditional IRA, 457…
Investments: Purchasing rental property in the UK
I have a 401k, Rollover IRA and Roth IRA. I don't max them because for a while, my returns were lower than my student loan interest rates and I felt it be a better use of my money at the time. Until my loans are paid off, I will be sticking with just those 3 retirement accounts. I pick my own ETFs because I'm super type A, but it's based on crowd appeal. So if I find 5 experts recommend an ETF, and it has a low manag…