Stock pickers.
- Moderator
- #2
Never touched it once.
Last crash happened right as I started making money and it's just too terrifying to me now.
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2018
- Messages
- 26,554
- Reaction score
- 22,298
- Location
- Yukon Territory, Canada
- Handicap
- 9.2
Nope. I pay someone for their expertise here. That said, gold and the Canadian dollar seem to be moving in the right direction lately!
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2018
- Messages
- 16,230
- Reaction score
- 4,352
- Location
- Edmond, Oklahoma (NW OKC)
- Handicap
- -10.0
I bought a few shares of Apple a couple of years ago they've doubled. I ain't rich, but it ain't hurtin' me any.
2 words.... Index funds
I bought some shares of apple a number of years ago. They've since split so that's doing well. Plus Sony so about 3000 in profit after taking into account my losses.
But I haven't bought anything in a couple years, just let my 401k do it's thing
I would definitely like to, just not much extra money right now
But I haven't bought anything in a couple years, just let my 401k do it's thing
I would definitely like to, just not much extra money right now
- Admin
- #7
I tried my hand at it twice based on the recommendation of family/friends right when E-trade became a thing. Both stocks I purchased went bankrupt haha...so yeah I don't touch it anymore.
I have a Vanguard account that I have index funds through. Very sound and not as volatile as a lot of other options.
Not a stock picker, but more of an investor. I do a little bit on my own, but most of it is done through an advisor. All long term goals, so I try to take my emotions out of it. Not a lot of buying and selling, more just holding. Do enough in my 401k to get the company match, then contribute to an IRA each year.
If you have a 401k company match, you should at least do enough to get the match!
If you have a 401k company match, you should at least do enough to get the match!
I agree, I've moved in this direction some over the years.
Anyone with a 401k is invested in stocks unless you’ve set your allocation to all bonds. I was a finance major in college and have always been very interested and involved in our retirement planning. I enjoy following the markets but do so less closely now that we have a financial advisor that we trust. Our investments have shifted to a more conservative allocation now that I’m retired and my wife is almost done working.
My best advice to those starting out is start saving young and if you don’t want to learn about the markets, invest in a broad index fund such as the S&P 500. Very few professional advisors will beat the S&P returns over the long term.
My best advice to those starting out is start saving young and if you don’t want to learn about the markets, invest in a broad index fund such as the S&P 500. Very few professional advisors will beat the S&P returns over the long term.
- Thread starter
- #12
This is very sound advice, especially for those younger folks.
This. If you can find an index fund that follows the S&P 500, you will also save from having to pay Financial Advisor fees.
I use a Financial Advisor because we have investments for Retirement, Life Insurance, and College Fund, plus some Estate Planning through them.
No. Just max the 401k. With slightly above average risk allocation.
- Joined
- Dec 26, 2017
- Messages
- 24,311
- Reaction score
- 25,847
- Handicap
- 17.2
In this market I would highly recommend indexed S&P 500 funds. If you don't know your way through a financial statement, cash flow statement, and balance sheet and you don't know how to value a stock and see if the price is more or less than it is worth then stock picking is a gamble at best. Let your financial adviser handle it or invest in index funds. This is not the market to be stock picking in because almost everything is a tad overpriced you will need best case scenarios to happen to beat the market. If you can't beat the average market then you're wasting money and time because you can get those returns in an index fund.
I have a small brokerage account where i play with pot stocks but 99% of my money is handled by advisors. I don't trust myself to not screw it up.
Yes and most 401k plans offer an S&P500 fund. All the companies my wife and I have worked for did, and the fees were only about .04%
Many don't realize how many 401k plan selections have exorbitant fees of .5 to 1.2% that will really eat into your long term retirement savings. I've been recently coaching my two oldest kids on the importance of saving early and the power of compound interest. Both of them will be out of college in the next couple years and out in the working world and will soon have to make these big decisions like how much to save each month.
Here's an example of what saving $500 per month will do for a worker who starts saving young(age23) by the time they retire. The $500 per month would be 10% of a $40,000 salary put into a 401k with the employer matching the first 5%. If your salary grows to something like $80k by the time you are in your 40's, continuing the 10% savings rate will give you a nest egg of something closer to $6M. Inflation will obviously take a bite out of this but compound interest is a wonderful thing.
This calculator is on the Dave Ramsey website, BTW.
General information like this is crucial to young people, IMO. They need to get ahead, because if you fall behind it can be difficult to catch back up.Yes and most 401k plans offer an S&P500 fund. All the companies my wife and I have worked for did, and the fees were only about .04%
Many don't realize how many 401k plan selections have exorbitant fees of .5 to 1.2% that will really eat into your long term retirement savings. I've been recently coaching my two oldest kids on the importance of saving early and the power of compound interest. Both of them will be out of college in the next couple years and out in the working world and will soon have to make these big decisions like how much to save each month.
Here's an example of what saving $500 per month will do for a worker who starts saving young(age23) by the time they retire. The $500 per month would be 10% of a $40,000 salary put into a 401k with the employer matching the first 5%. If your salary grows to something like $80k by the time you are in your 40's, continuing the 10% savings rate will give you a nest egg of something closer to $6M. Inflation will obviously take a bite out of this but compound interest is a wonderful thing.
View attachment 8921380
I'd still like to see a general personal finance class be required material for high school. We teach them all these subjects they may or may not use later in life, but personal finance will be used by everyone. Issues can start as soon as that first college loan is taken out, or line of credit is opened, if they are not educated.
DG_1234
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2015
- Messages
- 6,211
- Reaction score
- 1,931
- Handicap
- 2
Below are the stock symbols of the 18 company's in which I own shares today. I trade often so this list changes frequently.
MU
OMI
EVFM
HPQ
GOOG
HPE
OPY
AAPL
BAC
AMZN
PDLI
DVN
RF
RDS/A
OSMT
BOX
AMAG
ANGO
MU
OMI
EVFM
HPQ
GOOG
HPE
OPY
AAPL
BAC
AMZN
PDLI
DVN
RF
RDS/A
OSMT
BOX
AMAG
ANGO
I was heavily into Pagers and Electric Typewriters...….
Nope just my 401k plus I have a good pension. The 401k has just been unreal. I’m the area I live real estate is a much better investment.
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2015
- Messages
- 15,633
- Reaction score
- 10,989
- Location
- Arlington Heights, IL
- Handicap
- 17
Used to do more of it - Used to have a "Heat Map" running on my laptop and traded options.
Got to my late 50's and decided I was too close to the retirement to give it the attention it need to make to the end and hired a Financial planner. I wasn't early as "Balanced" as I'm now.
Kept 3 stocks that did great last year. Took a little off the table when the market hit highs in December in keeping with a good investment strategy of taking some profits when the market gives it to you.
The Average Joe can do it. Just be prudent and only take a part of your total value and dabble.
I invested in the things I could touch and feel. Like a McDonalds or Starbucks. Even if its 5 shares.
Probably the best teacher for me was Jim Cramer on "Mad Money"
When he is on vacation they re-run Investing 101 shows, They are great for learning and refreshers.
Got to my late 50's and decided I was too close to the retirement to give it the attention it need to make to the end and hired a Financial planner. I wasn't early as "Balanced" as I'm now.
Kept 3 stocks that did great last year. Took a little off the table when the market hit highs in December in keeping with a good investment strategy of taking some profits when the market gives it to you.
The Average Joe can do it. Just be prudent and only take a part of your total value and dabble.
I invested in the things I could touch and feel. Like a McDonalds or Starbucks. Even if its 5 shares.
Probably the best teacher for me was Jim Cramer on "Mad Money"
When he is on vacation they re-run Investing 101 shows, They are great for learning and refreshers.
Agree 100%. Personal finance courses should be a requirement for all high schools. So many people destroy any chance of a comfortable and/or early retirement by making poor decisions that are simple fixes if you just have the knowledge and discipline. My daughter is 20 and a big fan of Starbucks. I tell her that $4 drink 15 days a month will cost her $500k in retirement savings by age 65 so really enjoy that latte!
We are good friends with multiple couples in their 50's that have had dual income six-figure salaries for over two decades who are way behind in their retirement. These are smart people with master's degrees who never learned to budget or save properly. They made the all too common mistakes of having expensive cars, vacations, and homes way before they could afford them. They are now seeing the light and spending less and saving more but if they had lived within their means in their 30's and 40's they'd be in a position to retire now like some of their more frugal friends.
More than a few of our CA neighbors and some of our friends were a bit shocked when I retired a couple of years ago in my early 50's. What they didn't know is we were saving 15-30% of our gross income since we got married at age 29. Dual income certainly helped but my wife working full time had its share of sacrifices and it was not easy to save when the kids were young, our income was lower, and it seemed like we couldn't afford the basic stuff like diapers and formula. We boosted our savings by never having cars (and zero toys like boats)that were worth more than 15% of our annual income and didn't buy a new car until we were 43 and had paid off 90% of our mortgages and fully funded the college funds. Until I retired we easily had the least expensive vehicles in our neighborhood and I like to joke that my first car with power seats was at age 49 and that was a company-owned vehicle. True story but our cleaning lady our last few years in California drove a used late model Lexus RX330 - ONLY in California, lol. Driving a Tesla now is my reward for all those underpowered company minivans and Ford Edges I had to sit in for 40,000 miles a year for two decades!
Last edited:
I too have Vanguard acct... great minds there