Investing for Dummies

[t_rempel]

Originally Posted by joeapple8

I just started working on my 401k this year, I've managed to put away 3k and it's earning 8.25% barely beating inflation but i'm still learning, I want to make a big purchase in some utilities once I sell one of my cars, use the dividends on that to buy some apple or google stocks.

I'd really like to learn more on strategies and what not.

Inflation is only at ~1.7% right now, so you're seeing a real rate of return of 6.55%
Unless you're invested in risky holdings, that's not a bad short-term return.

[joeapple8]

Originally Posted by ZenkiKid

I started a serious one like about 2 years ago and I am somewhere above $5k (Conbined from two jobs with 401ks set up. I worked for a total cheap ass of an employer in one and a generous one in the second.). Havent checked on the exact number

My current does a 3% safe harbor meaning they put 3% of my salary with out me doing any thing, any thing I do would be out of my own pocket so I try to put out a good 8% but some times I'd rather buy car parts. It's okay all of my investments are set to aggressive since I have time to recover, the 500 looking mighty fine, it was a good thing I decided to put a little extra in when the 500 dipped the past couple of months.

I want to eventually break off and roll over my savings into a traditional 401k instead of one managed by my company, I don't like the funds my company offers.

Any tips on how to get above 12% return rate on 401k?

Originally Posted by t_rempel

Inflation is only at ~1.7% right now, so you're seeing a real rate of return of 6.55%
Unless you're invested in risky holdings, that's not a bad short-term return.

Right now it's 70% VFIAX and 30% PRGFX before I had all of my shit in VFFVX while being fisted for a 0.69% management expense while not even gaining any thing, I decided to go against some advice and trade off every thing for the VFIAX which has a low expense of 0.05% fee with moderate gains.

My whole savings is in stocks right now and is pretty risky but I do keep a good eye on whats going on and am active with my account.

[zeitgeist]

God i wish somebody would have talked to me about investing and retirement in high school or college. Ive made a nice chunk in the year that ive been doing this. If only i had that extra 6 years compounding

Now if only i could get Soldiers to save for retirement. The excuses are outrageous

Wonderful thread

[joeapple8]

Originally Posted by zeitgeist

God i wish somebody would have talked to me about investing and retirement in high school or college. Ive made a nice chunk in the year that ive been doing this. If only i had that extra 6 years compounding

Now if only i could get Soldiers to save for retirement. The excuses are outrageous

Wonderful thread

I'm so bad at saving which is why I had to have automatic deductions from my payroll before I even see it.

I feel like a lot of people would hate to give up their current life style to save at least 10% of what they make.

[joeapple8]

On another note, how old do you see yourself at retirement and how comfortable?

I don't mind moving and living on another country, especially south east asia when I retire.

I want to retire by 60 if im not successful and become an average joe, and 45 if I do make it doing whatever I do.

[seesquared]

Originally Posted by JohnnyDrfiter22

Do you have any links to the forex stuff? I wouldn't mind looking into this

www.forexfactory.com and www.babypips.com

Baby pips has a "school" that teaches you the basics. It's all free so dont worry about having to buy anything. That will teach you a lot of the basics and how the market works and how you actually make(or lose) money.

Both are message boards like this and have people with all kinds of different trading styles. There is tons of information on there.

You will also see about brokers on there. And similar to stocks, the brokers have practice accounts so you can see in real(ish) time how it all works without risking your own money

[zeitgeist]

Excellent links!

Im really looking at dumping some money in the russian ruble and argentenian peso.

[joeapple8]

How are your 401(K) plans and does your employer match?

I'm thankful I get 3% of my wage 100% vested even if I don't contribute.

[joeapple8]

Beginning Balance
$99.97

Your Contributions
$2,549.06
Employer Contributions	
$781.59
Loan Repayments
$352.32
Withdrawals
-$1,120.00
Fees 
-$91.98
Change in Market Value
 $116.29
 	 		 		 		 
Ending Balance
$2,687.25
 	 		 		 		 
Additional Information	 		 		 		 
Vested Balance
$2,687.25
Outstanding Loan Balance
$780.38
Dividends & Interest
$53.19


Loans are an asset of your account but are not included in your ending balance or reflected in your asset allocation.
 

Your Personal Rate of Return	
This Period	8.0%   	for 2014 start to finish

Extremely satisfied with my investment picks if any one can point me towards better investments please do so, there is not much to choose from but I think I picked the best.

[silviasandbeer]

so I've been seriously considering getting my feet wet in the stock market and playing around to make some money on the side

chipotle and takatas stock have taken a tremendous hit (for obvious reasons)
chipotle is at 487 or so and takata is 13.3
so would it be wise to buy shares of each company while its very cheap and sell once their stock goes back up?? to make a profit


or am i totally misunderstanding how the market works lol

[Michael E]

Originally Posted by silviasandbeer

so I've been seriously considering getting my feet wet in the stock market and playing around to make some money on the side

chipotle and takatas stock have taken a tremendous hit (for obvious reasons)
chipotle is at 487 or so and takata is 13.3
so would it be wise to buy shares of each company while its very cheap and sell once their stock goes back up?? to make a profit


or am i totally misunderstanding how the market works lol

^You totally get it. Slowly work your way in and build your portfolio. For example, if you want to start with $5k buy 5 different stocks and invest $1k in each stock. Its a lot of fun and addicting! Buy companies you know and understand and if they happen to be "on sale" and due to your research you believe the company is worth more and will continue to grow then jump on them! Chipotle is a good example, you know the company is good and their products are desirable, there was just a mishap that caused the stock to fall. Everyone will forgot about it in about a month and the stock will soar again. My only problem is their stock is too expensive. Your timing will never be perfect so don't sweat it if it keeps going down. I've been averaging in to oil for a while now, my average cost basis keeps getting lower and lower but I know we will be in demand for oil for a while to come and it will eventually be back therefore I have never lost sleep over it.

There is some misinformation in this thread but investing is like building a car. There are many different ways of doing, not all of them are necessarily right or wrong it all depends on the persons style and how much risk they want to take on. I am still learning new stuff every day too so always keep an open mind.

Penny stocks are not my thing and I would never advise to put your eggs in that basket. There is a reason why they are cheap. I see penny stocks as a casino, the house always wins and its super risky.

[KAT-PWR]

Originally Posted by silviasandbeer

so I've been seriously considering getting my feet wet in the stock market and playing around to make some money on the side

chipotle and takatas stock have taken a tremendous hit (for obvious reasons)
chipotle is at 487 or so and takata is 13.3
so would it be wise to buy shares of each company while its very cheap and sell once their stock goes back up?? to make a profit


or am i totally misunderstanding how the market works lol

That the general idea but just remember stocks can go down as well as up. The best advice is to stay up on your stocks semi weekly. Not just what the company wants to tell you, news articles, etc. I can't emphasize staying up on stocks enough. Find out where their HQ is and check up for local news about them. If you buy in and the stock hasn't bottomed and it continues to decline you could be upside down quickly and be waiting a while to see any return. Also don't be afraid to sell. People sometimes get stuck thinking "well it's just going to keep going up" or "just a few more dollars and I'll sell" then a ton of other people sell and you watch the price drop while you're waiting for it to go back up.
Whenever buying or selling ALWAYS use limit orders.
Also stay up on stocks that are "in the same boat" as yours. Apple's chip makers/suppliers are an example sometimes you can gain a better overall perspective of what's happening if you look at the other players in your game.

[silviasandbeer]

Originally Posted by Michael E

^You totally get it. Slowly work your way in and build your portfolio. For example, if you want to start with $5k buy 5 different stocks and invest $1k in each stock. Its a lot of fun and addicting! Buy companies you know and understand and if they happen to be "on sale" and due to your research you believe the company is worth more and will continue to grow then jump on them! Chipotle is a good example, you know the company is good and their products are desirable, there was just a mishap that caused the stock to fall. Everyone will forgot about it in about a month and the stock will soar again. My only problem is their stock is too expensive. Your timing will never be perfect so don't sweat it if it keeps going down. I've been averaging in to oil for a while now, my average cost basis keeps getting lower and lower but I know we will be in demand for oil for a while to come and it will eventually be back therefore I have never lost sleep over it.

There is some misinformation in this thread but investing is like building a car. There are many different ways of doing, not all of them are necessarily right or wrong it all depends on the persons style and how much risk they want to take on. I am still learning new stuff every day too so always keep an open mind.

Penny stocks are not my thing and I would never advise to put your eggs in that basket. There is a reason why they are cheap. I see penny stocks as a casino, the house always wins and its super risky.

thanks for the advice ! i dont plan on penny stocks either lol
im hoping for chipotle stock to stay down come tax season so i can buy in but i doubt it will

Originally Posted by KAT-PWR

That the general idea but just remember stocks can go down as well as up. The best advice is to stay up on your stocks semi weekly. Not just what the company wants to tell you, news articles, etc. I can't emphasize staying up on stocks enough. Find out where their HQ is and check up for local news about them. If you buy in and the stock hasn't bottomed and it continues to decline you could be upside down quickly and be waiting a while to see any return. Also don't be afraid to sell. People sometimes get stuck thinking "well it's just going to keep going up" or "just a few more dollars and I'll sell" then a ton of other people sell and you watch the price drop while you're waiting for it to go back up.
Whenever buying or selling ALWAYS use limit orders.
Also stay up on stocks that are "in the same boat" as yours. Apple's chip makers/suppliers are an example sometimes you can gain a better overall perspective of what's happening if you look at the other players in your game.

good advice on the apple chip supplier and the "same boat" tip. appreciate it

i guess advanced semiconductor engineering is the main supplier for apple chips! ill learn the ropes with small companies like that

[crzsteveo]

So guys that were watching go pro, how about that lol.. God dam they took a huge crash. Does anyone really know why? Sales way down in the fourth quarter?? I think I read somewhere that ambrella was short on inventory and couldn't supply enough To GoPro? ? Is that correct ?

[SoundEfx]

What is going on with Chipotle?
Are they going to survive or do you think that they are done for?

[Michael E]

Originally Posted by crzsteveo

So guys that were watching go pro, how about that lol.. God dam they took a huge crash. Does anyone really know why? Sales way down in the fourth quarter?? I think I read somewhere that ambrella was short on inventory and couldn't supply enough To GoPro? ? Is that correct ?

Most investors view the company as a one trick pony and they have many competitors entering the market. They had a lock on the market for quite some time but now there are similar products out there. Also there has been a lot of IPO hype the past few years, people just buy in for the noise.

Originally Posted by SoundEfx

What is going on with Chipotle?
Are they going to survive or do you think that they are done for?

They are not done for, look at the 10 year chart. They went up over 800% in 10 years which is very impressive. They are having a setback, but the stock was trading at this price 2 years ago. Don't let the media noise drive your decision making skills, if you listened to it you would sell everything and miss out on potential gains!

[KAT-PWR]

Knew I should have bought more Apple at 93 but I slept on it.

[partytron69000]

Have you guys who self-manage and hold highly focused portfolios, charted your returns over any significant amount of time and compared those to the returns of mutual funds or other highly diversified funds? Would be interesting to see the comparison in returns over the long run. My after-tax cash retirement account is about to hit numbers that justify being put into the market, but I'm much more risk neutral than most risk adverse retirement focused investors.

[SoundEfx]

I always wished I had enough spare money for my hobby AND investing.

I go crazy when trying to invest because I know the basics, buy low, but I never know when low is achieved ( if that makes any sense ).

So basically. when a company is in 'trouble' that is a good time but then I start thinking, 'Would they go under?'

[Rob's S14]

There was a great episode of Frontline on PBS about investing. If you guys are really interested you should check it out. It's like a year or so old. I can look up the title if you guys can't find it.

[Zenki270]

Originally Posted by SoundEfx

I always wished I had enough spare money for my hobby AND investing.

I go crazy when trying to invest because I know the basics, buy low, but I never know when low is achieved ( if that makes any sense ).

So basically. when a company is in 'trouble' that is a good time but then I start thinking, 'Would they go under?'

If it is likely the company will be purchased then it is a usually good buy, however if the market for the company is dying and no one wants to purchase it/it goes belly up, then you can kiss your money goodbye lol

[Malik]

have you guys tried Zulutrade.. its for forex investing

[AllThingsGravy]

I'm contemplating getting into stocks, is there any books for basics etc so I can read into them? I want to learn the insides out. I pretty much have little to no knowledge about stocks and me being 22 I think I should get into investing and such. Any advice is helpful thanks!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

[TheRealSy90]

There's probably a bajillion books out there honestly.


Does anybody else have a 401k or Corporate Savings and Retirement Plan handled by Principal Financial? I've currently got all my investments being handled by them, in the "Balanced" plan. Also, I believe my employer matches up to 6%, so I should defer 6% into my 401k right?

[ca18guy]

Originally Posted by TheRealSy90

There's probably a bajillion books out there honestly.


Does anybody else have a 401k or Corporate Savings and Retirement Plan handled by Principal Financial? I've currently got all my investments being handled by them, in the "Balanced" plan. Also, I believe my employer matches up to 6%, so I should defer 6% into my 401k right?

Yes, always contribute enough to at least get the match. Ideally put any money you want to invest in a tax advantaged account like a 401k or IRA. Also check the expense ratio on your "balanced" plan. The expense ratio is how much they are charging to manage the fund. If it is too high I would look at a cheaper fund they offer.

[rawgarage]

Got some apple stock back in '09 instead of buying a 4 door keep cash...

Made some NFL money... opened a few businesses and own some real estate that keeps the funds rolling in..

[hatch4life]

Takata stock rising from the dead lol (TKTDQ)
easy penny stock to trade