Wow this month has been brutal on Stock Market

[ST1G]

Thank you for admitting this is gambling, most I have tried to talk to about this stuff immediately get defensive and swear up and down that it isn't at the mere mention.

It's not really gambling. The risk is near 0 in mutual or index funds if you have time on your side. As I recall you're a little older, in your late 30's or early 40's?

Over 20 years mutual funds will be very very safe.

[mbonder]

Yeah, I need something even more remedial than this. I got my 401k moved to a Fidelity IRA, but they won't let me do anything with it since its only about $850, they say i have to have $2000. I can put more money in, I just need to figure out what it is I need to buy and how to buy it. And when, I figure I want to get in soon while it is low, right?

What if one doesn't intend to use this money for retirement? Due to health problems I am starting life very late and don't expect to live long or to retire. I am primarily looking for ways to use my past savings to augment my low income so that I can do some fun stuff in the short term before I get too old and my body too broken down to enjoy them. I've always wanted a fast car, to travel, etc., I've lived a shitty life and want to have some fun while I'm here, dammit.

I know I am definitely not trying to get into individual stocks, I need something very simple and low risk, I can't afford to lose my meager life savings gambling.

Thank you for admitting this is gambling, most I have tried to talk to about this stuff immediately get defensive and swear up and down that it isn't at the mere mention. This stuff is so overwhelming, I've been trying to learn about it in my minimal free time for years now and have not gotten very far. If I knew people IRL that were involved with this I feel it would help immensely.

Thanks

So you are working with Fidelity then. I would call up your advisor there and request information on low fee index funds that are based on the S&P500. They will give you a list of funds that they have along with their performance over the year to date, 1 year, 5 year, and 10 year. This gives you an idea of which ones will be the best over the long term, which it appears is what you are looking for. Pick one (or a few) and set up for direct withdrawal on the same day every month to purchase shares in the funds you choose (as long as you have consistent enough income to cover that debit every month). This way, you are investing regardless of what the market is doing at any particular time, remember, if the market is down, you are able to buy more shares, which means when they rise you make more money. The market will have its ups and downs, but over the long term Fidelity should be able to set you up with an index fund that will get you 6-10% over 10 to 20 years, which should net you a nice chunk of change if you are persistent, depositing a couple hundred every month.

[ST1G]

Or could have followed this advice in 2011:

I dislike silver and gold. It doesn't actually produce value. When a company creates a new product or service and people are willing to spend their money on it, value is created. With gold and silver you're just hoping your neighbor will pay more for it tomorrow than you did yesterday.

[ST1G]

[QUOTE=rwh11385;4565403]
Or could have followed this advice in 2011:





I dislike silver and gold. It doesn't actually produce value. When a company creates a new product or service and people are willing to spend their money on it, value is created. With gold and silver you're just hoping your neighbor will pay more for it tomorrow than you did yesterday.

[Vincent Brick]

Well, that's what the market is... legalized gambling. So, either do a lot of homework or invest in something tangible like real estate. Or just play it safe and get a Schwab account, tell them your desired retirement date, and let them manage it for you. Depending on your date... they'll start out more aggressive and get more and more conservative the closer it gets.

I try to stay out of the market save for our 401k which has an 8% salary match so we contribute the max (when we can). 100% return is hard to turn down.

I am no expert so take the above with a grain of salt. I have done enough reading though to know that if it weren't for the company matching I wouldn't have any money in the market. I've had relatives do really well, others lose their shirt, and others just taking 1-4% growth over the long haul diversifying in large/conservative funds...

To play a safe bet I would put your money in a low fee wide range index fund that is tied to the S&P500. that way you are relatively shielded from big slides because the fund is very diversified in larger companies so in tough times some will fall, some will stay neutral, some will rise, but ultimately, you aren't getting hammered because they balance each other out.

The biggest mistake a lot of people make who are just getting into investing on their own is to try to time the ups and downs of a single stock and they end up being wrong much more often than right and they lose their money. This is why a majority of people are better off just allowing a firm to invest for them because then rash decisions aren't made during trying times.

If you've got a good chunk of change, buy a few low fee widely diversified index funds and think long-term. Don't buy/sell whenever the market moves, just add whatever discretionary funds you have at the end of each month and over the course of a decade you are nearly guaranteed to do well. Don't try to be a day trader or a swing trader, it's very difficult, you aren't going to be the Wolf of Wall St. so be satisfied with small gains that add up over time.

Yeah, I need something even more remedial than this. I got my 401k moved to a Fidelity IRA, but they won't let me do anything with it since its only about $850, they say i have to have $2000. I can put more money in, I just need to figure out what it is I need to buy and how to buy it. And when, I figure I want to get in soon while it is low, right?

What if one doesn't intend to use this money for retirement? Due to health problems I am starting life very late and don't expect to live long or to retire. I am primarily looking for ways to use my past savings to augment my low income so that I can do some fun stuff in the short term before I get too old and my body too broken down to enjoy them. I've always wanted a fast car, to travel, etc., I've lived a shitty life and want to have some fun while I'm here, dammit.

I know I am definitely not trying to get into individual stocks, I need something very simple and low risk, I can't afford to lose my meager life savings gambling.

Thank you for admitting this is gambling, most I have tried to talk to about this stuff immediately get defensive and swear up and down that it isn't at the mere mention. This stuff is so overwhelming, I've been trying to learn about it in my minimal free time for years now and have not gotten very far. If I knew people IRL that were involved with this I feel it would help immensely.

Thanks

[mrsleeve]

sorry i meant peak oil production. when we cant produce as much oil as we are used to or were able to oil will go up in price.

Peak oil is bull, and was based on conventional production only.... Peak oil throws out economics and technological advancement both in up and down stream operations and in energy usage . When Peak oil was 1st pushed into the lime light, the cost frack 1 conventional well was on the order of 20m just for the frack, Now we can do 6 wells drilled a mile down and mile plus horizontally and fracked for way less than that, on the order of 1/2 that. This opens up Billions of barrels of oil locked up in tight rock formations once considered unrecoverable let alone at reasonable cost per barrel to make a profit

[kickinindian]

sorry i meant peak oil production. when we cant produce as much oil as we are used to or were able to oil will go up in price.

[rwh11385]

Could be worse, could have been bit by the bitcoin craze at the end of 2013... (-66%)

Or could have followed this advice in 2011:

Mark my words, get into silver, now.

More gold in that thread looking back...

Right now Gold seems to be a great long investment (or short)

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704889404576277361924031364.html

Peter schiff is saying we may see $5,000 dollar levels in coming years (he accurately predicted the stock market and housing bubbles)

Investing in anything that yields a return in "dollars" seems like a risky move to me these days ;)

You really think there is gonna be a bubble on a limited resource? That's like saying the oil bubble is gonna pop and we will be back to 99c/gal. for fuel.

http://www.9and10news.com/story/30988075/houghton-lake-gas-prices-drop-below-one-dollar

As far back as I can remember, I have always tried to max the employer matching, it's free money. And yet, at my wife's company, most of her employees won't do it.

Can't spare $150/mo vs. eating out, new cars, and nice clothes? Gonna suck for them when they are struggling to get by on SS if it exists still.

[mrsleeve]

You can turn coal into gasoline if you try hard enough.

but that takes lots and lots of hippy energy from windmills and acres upon acres of solar panels......

[ST1G]

lol not in our life times

You can turn coal into gasoline if you try hard enough.

[mrsleeve]

oil will run out eventually... then its going to get really expensive.

lol not in our life times

[M-technik-3]

I have just been paying my mortgage off as fast as I can. I have a pension, and retirement savings investments, but by and large my home value has gone up way more than anything else.
Tax Assessed value has gone up 600k in 10 years. Market value, 800k.

Rediculous housing market here.

I dont want your tax bill

Me either. Lol

$5500 this year it looks like

I keep dreaming of selling, and moving out of this province/country, and pocketing the cash.

That's not to bad, we pay 4700 on 2 acres and buildings. Our other place we pay 3800 on smaller place and less land. Tehe tax rate is higher and goes where.

We to have been making extra payments to principal.

[Todd Black 88]

That is absurd.^^

[ST1G]

oil will run out eventually... then its going to get really expensive.

[mbonder]

No, this years assessment is 1.1 million. It went up 600k in the last 10 yrs. it was 591k when purchased in 2005.


Why the hell are your property taxes so high down south? My buddy's house is assessed at 14.8 mil his year, and his taxes are just are 12k.

Hell you're doing even better than, $5.5k taxes on $1.1m assessed. A place around me that was assessed in that range would be paying near $20k a year in taxes.