hey guys, just wondering if anyone here could give me some advice. i have a little bit of money which i would like to invest (because im not doing anything lese with it atm). i know its an investors dream, but what is the best way to gain a reasonable return, but with little risk factor. also, has anyone got any amazing stories of how money have worked for them?
Well, saving money has worked amazingly for me. I'm about to buy a house I love that's NOT in the suburbs with a 45% down payment. I still have $10K in stocks that I hope will recover somewhat, so I guess you could term me a die hard (or dead) investor. My fear is that the baby boomers are gradually going to pull their money out of the stock market as they age, so we are faced with a long lull in stock prices.
The best investment you can make with your little bit of money to invest is to buy some books on investing and learn about it. The only story I like to tell is that I was forced to start saving and investing when I was in my teens. I still auto-save and auto-invest money and always will. It's gotten to be fun trying to see how many ways I can save even more each month. I made a killing during the years of irrational exhuberance as Mr. Greenspan put it. Luckily I saved most of it instead of blowing it on whatever luxury I wanted. Other than by starting early and saving often, I really don't have any story to tell you about how I make money work for me. I think if you start early and save often, you can avoid much of the anguish associated with the question "how can i retire early?" that comes on in later life.
Yeah I know a person , me! Im 19 and currently invest in the stockmarket, and I'm pretty die hard. Lately I have been making some good cash ( just made $182.31 today) , and have been taking advantage of this declining market. Yes, you can make money while the stock market is going down in several ways. I would love to talk to you more about it plz IM me on AOL instant messanger under the screen name Omar23
Its much harder to pick a specific stock than most people think. There really isnt anything that will yeild a significant gain with low risk. If I were you I would check out Vanguard's total market fund. I might have the name wrong but its the one that attempts to replicate the entire stock market. You may also want to check out a fund that replicates the S&P 500.
Depending on how much money you have to invest, you might want to look into real estate as an option. Myself, I don't have the stomach for the twists and turns of the stock market. IMO, Real Estate is a much more stable investment. You don't have as much of a chance at a big payoff, but if you pick the right property, you can see a return of 5% a year. (EXAMPLE: I bought a piece of land out in the country (near Tomball) almost 2 years ago for $20K. It so happened that they are now developing the area (master planned community) and my land has jumped up in value to almost $35K.)
I highly recommend this one: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/A...1366721/sr=2-3/ref=sr_2_3/103-4452089-5926257
DCkid- Check out this thread at FW.com. It has a lot of suggestions for beginners and then some more for intermediate to advanced investors. I really liked Tobias' book since it covered just about everything succinctly, and gave suggestions on where to find more information if you were interested. For investments, his belief is that your average investor should rarely, if ever, deviate from no-load index funds for those assets allocated to be in the stock market. Of course, your asset allocation will depend on your financial situation, timeline and risk tolerance. Codell- Although I was first introduced to investing through Kiyosaki's book, I have since learned that he is not all that. His book is great if you know absolutely nothing, but once you have a working knowledge, you should move on. Within that thread there was a link to John T. Reed’s analysis of Robert T. Kiyosaki’s book Rich Dad, Poor Dad which is pretty critical of Kiyosaki. I have to say, after being more informed, I am grateful that Kiyosaki made some principles of investing easily accessible to me, but have been disenchanted with the rest of his series and have since stopped recommending his work. As a disclaimer, I have nowhere near the expertise, experience, or portfolio that Trader_Jorge, F.D. Khan, and other financial-types on this board possess. I just get by with a few hundred invested each in some mutual funds, a couple of stocks and U.S. I-bonds. So take my advice accordingly
rocketfish, If you want to invest just because you have money to invest, let someone else invest it. Buy an index fund. don't put all your eggs in one basket. If you want to research and get into the investing, make yourself a promise: watch each investment candidate for at least one year before buying. And remember, if you want a quick double (<3yrs, rather than 7-8), then you are not investing...you are speculating. That's fine, but the serious investors will only speculate on about 5-10% of their investment dollars. Also avoid equating buy low sell/sell high philosophy with betting on unproven investments....that's gambling, too. bet on the winners. for free things to read, try www.fool.com ...albeit the strange URL name. They have a good section on Index Funds.
Martin Midstream Nasdaq: MMLP 10% distribution (dividend) yield, tax-advantaged master limited partnership structure, solid distribution coverage ratios, healthy balance sheet, strong competitive position within the industry, target-rich acquisition environment (4 deals are allegedly in the works), stable cash flows Buy it before May 1 to get the May 15 distribution.
This one... and this one... Pretty simple to understand for the beginner. Some websites : Vanguard's Investment Basics CNNMoney.com's Money 101 Fool.com (try to steer clear of the hype, though...) The Usenet Investment FAQ (articles link) There are many others, but that should get you started... don't buy before you learn. In the meantime, just dump whatever you have into something like a savings account and let it earn its 2% for now.
It depends entirely on how much you are investing and what your time-horizon is. I'm assuming that you are starting with an investment of less than $10,000, and have a time horizon greater than 10 years. In my opinion, the best investment with those parameters is the Nasdaq "QQQ". It's basically the Nasdaq version of the SPDR. Very inexpensive to buy, no loads, and the safest investment for someone starting out with some time to wait. Hope that helps.
