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Do you invest?

job

job

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jan 25, 2002
3,794
3
in transit
So instead of blowing $2,000 on the latest and greatest Macbook Pro, I bought an old G3 iBook that does exactly what I need it to and invested the left over $1,700 in a CD at 5.00% APY.

I'm actually planning on selling my old eMac and putting that money into another CD once my first one matures.

What about everyone else? Do you guys invest? Real estate? Property? Mutual funds? IRAs?
 
Investing is always a wise choice, that is why I have multiple CDs, IRAs, and mutual funds started (gotta plan for retirement). :)
 
IRA for the future, a portfolio of individual stocks for fun (at least at first...it's turned into real money by now), and a money market fund for the liquid stuff.
 
these are all good ideas. how does a young man just getting a steady salary begin investing?

I know what kinds of risks and returns i'm going to get for the different investments. i just don't know where are who to talk to in order to begin.
 
I have a 401K at work that I max out each year. I keep 75% of it in the "Aggressive premixed portfolio" and 25% in credit union.

I also have an IRA which I put about 1-2K a year into.

I have one rental property currently, a condo in Miami from when I lived there. It is in the Islands hotel program. Not too good an option because tax wise it counts as passive management. But it is my only choice because the island severly restricts renting.

I sold the first home I ever bought last year and made a profit of about $130K. I only lived in it for about 3 years and then it was a rental.

When my airline stock was down after 9-11, I invested heavily in it. It just went over $40 a share for the first time. I wont even think about selling it until it is over $50. I bought most of it at under $10.

I am pretty frugal with my spending. I still drive my old '97 Jeep Wrangler. I keep all my cars over 10 years. Up until I ordered my new macbook, I was making do on an old G3 iBook and iMac.
 
jcarm24 said:
these are all good ideas. how does a young man just getting a steady salary begin investing?

I know what kinds of risks and returns i'm going to get for the different investments. i just don't know where are who to talk to in order to begin.
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Set a budget and stick to it. Decide what you can afford to invest and go from there. Check your work to see if they have a 401K program (and hopefully they might match part). If not, then your bank or credit union should have a counselor to help you start an IRA. My credit union even has free stock purchasing and advice.
 
I recently got into ING Directs mutual funds...since Jun23 I've made about 25.22%...which is about 10% better than the S&P so I'm pretty happy.
 
T-Bills and a share of Berkshire B. Nothing too fancy or risky.
 
job said:
<snip>
What about everyone else? Do you guys invest? Real estate? Property? Mutual funds? IRAs?
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I got out of real estate because it's run its course for a while, but I have a variety of no load mutual funds, savings bonds, individual stocks (Apple, DuPont, Disney), bank CDs and even some gold rounds and slabbed coins. Tax deferred accounts in 403b and IRA types also.

Never hurts to start saving immediately and diversify. The hardest thing about investing is denying yourself that first large, discretionary purchase just because you have the money in the bank. It gets easier after that.
 
PS the main part of my mutual funds is a real estate mutual fund that invests in REITs.
 
We've got an assortment... IRAs, 401k, regular savings account, stocks. I have it setup so that a certain amount is automatically deducted from my checking each month and put into my IRA. It makes it easier for me to keep contributing. I've done CDs in the past because I needed something for the short-term that was low risk, but higher yield that the current savings account interest. We've also invested in T-bills. The nice thing about those is that you don't pay state tax on the interest.

For those working at steady jobs, I'd definitely take advantage of the 401k plan--especially if they do company matching. They will usually have tools that will figure out how to best diversify your investments within the plan so that you can better maximize your return based on your present retirement goals.

One other thing to consider is a whole life insurance policy. These policies are best purchased the younger you are. You pay into them for a minimum of so many years (usually 10 years) and then after that you can just let the policy accrue in interest. One nice thing about those is that you have the option of taking out a loan against the policy that is interest-free, if needed (you basically can make a loan to yourself). We're considering getting one for our baby after she's born just so she has something available to her if she needs it down the road.

Whatever you decide, make sure you fully understand the risks of the investments and be sure you are okay with whatever percentage possibility there is of losing the money.
 
floriflee said:
One other thing to consider is a whole life insurance policy. These policies are best purchased the younger you are. You pay into them for a minimum of so many years (usually 10 years) and then after that you can just let the policy accrue in interest. One nice thing about those is that you have the option of taking out a loan against the policy that is interest-free, if needed (you basically can make a loan to yourself). We're considering getting one for our baby after she's born just so she has something available to her if she needs it down the road.
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I disagree for the most part. Mixing investments and insurance isn't usually a good thing. Whole life insurance generally offers lower returns and higher fees and commissions that other investment options.
 
emw said:
Same here. But I think the whole life policy is fine if you need life insurance, but I wouldn't think of it as an investment in the purest sense of the word.
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If you need life insurance, buy term insurance (if you're not too old...it can be hard to get over the age of 65)...it's dirt cheap. Then invest separately.
 
WildCowboy said:
I disagree for the most part. Mixing investments and insurance isn't usually a good thing. Whole life insurance generally offers lower returns and higher fees and commissions that other investment options.
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True, in terms of investments it doesn't produce as high a yield. However, I don't think that enough people really think about the advantages of getting insurance in terms of planning for the future. It's another one of those things that often gets put on the back burner to be dealt with later when it comes closer to actually needing it. By then, whole life becomes pretty much unattainable and people are stuck with getting term. At least with whole life there is some sort of return so it kind of acts as a way of killing two birds with one stone (insurance coverage and interest accrual).

I thought I'd bring it up in the event that the OP is looking for ways to plan for the future in general rather than just in terms of investments. He may not have specifically worded it that way, but, again, may not have even considered it.
 
What if i want to make a quick return on my investments...like to suppliment my income?
 
starflyer said:
What if i want to make a quick return on my investments...like to suppliment my income?
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I'm not sure what you mean...are you saying that you want a liquid investment so that you pull the cash out quickly? If so, things like money market accounts are good, but have a pretty low rate of return. (The upside is that there's not much risk there.) Stocks are also pretty liquid, but there's more risk there...less so if you use mutual funds to diversify. Things like real estate and IRAs/401Ks are obviously not usually very liquid.

If you're looking to make a big return in a hurry, trying heading to Vegas and putting it all on red...lots of risk, but you could have a quick return.
 
n-abounds said:
I recently got into ING Directs mutual funds...since Jun23 I've made about 25.22%...which is about 10% better than the S&P so I'm pretty happy.
Click to expand...

I've been looking at those recently. Figure I might throw a few bills into a couple.
 
Motley said:
I've been looking at those recently. Figure I might throw a few bills into a couple.
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Yea, I love ING. Their website is really easy to use, and the Real Estate mutual fund went up 32% for me. I'm thinking next to go into the Global Real Estate Fund- I'm young so I'm fine with high risk. After that I might set up an automatic investment prog. for another fund cause I don't have $1000 laying around.

LOL, just noticed the new :apple: smiley.
 
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