Do you have a stock portfolio?

[Krilons Resa]

401K and all that make me nervous...not to mention the fact that I could die tomorrow. So, I save on my own...just like the "good ol days." I think we are passed the time ,i.e. the past 40 years, where the economy was continually booming....Imho, we are heading toward the other end of the bell curve, so to speak.

 

[cthulufhtagn]

can we name the forum Royal Carnage Gentlemen's Social Club (Members Only)?

 

[NAD]

I'm gradually switching all my shit to a typical FDIC insured savings account. The stock market makes me nervous, and that is where I have most of my savings. Well, that and in basses. Not a good investment really as all but one loses value, and a few matches, some pot, and a giant Hendrix blanket in my studio makes the whole prospect of them not catching aflame a bit iffy.

 

[Eminor]

I don't get that, Nad. If you're young, it's nuts not to invest in stocks. The market has averaged a 10% return a year over the last 70 years or some shit. I can understand being nervous about sinking your money into a single company or even several, but if you just find a couple good mutual funds you should be fine. Our money is in Vanguard's Total Stock Market fund, and in a lifestyle fund based on when we'll retire--mixes domestic and international stocks, some bonds, etc. Allocation changes automatically as we age. Most of our stock is in our retirement plans. We have 403(b)'s (like a 401k for the non-profit world) and also each have a Roth-IRA.

 

[Sfarog]

Of my "current" (non retirement) savings, close to 65% of it is in my company's stock, and the rest in mutual funds (techs and international)

I know this is not necesarily a good balance but fortunately the company I work for kicks ass and the stock keeps holding well and growing at a decent pace. (when I started at this place 6 years ago the stock was at 16, its at 58 now)

My retirement savings are in charles schwab, its mostly free money (15% of gross earnings each year) I get from the company which had a 6 year vesting period but now I'm fully vested.

All my mutual funds and investments have been beating my goal of 10% annual growth, with some going as far as 18% annual growth. I'm still uneasy about things and might get riskier by taking the bundle and placing it in a china A market and see if I can still strike while the iron is hot.

 

[Tranquillian]

No I don't have a stock portfolio. I don't have that kind of money to spare. I save $50 a month in some pension funds.

 

[NAD]

I don't get that, Nad. If you're young, it's nuts not to invest in stocks. The market has averaged a 10% return a year over the last 70 years or some shit. I can understand being nervous about sinking your money into a single company or even several, but if you just find a couple good mutual funds you should be fine. Our money is in Vanguard's Total Stock Market fund, and in a lifestyle fund based on when we'll retire--mixes domestic and international stocks, some bonds, etc. Allocation changes automatically as we age. Most of our stock is in our retirement plans. We have 403(b)'s (like a 401k for the non-profit world) and also each have a Roth-IRA.

What I mean is that I'm keeping my Roth IRA mutual fund money and still building it up (which is in Vanguard... something, two funds, one aggressive, one not), but the majority of my monthly savings now goes into a risk-free place right now.

The thing is I read too many subversive websites, at least once or twice a week I'm waiting for the Dow to crash 90% on a whim.

 

[skyrefuge]

I have a ton of money in my 401(k), a decent-sized Roth IRA, and I also make regular contributions to some non-retirement mutual funds because I've maxed out my savings in my retirement accounts (I set a goal several years ago to retire at age 41, so I need to save a lot). Everything I have is in Vanguard index funds, mostly a variety of stocks, with about 10% bonds. My investment belief is that nobody is smarter than the market, and anyone who thinks they are is either a liar or a dumbass. So the only strategy that makes sense is to invest in the market as a whole, as cheaply as possible.

Anyone who has access to a 401(k) but isn't contributing to it might as well hit themselves in the face with a board.

Sounds a bit silly to me to switch out of the stock market, especially since interest rates are still pretty darn low, but I guess maybe this isn't a bad time to do it, because the stock market is worryingly high at the moment. Just don't forget to switch your money back into the market AFTER the 90% crash!

Neil

 

[Reign in Acai]

Apparently, I have $256 in an investment fund with my previous employer. I don't recall ever putting a damn dime towards this.


Now, how the fuck do I collect this shit?!?!


Edit- O.K astonishingly enough I remembered my account information for a fund I never recall establishing. $215 unexplained dollars will be sent to my door in 7-10 days.

FUCK YES! :danceboy:

 

[Conspicuously Absent]

So we opened a savings fund towards building a house/buying property/buying an apartment. So I guess I can sorta say I have something now.

Cool thing is, we won gift certificates for breakfast buffet at Mövenpick, high quality shit there. It's like a 35 dollar fucking buffet.

 

[Reign in Acai]

I'm going to throw a couple grand in a mutual fund with in the next month or so. The interest on these savings accounts have a hard enough time struggling with inflation, let alone making the penny saving jew a few profitable tokens.

Unwisely I upgraded my bank accounts yesterday to a higher tier checking which garners a .000001% yield. I now have to keep a minimum of 6k in the respective accounts or be charged a $12.50 a month fee. God damn smooth talking females with southern accents can convince a man to participate in the BME Olympics.

Edit - Too many God damn mutual funds to decide amongst. I was leaning towards putting some money in an overseas chink fund that has a nice hearty 1 year yield, but I'm having my doubts. I'm postponing this for now, will research the subject more in the future.

 

[NAD]

When my savings account reaches 5 figures I plan on investing with these dudes:

http://www.europac.net/

Peter Schiff is a pretty smart dude, seems to really know this market.

 

[dorian gray]

With the money we made from our house, we are able to get into some high-yield (relatively speaking) savings accounts now. But no one from our bank told us about it until the wife called yesterday to inquire what our current interest rate is.

I'm making some $400 a month just letting the money sit around but I'm tempted to take it out and put it in a safe in the backyard. The $ isn't worth shit anymore though, so who cares. I might as well just go blow it on a GT3 RS before we all descend into a depression - at least I'd have a fast car*


*except in another thread I was ranting about gas mileage.

 

[JayKeeley]

I just sold 410 shares of my company stock. They bought it for me (as a contribution) so even though it's pretty worthless, I still make something.

The funny thing is, I was on the fence about selling. This is the first time I've ever dumped shares and it really felt like gambling (which it is, I know), but I kept thinking, should I keep it? What if the price goes up tomorrow? What if we strike gold tomorrow and the share price quadruples overnight?

Either way, I cut my losses and ran.

People who play the market have balls of steel. They can lose big, but then they can win big. You need money and balls to play this game. Sadly, I have neither.

 

[lurch70]

you really need quite a bit of money to make a lot more on the market ...
the people who start off with a little, really watch what they invest in.

I mean how many shares of Google stock can I buy for $5K? ... 10 shares ... if they go up $50 each I make $500

If I buy RC stock at $5 a share ... even if it doubles to $10 ... I make $5000

would be great to find those penny stocks and really gamble on them ... but either way you need money that you can afford to lose to make the big bets

 

[skyrefuge]

The funny thing is, I was on the fence about selling. This is the first time I've ever dumped shares and it really felt like gambling (which it is, I know), but I kept thinking, should I keep it? What if the price goes up tomorrow? What if we strike gold tomorrow and the share price quadruples overnight?

Yeah, it's a good way to drive yourself crazy. It's even worse with stock options than with regular shares. Because then you have a deadline date to factor in, as well as the possibility that the options could be worth nothing at all. "Do I sell now, when these high-priced options are above-water for the first time in history, just to ma make $2 per share on 100 options? Or do I wait, and hope that sometime in the next two years I'll be able to exercise and make more than $200?" Hopefully you at least got helped out by the big market climb of the last two days.

I mean how many shares of Google stock can I buy for $5K? ... 10 shares ... if they go up $50 each I make $500

Share price is irrelevant. If you buy $5K worth of Google (10 shares), and it doubles, you'll have $10000. If you buy $5K worth of RC (1000 shares) and it doubles, you'll have $10000.

Neil

 

[lurch70]

Share price is irrelevant. If you buy $5K worth of Google (10 shares), and it doubles, you'll have $10000. If you buy $5K worth of RC (1000 shares) and it doubles, you'll have $10000.

that is true of course ... but which has a better chance of doubling fast?

again, playing the market to make quick bucks is good if a) you have lots of disposable income b) know what you are doing

 

[skyrefuge]

that is true of course ... but which has a better chance of doubling fast?

If we assume that both companies are the same, then their chances of doubling are equal. A company's share price tells you nothing about its future possibilities for increase or decrease.

Google's market capitalization (share price * number of outstanding shares) is $217 billion. A share of GOOG is around $700, which means there are about 300,000 shares on the market. RC's market capitalization is also surely at least $217 billion, but they decided to break their company's value down into 30,000,000 shares instead of 300,000. That means the RC share price is $7. But if investors realize that each $217 billion company is actually worth twice that, then shares of each will double in value, one just as easily as the other.

again, playing the market to make quick bucks is good if a) you have lots of disposable income b) know what you are doing

I believe that *nobody* knows what they're doing; those who are successful might think they know what they're doing, but they really just had the good fortune of falling on the lucky side of the bell curve rather than the unlucky side.

Neil

 

[lurch70]

hahaha ... ok, but RC in my example was this very place here ... unless Ali took it public and is posting from Aruba

bottom line, money makes more money and I am still gathering mine.

 

[JayKeeley]

hahaha ... ok, but RC in my example was this very place here ... unless Ali took it public and is posting from Aruba

bottom line, money makes more money and I am still gathering mine.

I took RC public a while back. The IPO was 40,000 Rupees. Total.

I believe that *nobody* knows what they're doing; those who are successful might think they know what they're doing, but they really just had the good fortune of falling on the lucky side of the bell curve rather than the unlucky side.

Neil

What about...

That film makes you want to be rich so bad.

Today I made a phone call and in 3 minutes sold 410 shares and made a little money....and I have to admit, it felt good. Since this is like gambling, I wonder if people get 'addicted' to playing the stock market? The allure of making 'easy money' is pretty attractive.