Stock

[gojo]

If you use charts, look at DPW. Back in Oct. I was watching LTBR and DPW. Both were on the support lines. DPW- .50 and LTBR-1.05....
I bot LTBR. Bot and sold a couple a times, with around 10% each trade. Not bad I guess. DPW made it to $6.00...............

I also did pretty good on stock options. I have watch list on 24 penny stocks..................

 

[mpruet]

AI've always been a 'slow and steady' type of guy.  At one time I tried to time the market, but always seemed to end up losing.  The only time that I used a margin account was because I need to buy puts so that I could set the sell price for some company options that I had.  I needed to set the price because I needed to raise money to exercise the options as we were not allowed to buy/sell in a single transaction.

I held several dividend stocks such as ATT, Verizon, Southern Company, Duke, etc.  I always kept those in automatic dividend reinvestment.  Whenever I exceeded a certain amount in my checking account, I would send a check to one of those companies for extra purchases.  Since they were in DRIP programs, I was able to purchase more shares without commissions.  The compounding effect was quite lucrative.

Whenever I got a pay increase, 1/2 of the increase went to automatic saving/investing.  I reasoned that I didn't need the money before the raise so I didn't need all of it now.  Also all of the money that I got through windfalls such as company options and bonuses went 100% into investing.  This turned out to be a good strategy because although the companies had promised a pension, the cash value of the pension was only $18K.  I did not have a 401K until I was 50, so if I had not invested my windfalls, I would be really in trouble now that I've retired.

I never had debt other than my mortgage and never carried a balance on my credit cards.  Also my wife and I are not prone to reckless spending.  Neither of us enjoy shopping.   Because of this behavior, we were able to regularly build up an excess of cash in the bank which enabled us to continuously increase investing. 

By the time I retired, I had exceeded my financial goals for retirement.  I am not yet taking SS, and am living on a tax exempt municipal bond ladder.  The ladder spans enough to pay for my next four years of income needs.  I am delaying SS and using the bond ladder because I want to keep my AGI low so that I can do partial conversions from a traditional IRA to a ROTH IRA. I will  start SS and stop the conversions when I reach 70. 

My portfolio is now managed by a financial team.  I am what is called an 'institutional investor' - whatever that means.   I turned the direct management over to them because when I got direct control of my 401K, I became too emotional and lost money.  So far I have been pleased with their efforts as my portfolio is growing even though I am now withdrawing money from it. 

I am able to give a lot to charity.  Besides my church, I support the local food bank and Habitat for Humanity.  I have always lived by the money rules of:

1)  Live on less than you make
2)  Avoid debt
3)  Save 15-20% of what you make
4)  Give away at least 10% of what you make
5)  Live on the rest

and

6)  Be grateful for your blessings...

 

[tx2sturgis]

Jeff Foxworthy once something about rich people have retirement plans but us rednecks....we got the lottery!

And here ya go:

 

[mpruet]

Jeff Foxworthy once something about rich people have retirement plans but us rednecks....we got the lottery!

And here ya go:

 

[gojo]

I know a lot of poor people, including myself that has 401Ks, company pensions and or IRAs. It's up to you, on how you want to invest. From 1% to 15% of your income in a 401K. My wife, in the last few years takes out 15% plus the company matches her. All I can say if you switch jobs often, then open yourself an IRA account. I use variety of different investments, which you do in most IRAs.

 

[tx2sturgis]

I'm also on the 401k train....or,  I was.

Just google hidden 401k fees sometime....it will shock you.

My money is in an IRA now.

 

[gojo]

It's usually the mutual funds that charges fees and in a 401K, you have a choice of funds. If you read their prospectus carefully, the fees should be in it.
The load funds has a lot of fees. I like the no-load funds less fees. About 20 years ago, some of the no-load funds got got greedy. They put a 12B-1 hidden fee in some funds.

 

[tx2sturgis]

It's usually the mutual funds that charges fees and in a 401K, you have a choice of funds. If you read their prospectus carefully, the fees should be in it.

I'm actually referring to all the hidden fees, that are assessed by the plan administrators.

If you google 'hidden 401(k) fees', you will find more than you want to. 

Be brave!

 

[gojo]

If you use charts, look at DPW. Back in Oct. I was watching LTBR and DPW. Both were on the support lines. DPW- .50 and LTBR-1.05....
I bot LTBR. Bot and sold a couple a times, with around 10% each trade. Not bad I guess. DPW made it to $6.00...............

I also did pretty good on stock options. I have watch list on 24 penny stocks..................

LTBR, starting yesterday, it must of got a hold of some rocket fuel, lol....................

 

[bugleyman]

Regarding fees: S&P 500 index fund. There has yet to be a fund manager who can CONSISTENTLY outperform the index over the long term. But they'll all charge you for failing to do so.

Also, dollar-cost averaging is your friend. Assuming your horizon is 20+ years out, set it and forget it.

If you're working, ALWAYS contribute enough to get the full 401(k) match (assuming your employer offers one).

Trying to beat the market by trading individual stocks is insanely difficult, even for professionals. Could you make money? Sure. But it is very, very risky.

 

[Mizzi]

Personally, I would never touch stocks again. Back home i had shares in AMP, Coles, Myer, Telstra, TFS and National Mutual I had my stocks/shares for over ten years and then decided to sell them. but once i sold them they all went up in price and silly me lost over $60,000 had i have waited another year then i would have been happier but it was not meant to be.

 

[mpruet]

If you're working, ALWAYS contribute enough to get the full 401(k) match (assuming your employer offers one).

I agree, but only after you get rid of all debt other than your mortgage.  But then I'm a Dave Ramsey fan... ;-)

 

[jonney38]

I've studied investment in grad school and have been doing my own for 40 years. That doesn't mean I know everything about it, I just know some about the little corner of it I stay in.

I would make two suggestions. One is to look at and maybe subscribe to DRIP.com. DRIP provided advice in a method of buying stocks directly from companies and circumventing stock brokers. Stock brokers are not bad, but a do-it-yourself method will get you more involved which is better.

Of those stocks one can buy direct (some companies do not offer this) I like companies with "moats" around them. This means they have less competition and longevity. No one knows for certain which ones have this, but boring railroads seem to have wider moats than most of them. Two good ones are Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern. They pay fairly good dividends to boot.

Mutual funds might be a little safer, but individual stocks is more entertaining.

 

[gojo]

My wife is 100% in the SPY index fund, her 401K, in the last 12 months now. She's retiring in less than two years. 2018 we will be waiting for an increase in market volume, then she will bail out into the money market fund. When everybody is buying, it's time to get out............

I have a question  ; Do we have any 401K roll overs here and how are  you invested?  And do you or your money manager use the 4% annual withdraw plan?

RVING here we come!

 We switched from S&P index fund back in 01/18/2018 to the money market fund, six days before the first drop. In mid January SPY broke the resistance line with high volume. Thats when everybody is buying, time to get out. I tried to upload a chart, but it don't work.

 

[mpruet]

 We switched from S&P index fund back in 01/18/2018 to the money market fund, six days before the first drop. In mid January SPY broke the resistance line with high volume. Thats when everybody is buying, time to get out. I tried to upload a chart, but it don't work.

Good timing...

 

[Technomad]

How about oil and gas royalty trusts? Examples include MTR and CRT

http://mcdep.com/

This is the best site I’ve ever seen for an investor education and I have been reading it over ten years (though haven’t been reading it for several years.)

It’s part of how I made a killing in the housing bubble that all the talking heads insisted wasn’t a bubble.


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[Technomad]

DRIPs are good. Index funds are kinda like giving up. Read Timothy Vick’s book on Warren Buffet. The Buffet method was easy to replicate and served me well.

I’ve moved on from equities to a superior (for me) strategy, but I will leave one bit of advice that I haven’t seen anyone else mention:

Beware of counterparty risk!

The 2008 crisis was so bad because counterparty defaults killed secondary and tertiary entities.

The structural problems that led to 2008 have not gone anywhere— government is just as irresponsible now and the monetary policy has gone from dangerously bad (causing 2008) to downright suicidal.

If you hold equities you have counterparty risk— the risk to the value of the dollar and the massive dollar carry trade that’s going on. Not to mention the impact on the companies whose equities you hold.

While it’s manipulated, I would suggest having an inflation hedge such as gold. Or better bitcoin (and bitcoin only not other cryptos). Both of these will do well when the dollar collapse is recognized.

You could buy puts on the S&P 500 but your counter party there are the very same big banks that are going to blow up when the carry trade unwinds in the next financial crisis.

The risk of a financial crisis is higher now than ever in my life- worse than 2007– but like musical chairs, until the music stops everyone acts like the music will go on forever.

When it stops, half the chairs will be gone this time.


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[gojo]

Today all the markets is meeting there 50% retracememts. To get this, you will need to look at a chart. Take the YTD low and YTD high and add em up then divide them by 2......  This works great on futures, stocks not so great, too many inexperience traders. Lets see what the market will do the next couple days...........................
This is for the longs not shorts.

 

[Charlotte's Web]

My first adventure with stocks involved Merrill Lynch.
Just at the time I was closing up a beach house in Hawaii---prompted by feet itchy for exotic travel---A trust fund became accessible to me. Tho reluctant to part with the dividend income I had enjoyed for years, I was in a risk-taking mood.  I flew to San Francisco, liquidated the blue chip AT & T and, under the watchful eye of my personal broker, dove headlong into the deep end of the options/futures market.

Since I was enroute to Central America, I was advised to call my broker on designated dates to discuss options as they arose. While traveling thru Mexico, it was simple enough to manage the check-ins, for ML had offices in many major cities, where if needed, I could draw cash for travel expenses & see how 'things' were going!  (My broker was frankly smitten with me & my unorthodox lifestyle.  He gave my account more personal attention than one might normally receive.)  

I dabbled in this system for a couple of years & rolled over most of the 'winnings' back into more 'options'.  Finally I wearied of the system/risk, & cashed out.  I did this just after having made---what was for me---a killing in 'International Flavors & Fragrances'.  I used my funds to invest in a healthy, authentic lifestyle that suited me, relying  heavily on my nearly endless stores of energy & imagination.  

Since then, on an annual income which probably falls somewhere near the poverty line, I lived mortgage/debt free, had 'work' I loved connected to part time travel SOB, & have mastered a multitude of simple living skills in preparation for likelyhood of societal collapse.
No matter what one's system/approach, all are vulnerable.

Live life!
  Charlotte

 

[Technomad]

True, and as you demonstrated, the lower your needs for living, the less vulnerable you are. I’m not into frugality— I spend where it makes sense— but minimalism & focusing on what is really valuable and lasting.


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