Intro to Investing

[DGSky]

I have a 20-year-old son in the Air Force. I was never good with finances and therefore know I am the last person to offer him advice on investing. Anyone have any recommendations of books, etc, I could get him so he starts off right?

 

[CROWLER]

PLEASE don't fall for the Hype of Rich Dad, Poor Dad. The author has been proven to lye in his books.

Instead I would strongly recommend, DARN I can not remember her name. She has a TV show and some books.

I will try and remember it or maybe someone else will remember it first.


CROWLER

 

[DGSky]

PLEASE don't fall for the Hype of Rich Dad, Poor Dad. The author has been proven to lye in his books.

Instead I would strongly recommend, DARN I can not remember her name. She has a TV show and some books.

I will try and remember it or maybe someone else will remember it first.


CROWLER

short blonde hair?

 

[Woodson]

A great quote that someone told me a long time ago that I always find helpful is "always pay yourself first". Every month set a reasonable dollar amount that you have to pay to yourself. Set up a savings account and make a deposit, pay yourself! This is a great way to start, but needs to be a one way street. Money goes into this account and can't be taken out, I have been in the finance industry for 9 years and this simple but effective line is a great way to get started in the right direction.

I would also recommend, "The Complete Idiots Guide to Investing". It's a great place to start.

If you have any specific questions please feel free to drop me a line, I'd be more than willing to help.

 

[Mrs. Gimpy!]

short blonde hair?

suze orman? i think shes pretty good, but i stopped reading about personal finance stuff once i started my school program i will start picking up those books come june :thumbsup:

 

[EasyEJL]

I've got a simple one for him. Put what he can into his 401k today, even if its .5%. Then every time he jumps a pay grade, also raise the 401k amount by half the jump in pay grade. Put it in the "aggressive" category funds, and just go with that. Following that, he should be able to retire as a millionaire by 55. its ridiculous how easy that is, and how I wish I would have done it.

 

[CROWLER]

Yes that is it suze orman


CROWLER

 

[ReaperX]

I expect this year, 2008 to be a bear market. I've taken advantage of the Dow's losses and the stock market completely low and bought up a lot of stock already. I hoping to hit the jackpot and cash out at the end of the year. :woohoo:

 

[CROWLER]

You bought, thinking the Dow is going up in the short term?

Good luck with that.


CROWLER

 

[Nabisco]

Jim Cramer's Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World

I know a lot of people think he's the crazy guy on TV who is full of crap. However, his principals are sound and I've found as a 23 year old and a recent college grad that he specifically addresses my age group 20-25. Now I don't necessarily suggest following him verbatim (as he also doesn't suggest), but if your son follows his methods it will greatly help him in his future.

On a second note, listen to Easy about the 401k. As soon as he gets a job that has one of those MAX out what the company will match. For instance my company will match up to 4%. So if I put 4% of my salary into my 401k then they give me a free 4% of my salary in addition that they put into my 401k. Its the easiest money you'll ever make. I suggest putting a minimum of 8% in your 401K, but some people can't afford that much, so whatever you can put in, do it. Although you said your son is in the Air-Force and I'm not positive whether or not the military does a 401k, as I know they have other retirement incentives.

The only thing worthwhile to take from the Rich Dad, Poor Dad books is that if you save 15% of your income each year, and invest it, you'll retire a millionaire. Otherwise the book is worthless, it basically states you need money to make money in the end. (Pushes real estate, and new business real hard)

There are also a series of books that come out each year, titled The top 100 stock picks of 2008 (for this year). Also a helpful book to begin studying the stock market with.

Good luck and Good Job looking out for you son. I know how grateful I am that my dad took the time to sit down and explain this stuff to me and get me some books to read so I could learn it as well.

 

[ReaperX]

You bought, thinking the Dow is going up in the short term?

Good luck with that.


CROWLER

Not necessarly the fact that it is short term, but I see a good opportunity coming out of this.

A few years back, I put virtually all my savings (thousands and thousands of dollars), sold my old car since I was in college and dumped it all into Honda. Everyone thought I was an idiot, and I cannot stress how much shlt I caught for such a stupid move.

I bought @ $27.43 in Jan '06. I unloaded and sold everything Jan '07 @ $39.89, so that's a + $12.46/per share, which I thought to be a good profit off of 1 year.


My intial move was not well received and no one virtually supported my idea, but then again I've never been about modesty.

 

[ReaperX]

People always want to play the 'sure thing' and always safe, but the 'sure thing' isn't always profitable.

At the end of the day, if you really want to get big money, you have to play big risks. There are no free lunches.

 

[CROWLER]

Congrats on your good fortune. Of course it could have just as easily gone the other way for a big loss.

I do not believe in the risk it all, there are other ways to be very successful without doing it, reason being if you happen to be wrong all your betting/investment money is gone until you replenish it.

BTW if I were you I would go with Honda again seeing as how it is very possible we will see gas at around $4 a gallon in the not too distance future.


CROWLER

 

[ReaperX]

I think everything involves risk to a certain degree. There becomes a certain point where a leap needs to be taken in order to achieve additional gains. I think this is no different even when people use designer hormones or whatever. There just seems to be a certain point where all gains are either non-existant or minimal before larger returns can be acheived.


Despite Honda working out, I have also had losses in the stock market as well. Not in massive magnitude, but probably one of the biggest busts I had was with Merck. That was probably one of the more worthless buys. This was several years ago and really pissed me off, but OMG was BEFORE the Vioxx lawsuit. Phew.

Honda will probably be a solid stock, due to oil reaching over $100.00 and probably seems like a slam dunk at face value, however I am playing some other venues at the moment which I think have a more soild return in the future. The Honda stock isn't going to spike short term, but if you 'sit on it' for awhile, it probably will eventually go up an appreciable amount.

I also too believe that Honda is a better company compared to Toyota, despite both being sellers of 'hybrid' technology. Toyota seems to compromise quality to a certain degree, plus their profit strategy seems to be in disarray. Also they have had several recalls lately.

Toyota's big thing has been matching American car for American car for quite some time, as seen with all their vehicles and trucks. Honda however, has only released the Ridgeline and has kept their vehicles a bit more modest.

 

[Dr Packenwood]

short blonde hair?

Suzie Orman. Highly recommended.

 

[Palo Alto Labs]

Rich Dad Poor Dad is a good motivational tool.. but it wont teach you anything practical. definitely opened my eyes, but im seeking other sources for true tricks and tips and actual advice.

social security is pretty much raped by this point. i feel bad for the people who are relying on it.

with real estate in the toilet right now, im trying to buy a house, but seems most of the available properties are bank-owned and negotiating with a bank is a waste of breath.

 

[beallio]

Pay your self first is a primary axiom of contemporay personal finance.

Also traditional/roth 401(k)s, traditonal/roth IRAs (great tax shelters, look into their respective pluses/minuses). Can't go wrong with either as you will take advantage of compund interest, and if you invest on schedule, DCA (dollar cost averaging).

Invest in index funds with low expense fees (make sure no loads, no 12-b1's, etc.). Stay away from individual stocks, plenty of research indicates individuals, on average, who invest in the market directly through individual equity and debt securities will have returns substantially lower than the market itself as a whole.

For some great reading from blogs I suggest:
Get Rich Slowly
I will teach you how to be rich (Former classmate at Stanford)
PFBlog

For a free online course (UC Irvine) check out the following link:
http://ocw.uci.edu/courses/AR0102092/

 

[dx2995]

Pay your self first is a primary axiom of contemporay personal finance.

Also traditional/roth 401(k)s, traditonal/roth IRAs (great tax shelters, look into their respective pluses/minuses). Can't go wrong with either as you will take advantage of compund interest, and if you invest on schedule, DCA (dollar cost averaging).

Invest in index funds with low expense fees (make sure no loads, no 12-b1's, etc.). Stay away from individual stocks, plenty of research indicates individuals, on average, who invest in the market directly through individual equity and debt securities will have returns substantially lower than the market itself as a whole.


For some great reading from blogs I suggest:
Get Rich Slowly
I will teach you how to be rich (Former classmate at Stanford)
PFBlog

For a free online course (UC Irvine) check out the following link:
http://ocw.uci.edu/courses/AR0102092/

Very good info.