Thread: Investment Ideas

you have gotten some good advice so far. personally, I suggest you research stocks that pay dividends... oil/gas, electricity are among my favorites look for a 3-7% payout and then forget about it.

also, roth ira... each year fund it to the max .... stocks I "play with" myself I use an account at sharebuilder all the dividends are reinvested in the stock they came from a nice buy it and forget it place they also handle my roth ira

jim

I'd go with a certificate of deposit. You'll get a greater yield than a regular savings account, and you don't have to deal with the vagaries of the stock market. You'll also have easier access to the money should your situation change.

Also, establish an IRA and start making regular deposits. Doing so now will give that money sufficient time to grow into something substantial.

My advice would be to find a really good investment advisor in your hometown and create a 401K with one of the electronic brokers--Charles Schwab, E-Trade, etc.

Next, use your 401K to invest in a high return, low/moderate risk (Morningstar rating) no load or low fee growth Large Cap, Mid Cap and Small Cap mutual funds (ie. Vanguard family of mutual funds). Reinvest the dividends and capital gains. You can also buy ETFs distributed across several economic sectors for the purpose of diversifying.

Diversifying is the key. Don't bet the farm on any one stock or any one sector of the market.

October 24th is coming. Thursday's always down hill!!

Originally Posted by souschefdude

A coworker is big into buying stocks that pay dividends.

I'm big on that too. I've been doing it for over 6 years and it has been working great for me. If you want to get into that, then I would recommend getting an online brokerage account (e.g., TD Ameritrade) and buying stocks through them. The fees are cheaper than through a traditional broker or your bank.

Some stable, high yield stocks are AT&T, Verizon, Unilever, Proctor & Gamble, and some US energy companies (e.g., Duke Energy). As you can see, these are companies that have been around for a while and provide products/services that are always in demand.

There's a list of companies that have increased dividend payments every year for many years. Check here: S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index - S&P Dow Jones Indices

If you're paying interest on anything, it doesn't make sense to invest in anything that returns less than the interest rate on what you owe vs. just paying off that debt.

Originally Posted by HNSB

If you're paying interest on anything, it doesn't make sense to invest in anything that returns less than the interest rate on what you owe vs. just paying off that debt.

That all depends.

Ideally that is true, but there are a lot of factors to consider, like (debt) mortgage tax deductions, capitol gains tax, long term stock price & dividend increases, etc. It can be enough to drive you nuts, but a bit of patience and homework can help you figure it all out.

If you live in a country that does "not" allow tax deductions on mortgages you would be well advised to pay that off as quickly as possible. Under those circumstances if you let the mortgage run full term it can triple or quadruple the initial principal amount you borrowed. Mortgages are front end loaded so for most of the term of the mortgage you are paying only the interest and very little on the principle.

Bob

Stocks seem appealing to me...yet I don't know a thing about them and I've heard both great and horrible things about them. I might open an account with Charles Schwab and work with and investment advisor and see what he says, maybe a couple thousand. I have no debt or mortgage.