Investing for Providers * Is There A Naughty Teacher In The House?

[Gonzo DFW]

Dharma, et al.,

Be very, very cautious. And Scott Burns is a good example. He gets paid to write financial advice that people read--that is, he sells newspapers and now his Website. His track record, like most "experts" is guano that really stinks. Jim Cramer is another so-called "expert." Listen to a lot of different people, then think for yourself. Most of the experts are selling something that lines their pockets, not yours. On the level you seem to want to do it, it's pretty simple (not easy!). Take any advice for what it is, ask questions about everything, especially the costs and revenues associated with any investment, then think for yourself. That's what Warren Buffett does, only on a larger scale. If you can think analytically, and most providers can, and know your way around an Excel spreadsheet, you can do this. I'm happy to help, but you should only listen to what I have to say with a grain of salt. It's your money! That's the one thing you can never forget!!!!

[URAPNES]

good for you. properly set up, your finances will take care of you for years to come. Just be careful you are not listening to an idiot. 1 way to tell? Look at their success. make sure they are not a 30k millionaires. check the tax districs to make sure they hold title to rental homes. Do back ground checks. Trust me, this is an area where a moron could do major damage to you. be cautious. I dont care how well you know the person.

How do I know this.

I own rentals and invest heavily in the market

[Luvgcz]

is NOT a 'Buy and Hold' market. Also, the market appears to be trying to make a correction right now.

You could consider daytrading futures(e-mini S&P 500). You'll be through by noon every day. But before you try this, read about money management and daytrading. It isn't for everyone. I'll be happy to help you. Just be very careful!!

Happy Trading

[Dharma]

Thank you gentlemen. I think I still need training wheels and I'm not ready for daytrading yet. Several ladies have contacted me about the class and we're all so different. I know that one investment vehicle may not suit everyone so I'm looking forward to finding out what I should be doing. I'm saving every scrap of advice you're all giving. My mama always said "Don't believe anything you hear and only half of what you see". I'm sure it applies to investing too.

[Guest030911]

Might I suggest the the FNBCPI?

Actually, a financial consultant and I thought about teaching some basic skills like budgeting, goal planning, and income analysis to providers. I hate to use generalizations, but most of the providers I know have saved almost nothing and their living expenses are sky high and do not know where to start.

Education, awareness, and some sort of simple saving plans is where to start. If interested, PM me and I'll see if my friend would be willing to do a free class to get you started and thinking more clearly about your financial health.

[Dharma]

CPI, thank you for your gracious offer

[TexTushHog]

Just reading this thread shows how hard it is to get good advice. I see almost as much bad advice as good advice. (And for what it's worth, I'll cite 69ers advice as the best single post.)

You'll get more theories on how to invest your money than you can shake a stick at. Frankly, unless you have a lot of money, you should keep the investment side simple. I can't tell you what to buy because I don't know your age, your situation, your income, or your risk tolerance. But good candidates include well managed stock mutual funds or (for the very risk intolerant) CDs or government bond (or bond funds). Perhaps a mix of both.

However, I can tell you without fear of contradiction that it is far more important to save and avoid debt than it is to select the exact right investment vehicle (although you still must avoid the wrong ones). The most important thing to do is save. The earlier you start, the better off you will be. Add to the savings every month (or week), without exception. Pay yourself first!!

Finally, there are two rules that no investment scheme can get around:

1. Spend less than you make.
2. If you can't follow rule number 1, nothing else matters. You loose.

Ninety percent of people can't get past these two rules. If you can do this, ad something to your savings every month, start early, and avoid really bad investments, you'll do OK.

[beachcomber]

Dharma and friends. With 25 years as an adult, I would second every word of 69ers advice.

Long term is your friend.

Spend a great deal of time before investing a penny. Read (which I think you like to do from your literate posts) about stocks and real estate. Make notes or highlight areas of interest as you will be more likely to pay attention to investments that you are interested in.

Dollar cost average.

Good luck with your meeting.

Beach

[Luvgcz]

You can daytrade the e-mini S&P 500 futures contract with a minimum of $500 per contract, and the profit(or loss) potential per contract can be quite large depending on volatility(and money management). Don't rule out daytrading until you have investigated it. You don't need to know much about stocks, bonds etc. to daytrade this contract. You just need to be disciplined in your trading and money management.
Today was a good trading day with several good signals. Some days the market moves with no signals. That is the frustrating part.
Today's market opened in a downtrend which started in the overnite session. If you were nimble enough and shorted one contract at the open and hung in there for the run down to 1,076, you could have picked up 10 handles($500). There was a buy signal around 11:20 good for six handles($300). Most of the setups result in trades in the range of $25-$100. And don't forget the losses. These setups don't happen every day. You may sit in front of the monitor for several hours with no signals while the market moves. That is the frustrating part of daytrading. You can lose a lot or you can make a lot in daytrading.
Something you might consider is opening a futures trading account with some of your funds and put the rest in stocks, bonds etc. Two things to remember: Treat the money in the futures account as 'play money' and never trade 'scared money'.

[Combustion]

Dave Ramseys books are a good start and you should be able to pick them up for free in the library, they are pretty repetitive but should cover the basics.

[Texas Contrarian]

TexTushHog is spot on.

You MUST get control of your personal budget. If you can't do that, nothing else counts. For many millions of Americans, by far the best investment is to pay off credit card debt (and any other high interest rate consumer debt). That's the absolute quintessence of a safe, guaranteed return.

After that's taken care of, work out a disciplined personal budget plan. Run a very tight ship. Be aware of how every single dollar is spent. Organizing this effort will take a little bit of time. (But not as much as you think; probably just a few minutes a day.) Chances are, you'll soon be able to save far more money than you thought possible. Many people see hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars fly away every month and have no idea where the hell it went. Don't do that!

Establish some reserves (at least a few months' worth of living expenses) so that you can survive periods of illness -- or seasonally slow business -- without worry. Only then should you consider investing in any type of risk asset.

When you are ready to invest for the longer term, please don't be hasty -- and please carefully consider anything you decide to do. Many amateur investors make impetuous decisions they live to regret. I believe the vast majority of people do best to keep it simple, sticking primarily to index funds or solid mutual funds, and looking at them as long-term investments rather than trading opportunites to be jumped into and out of whenever the urge strikes.

If you keep things simple in such a manner, you will have no need to pay fees to investment advisors. Keeping your costs to the minimum possible level should be one of your primary goals.

Engaging in very active trading, day trading, futures, and options is a treacherous enough course for full-time professional investors and hedge fund managers. Uninformed amateurs have no business at all playing around in this universe, and few are temperamentally and psychologically suited for it. Would you want to play high-stakes Texas hold 'em every day at a table comprised primarily of World Series of Poker invitees? I think not.

Unsophisticated investors who enter such arenas often end up doing little more, essentially, than contributing to a huge pile of money that gets scooped up by smarter players.

I believe you should consider buying a house only if you're pretty sure it will suit your purposes for at least a decade or more. Real estate agents might try to convince you that renting is "throwing your money down the drain", or "making the landlord's mortgage payment for him." But owning a house involves a rather high consumption component -- it's not just an "investment." Remember that you'll have to be prepared for the possible need to replace the roof, air conditioning units, hot water heaters, leaky pipes, and all manner of other things. And the outlook for price appreciation is uncertain, to say the least.

Renting at least keeps your life simple. If something leaks or quits working, you just call the management office! You know exactly what your housing expenses are every month, and you can budget for them.

All of this just takes a little bit of planning and discipline. With a sustained commitment, you can do it. Best wishes!

[Egrbvr]

Fugedabout day trading. You already have a job and we don't want you to be distracted. Get a good, fee-based financial consultant, open a IRA, and invest regularly in the kind of mutual funds that fit your risk tolerance, age, etc., and then check the performance against the market.

The best advice is do not borrow money or run up credit card debt. That will ruin you for sure. Pay cash for everything, including your cars. Mortgages are an exception if they are not too high and they are fixed rate.

[deuce22]

Take care to find funds that have low costs. There are many, many funds out there that don't beat the market average but have substantial cost. In essence, you are paying a lot of money for nothing, when you could make more by just buying a low-cost index fund like Vanguard.

[Dharma]

For those of you who have been watching the threads about investing, the class is all set! We have a successful, intelligent and very friendly volunteer to teach us the basics so If I've missed anyone, PM me before Thursday afternoon and I'll get the directions/address right to you.

Hobby names only, bring your note taking supplies and if you have an issue with another provider who is attending, please remember why we're doing this. I will not send out a list of who's attending. As far as I'm concerned, we're just a bunch of ordinary ladies who are trying to learn about investing. If you like, bring a friend but remember, ladies only, please.

I'm amazed at the number of responses this has gotten. I'm looking forward to meeting everyone and learning what the h*ll to do with my money o.0




Dharma

[TinMan]

I'll second the motion that TTH offered some of the best advice on this thread.

The only think I'll add is, never invest in anything you don't understand. If it's too complicated to figure out, you can't really know the risk. If this means you're sticking with CDs and Treasuries for awhile, don't fret. You may not earn as much as the risk-takers, but you won't lose much, either.

As TTH said, the savers of the world are the ones who come out ahead in the end (remember the rabbit and the hare?), so put at least as much effort into budgeting as you do investing.