Responses
Posted on January 23, 2008 7 Comments
You guys were all over that last post like bargain shoppers on the clearance rack!
Wanted to provide a few responses to your posts, so here they are:
Longroad said:
Not to come across as rude… but… if you have to ask what you should do, you should probably wait and take the free consultation.
BB:
Thanks! That’s why I was asking. You’re not being rude. I had the hunch, but so many people say to bypass the professionals in favor of online services that I had to pose the question. I think a lot of people are torn between these options, and it tends to paralyze us a bit.
***
Nels said:
Honestly, getting into the stock market because it’s down and you have some cash is not a good reason to get in.
You should have a reason like you want to save more money for retirement (like in a Roth IRA instead of just in your 401k), or you are saving for something else that is a ways off still and want to try to make some extra money over just a plain savings account.
BB:
I have been considering getting into the market for quite some time. I basically discuss it with everyone I think might be interested, and read articles about it, but I’ve never had enough cash to play outside my 401K. Now that my financial foundation is pretty strong, I’d like to expand my investments a bit.
I currently have the following savings:
- 401K and cash balance/pension fund through work
- Money market savings account (downpayment account)
- Bank savings account (rainy day fund)
So, I’ve been thinking about taking a few dollars out of my downpayment savings account and putting them into a higher yield strategy to make my money work harder for me.
The timing of the downturn just was the kick in the pants I needed to do something about it. I ordinarily move quite slowly on these things.
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January 23rd, 2008 @ 5:53 pm
Are you talking non-retirement (taxable) investments? Are you talking “playing” or actually counting on this money to make a long term profit?
If you don’t have a Roth IRA and are eligible, it is definitely something to consider, but it really ends up being similar to a 40k–tax sheltered, for retirement, no playing around allowed.
January 23rd, 2008 @ 6:43 pm
I second the Roth IRA.
If you plan on leaving the money in as a long term investment (until you retire) then go with a Roth.
If you plan on leaving it in 5 or more years, but not until retirement, stick with a taxable account.
If you plan on day trading, prepare to strike gold some days and to lose big on others. (ahem, look at Apple over the past three weeks – people were calling for it go up to 250-300.)
January 23rd, 2008 @ 8:45 pm
BB–I was just looking into this a few weeks ago and went so far as to start setting up an account with Charles Schwab (I read somewhere that you can bypass the $2,500 minimum with them). I ended up not going through with it, though, because I haven’t exhausted all my tax-advantaged vehicles yet. I’m maxing out my Roth IRA and contributing 20% of my salary to my 401k, but I would have to contribute about 30% to max out my 401k…PR pays so well.
I spoke with my fiance’s brother-in-law and he said I shouldn’t open a regular, taxable investment account until I’ve stashed as much as I can in tax-advantaged vehicles, so that’s what I’m doing. Even in a Roth, I believe you can take out the principal penalty-free after a certain amount of time, though I haven’t really looked into it because I hope never to tap it until retirement.
You might also want to talk to someone through your employer’s 401k company. I called Fidelity the other day and a “retirement specialist” walked me through the rationale of what I should be doing…and it was free! AND, they love talking to young people and they’ll tell you how impressive it is that you’re thinking about these things at a young age.
Hope that helps!
January 23rd, 2008 @ 10:13 pm
this isn’t for retirement. more to grow the cash I have for the next 10-20 years for real estate, college funds, etc. In other words, to make my money work harder for me.
January 23rd, 2008 @ 10:20 pm
I read somewhere that a good way to look at a “down stock market” is that stocks are now on sale! Historically, the stock market always goes up, so if you buy during a downturn, you’re eventually going to gain more than people who wait until stocks are on their way up. Now that’s not to say that every individual stock goes up, some crash and burn and companies go bankrupt. But if you bought an index fund or a well-managed fund, then you’re bound to have good returns eventually. The real question (as many people have already said) that you need to ask yourself is do you have more than 10 years to leave this money alone? If you don’t need this money in the near future, then go ahead and invest it…but I think you do have to be careful about financial experts. You have to know where their income comes from in order to know that they’re not just pushing the investments that give them the best kick-back.
January 24th, 2008 @ 12:54 am
This organization is recommended in one of Suze Orman’s books:
http://www.aaii.com/
I’m about to try it out myself!
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