I'll throw my advice in on top of Robert's. In general, I agree with his statements so I will just note my additions and disagreements. 1. I agree with two exceptions. There are only two individual stocks that I know of off the top of my head that have stood the test of time and are diversified enough; Berkshire Hathaway and General Electric. But even there, managements can and do change, so you have to monitor them from time to time. The important thing is to diversify even beyond a single diversified stock or a diversified mutual fund. 2. Yes!! Invest for the long term using dollar cost averaging. When the markets drop, you will just pick up more shares. In a way it follows and old GE adage: "Go into the market when blood is running in the streets." However as an individual you should not try and time the market, steady investment is best as even professionals fail to find the bottom, or top. The markets GE refers to are markets for their products and services, not stocks. 3. There are other low cost index funds out there. The investment vehicles available to you may depend on your employer's 401K options. You should also consider diversity between large cap and small cap, and international and US funds. You should also rebalance the portfolio between the funds at least annually. Your balance in each fund is the benefit of past performance. The only thing you can know for sure about their future performance is that it will be different at some point, and you do not know when that point is. Remember: dollar cost averaging and earnings compounding are your friends, but only if you keep at it. 4. Yes!! 5. The timing of your moves to more conservative investments depend on when you plan on tapping the money and how long you think you will live. Before you need the money, you should have already moved some of it to short term bonds (1 to 3yr maturity). You will get a better interest rate than CD's without major price fluctuation risk. 6. The difference between Roth and traditional employee directed retirement plans (401K, IRA, and other similar plans) is more an issue of tax planning than investment planning. If you are younger and your expected retirement income with accompanying income tax rate is lower than your current income, then Roth investments are better because the distributions from the Roth plans are tax free. You already paid the tax on your original investment. If you are older, then traditional plans are better because your probable retirement income and income tax rate is lower than your current income. To compare future values of Roth vs. traditional plans, consider your Roth investment to be your investment + taxes with the taxes being an addition sales commission you have to pay. Only your investment will have compound earnings going forward. I would suggest maxing out contributions to your employer retirement plans before contributing to an additional Roth IRA, mainly because the money is removed from your pay check before you even miss it.
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Robert McElwee Sent: Wednesday, 07 May, 2008 09:24 To: Mark Cookson Cc: miatapower List Subject: Re: NMC NPC Investment mailing lists? While I do not have any mailing list recommendations (many of the websites and lists you will find are there only to take your money away) I do have some general recommendations. This is a simple plan to follow but should reward you with great results. Mark, some of this stuff may not pertain to you but I'm speaking to people in general here. I was going to send you something off list but decided to jot these ideas down here since they may help someone. I'm sure I will get people arguing with me on this but I am a firm believer in what I am suggesting. 1) Buying individual stocks are not a good idea. If you want to gamble with your money Vegas will give you better odds. Yes, your brother made a fortune buying stock a friend told him about but he is an exception. In my experience, the guys sitting around the water cooler talking about how much they made on a stock will eventually lose most of their money. We all do it when we start investing and it takes 10 years or so to get it out of your system. 2) Don't be greedy (see above). The best way to make money is to do it slowly. The S&P 500 has historically made an average of 10+% per year. 10% doesn't sound sexy to most people and they chase penny stocks. Don't make that mistake. 3) Invest at least 10% of your income, starting at a young age, into a diversified portfolio. The more you have in the beginning the faster the money will grow. I've used the S&P for most of my life and still feel it is the way to go. You can buy SPY (a stock symbol for an S&P 500 fund) through any broker and instantly have your money spread out over 500 different stocks. 4) Don't let other people touch your money. The steps I am outlining are very easy to do. There is no reason to pay someone to do it for you. If your cousin's stock broker was really that good he would be retired and living in Rio right now spending his millions instead of selling annuities for commission. 5) When you retire, move 50% of your money out of stocks and put it in cash (CDs, etc). You should be able to withdraw 5% of it yearly and have the amount stay relatively stable. If you are like me (no kids - no one to leave the money to) then 7% will make it very slowly go towards $0. Die broke! 6) Your first investment dollar should go into your employer's 401K plan up to the point where you get the maximum matching contribution. After that, stick money into a Roth IRA until you max that out. Then go back to the 401K and max that out. No need to go further with this since that covers most people. Ok, those are my easy to follow general guidelines. Hopefully they will help someone. What, specifically, do I do with my money? Ask me off list and I will tell you (or argue with me on list and maybe I'll post it) <G>. Mark, if you want to ask me questions off list feel free to. I spend more time thinking about money/retirement than I do about Miatas so I don't mind helping. If you are looking for something to read, you might try http://www.bobbrinker.com/ . I listen to his radio show religiously. His newsletter is $185 a year but I will sum it up for free - dollar cost average into the S&P until he gives the sell signal. You can listen to him by going to this link (I think it takes you to WKGO) on Sat/Sun 4:00-7:00PM: http://www.replay-video.com/user/redirect_station.php?show_id=259&id=128&format=WMP On Tue, May 6, 2008 at 5:32 PM, Mark Cookson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Anyone on a mailing list that talks about investments that they could recommend? Thanks, Mark _______________________________________________ Miatapower mailing list [email protected] http://list.miatapower.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/miatapower -- Robert McElwee and Red Beast 1991 T25 Turbo @ 15 PSI Link ECU, FM IC, 9:1 pistons Over 400 lbs of "added lightness" www.lightweightmiata.com Lightweight Miata Forum: www.lightweightmiata.com/forum The Miata Trailer Project: www.lightweightmiata.com/trailer
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