I'm to the point now where I have a stable enough and large enough income where I wouldnt mind shaving off $50 to $100 a month to either invest in the market or start a Roth IRA fund or something similar. I would just ask my father for advice but I never see him because I'm usually off at college and now that I'm home for a day my parents just left for the week to go to Rome/Florence (Roma/Firenze)[Bella Roma/Fiery Firenze?... stretching it].

SO! anyone into the investment scene and have any tips on getting started? I registered an account on fidelity.com but havent done anything with it yet because I just want to hold off and get more info before I started throwing money into things. Any advice would be welcome... except my mattress isnt big enough to hold lots of cash.

I'm thinking about buying some $$$. The dollar is dirt cheap and is bound to go up soon.

Dont count on it. Not the way that the government keeps spending.

I could keep them for a few years...

best bet is to go with stocks... check out [url]www.sharebuilder.com[/url]

And, if you're looking for some basics on investing, check out this book.

I'm reading it right now, and it's really basic, but it will give you a good investor's mindset. Plus it shows you how easy it is to get started.

Err, surely you mean invest in some bonds, right...? Cos otherwise you must never have heard of inflation.

If I had enough money to invest some (and I probably would except for the whole impulse purchase thing), it'd be in stocks.

Spork, your crazy Australian Economics jibberish has no meaning here!

I would invest in the stocks of new small companies that have the potential for growth. Their stock is usually dirt cheap and can usually only go up. (If it tanks, you at least won't be out too much, whereas if an expensive stock tanks, you could quite likely lose your shirt) I would then sell when I yield at least double my investment, or when the stock starts dropping signifigantly (whichever comes first). I generally try to hold these stocks no longer than a year.

Investing in startups carries a bit of a risk, but with risk comes rewards. At any rate, you're more likely to get more out of your investment if you take a calculated risk with a startup (Don't be a gambler--- you damn well better do your research when you check out a stock, and always use your head instead of your gut) than you would if you played it safe with a mutual fund or IRA.

You could also invest in a well-established company, but there's no real reason to buy when their stock is high. Wait for the next recession and go for the big companies when their stock prices fall. Then sell when it gets up there again.



If you're going to try to play it safe and minimize risk and still expect to get something, you may as well just leave the money in the bank and let it grow via patheticlly low rates of interest.

Get a good broker and pay them well for the advice they give you. I'm amazed to see people over-tip hired help in restaurants and then turn around and stiff the very same brokers that could help make them rich.

Step one: Put $1000 in the bank at the highest interest you can get
Step two: Freeze yourself
Step three: Commune with aliens, rack in the money, and fly around alot.

Futurama?

Bump

This thread has the potential to be interesting, b/c I am curious about what people around here do with their money. It's too early for this thread to die.



You people do invest in something, right?

No.

Too bad my grandfather isn't alive. He was WAY into stocks and investing. He wanted me to get into investing. Believe me I will. You will have no Social Security dependent here...but the program won't last before I'm 30. But that's another thread.

I've wanted to invest in stocks. Occasionally I check the business section of the local newspaper to see what companies are hot. I've been thinking of investing in DJ Orthopedics Inc (NYSE: DJO) Then made their IPO...uhh...2003? My dad does electrical work for them. Seriously, I have seen that company grow from Nothing more than a small business to publicly traded with (a) factory(ies) in Mexico. It is a good company. They are ALWAYS keeping my dad busy with work. They've expanded into two buildings. They once had three but they scrapped one for cost cutting. This was during down times in 2002.

That doesn't even make sense. An IRA isn't a type of investment like stocks or mutual funds, it's a retirement account. IRA funds can be invested in mutual funds, stocks, CD's, a bank account, or anything else.



Ever heard of CDs? Annuities? Treasuries? Bonds? Money markets? "Invest in penny stocks or keep it in the bank" is possibly the worst investment advice I've ever heard.

...

Anyway, your first priority should be to start an IRA or a Roth or to contribute to an employer-provided retirement plan. These are compounding interest accounts, so even just a few extra years of contributions mean huge gains in growth.

Your other investments should be split among stocks, mutual funds, CDs, and other options depending on your investment goals. You could just toss it all in stocks and learn about the market, but for the long term you should also look at some less volatile options. An S&P 500 index fund is usually a good bet, and to get away from the stock market you can look into REIT-based funds, TIPS, or Treasuries.

Won't work. The best interest rate you can find from a bank will not be enough to keep up with inflation. Not to mention the whole difficulty in freezing yourself.

I have a similar question. If I wanted to start a retirement account, is an IRA or a Roth IRA better? I tried looking up info on both, but it was a little too confusing for me. Thanks in advance.

I've got about $7 000 in instruments and recording gear. Does that count?

Roth IRA vs Tradiational IRA:

Here's some info on how they are different - mainly from a taxation perspective.

If you're making money and paying taxes, you know what AGI is. (Adjusted Gross Income)

There are two types of deductions you can take -
1) Deductions FOR AGI
2) Deductions FROM AGI

This focuses on deduction 1. Deduction 2 is your itemized deductions (when you don't take your standard deduction) and its not important here.

Contributions to your traditional IRA are tax deductible - the max was $3,000 for 2004. I might be wrong, but I believe it's going up to $4,000 for 2005? (not sure)

This means that you can put up to $3,000 in your IRA per year. Then when you figure out your AGI to pay taxes on, you can deduct $3,000 BEFORE arriving at AGI (Otherwise it'd be Deduction #2)

Thus, when you finally receive money from your tradiation IRA, you pay taxes on what you get. In essence, it defers the taxations of income (besides the gains you'll receive)


The Roth IRA is different in that no deduction is allowed. You contribute the same amount, but you do NOT deduct it when arriving at your AGI.

Why would you want to do this?

Because this means you are paying taxes on the income you're putting in the Roth NOW.

Thus, when you receive the money, they are recovered tax-free.

Why would you want to do this?

Many of us, if you start early, are at lower tax brackets now then we will be when we'll get the benefits of them.

Example: I'm in the 10% bracket. My income is $10,000 and I put $3,000 in the Roth IRA. I would pay $1,000 in taxes on my income. I get the money many years later when I'm in the 25% bracket - I get it tax-free.


Example 2: I'm in the 10% bracket. My income is $10,000 and I put $3,000 in a tradiational IRA. I would pay $700 in taxes (10,000 - 3,000) on my income. I get the money many years later when I'm in the 25% bracket - I would have to pay 25% rate tax on the 'income' I have just received (whatever it is worth).


This is one of the main differences. So if you're young - Roth IRA's are very desireable. If you're older - the benefits aren't to the same level - it then takes more analysis to determine what is for you.

Hope that helps saberman! If there's any problem with this above, just let me know. It's late!

Thanks, Demon_Nightmare, that helped a lot.