IRA's and Investing...

[Adamm0621]

Anyone have any experience in investing?  I'd like to start saving for retirement and investing some of my money when I get back to the states.  Any advice on how to get started?  Are there any good websites or books that I should read to become more familiar on the topic?

[corey]

thread locked for boredom factor.









just kidding chief 

[Buckethead]

David Chilton's "The Wealthy Barber."

If it had come out 10 years later, it'd be called "Financial Planning for Dummies."

My initial advice is that if you're not already using TSP, you should be.

For right now, you should be eligible for DSP, which gives 10% interest while you're deployed. You have to take the money out within 90 days of getting back to the states, but it's more interest than you'd get with the cash in your savings account.

[Drjones]

Dave Ramsey's Total Money Make-Over
Kiplinger's Guide to Investing Success
The Millionaire Next Door


Make sure you don't have any consumer debts outstanding; cars, bikes, credit cards, etc.  If you have any of those then you're not ready to invest.  If you're coming back with a sizeable pile then it is best to talk with an advisor; a starting place is the Endorsed Local Providers (ELP's) through Dave Ramsey's site.  His approach to money management is conservative and the ELP's will be the same.

Don't think you're going to turn $50k into $50 million by next year as that's the best way to lose every penny of that $50k in three months.

[Nomad]

+1 on the TSP, provided you're in the military and not a contractor.  The money they take out for that is before taxes, and mine earned great interested even at the worst economic times.  It's a great program, and really easy to set up.

[Jumptship]

fool.com has some good info for beginners

[pitbull]

fool.com has some good info for beginners

I think it has great advice for anyone. They have outperformed every other financial advising tool for a quite awhile now.

[Privateer]

low cost mutual funds with a good spread of exposure to domestic and international investments.

You don't say how old you are or what your time horizon is, but I agree with the statement above about getting a financial adviser.  Most of them get paid by the investments they sell (that is the company pays them a commssion), so you're usually not paying extra to talk to them.

They got a pretty bad reputation due to the market meltdown over the last 3-4 years, but there are plenty of them out there leading the good fight.  Some big companies are better than others.


#1 thing to remember:  It's time in the market, not timing the market.  Pick a strategy and stick to it.  Jumping in/out of investments trying to chase a return has been proven to actually lower your total returns over time.

[muskrat]

cost is important but beware that many low cost investments (ie mutual funds) are closet index funds so you can do your own research and do just as well if not better.  Also, if you ever think you can outsmart the market ask yourself "can I guess people's reaction?"  The market is driven mostly by the cattle mentality.  My suggestion is you start with a regular investment program like an IRA, 401k if available and the like.  DO NOT lock yourself into a product because there's a guarantee unless you know what you're getting into in the long-haul.

[RAT900]

The Office - I declare bankruptcy! Michael Scott

[Buckethead]

Gordon Gekko's Greatest Hits (Wall Street 1987)

[pitbull]

for long term investing go with index funds over mutual funds, finding an index fund that closely mirrors the best mutual funds. The MER's of most mutual funds will chew up a huge portion of returns over a 20-30 year period. I know a lot of mutual funds have lowered their MER's since with the popularity of index funds, so if you go with mutual funds, look for ones with a MER in the 1% range.

At one time most mutual funds had MER's of around 3%. At 30 years compounded, it would eat up about 60% of your profits.


The truth of the matter is, an index fund that simply mirrors the S&P 500 index or Nazdaq index will outperform 85-89% of all mutual funds, once the higher MER is factored in.

[Drunken Monkey]

The truth of the matter is, an index fund that simply mirrors the S&P 500 index or Nazdaq index will outperform 85-89% of all mutual funds, once the higher MER is factored in.

Yep. Personally I like Dodge & Cox's various products. Low load and good results.

Mind you, right now I'm in cash. The current market is overvalued and scary as hell.

[cokey]

My 401k has a good % from dodge n cox.. no idea why I picked them lol.. also big chunk of international..  I had, and still have, no ideawhat was what.. I just guessed what would make more and looked @ the long term return and which has a higher return..  one day I want some one to look it over and give me some advice..  still upset I didn't buy into jetblue shares when they were dirt cheap.. big return after a while..