Buying into the stock market

[Lineman North Florida]

I've always been told the idea if you have money to invest in the market is to buy in cheap but the market has been high now for several years , seemingly not a lot of low points to buy in, bottom line is I have a little money that has been setting in the market in cash bonds which is a really low performer and I have been toying with the idea of moving most of it over into some other funds that I am invested in that have performed well over the past few years but have been hesitant to because of that old saying that was beat into my head about buying in cheap. I'm 56 years old and can't see myself needing this money anytime soon, what are you guys thoughts ? Thanks in advance for any advice/opinions.

 

[duffer]

As with anything else, educate yourself on the pros & cons of investing in various types of vehicles. Mutual Funds, ETFs, indv stocks, bonds, etc.

I record several of the finance shows on TV everyday. Doesn't take long to get a good feel for who knows what they're talking about. I also read and listen to a bunch on the internet to augment that.

 

[grsthegreat]

Many years ago my wife forced me into the market, which i thought was too high. We went with managed accounts like Fidelity and Vanguard. Man, im so glad i just let her do this. Its what has funded our retirement.

I keep a Excel spreadsheet since the beginning of our investment. Its amazing to watch how it progressed over the years.

We now make more money a year than i ever made when we were working full time.

However, the market right now is pretty intimidatingly high. Does make one wonder.

 

[t1kilo]

I’ve mostly used financial advisors over the years with varying degrees of success. I’ve also done my own thing on occasion, and got lucky a couple of times, getting a much better return than any advisor ever got for me. Having said that, I value my financial advisor because he’s dealing with it daily, and is much more in tune with the market. Personally, I like having the bulk of my investments managed, with a smaller amount available to play, if I decide I want to.

If you’re dependent on this money as part of your retirement, I would recommend talking to an investment advisor and putting it into something a little more aggressive, but not overly aggressive.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

Investing 101 also says, timing the market is folly.

The high 20 years ago was 10k. If you had not bought in at that high, you wouldnt have realized a 400% gain.

I've never considered WHEN I bought. I just bought. We average 15% return on our funds that I manage myself. Id hope paying an advisor would net more than that.

Hell, just a money market account will earn you 4.25% today

 

[Rustyiron]

I've always been told the idea if you have money to invest in the market is to buy in cheap but the market has been high now for several years , seemingly not a lot of low points to buy in, bottom line is I have a little money that has been setting in the market in cash bonds which is a really low performer and I have been toying with the idea of moving most of it over into some other funds that I am invested in that have performed well over the past few years but have been hesitant to because of that old saying that was beat into my head about buying in cheap. I'm 56 years old and can't see myself needing this money anytime soon, what are you guys thoughts ? Thanks in advance for any advice/opinions.

Ask your buddies if they have an advisor that they've been working with for years and are happy with.
I've been trying to get some of the younger guys that I know that are doing very well to get with my guy or someone else who can lay out some options. Ours started us out with setting up a SEP and him managing and consulting/explaining to us various opportunities along the way. Now that I have 30 years with the guy, his sayings and slogans about the market that at a much younger age sounded like sales bs have been proven true.
Get something started asASAP!
It doesn't have to be the whole "wad" all at once either. A good guy will ask you about the extent of risk and lots of other questions educating you along the way .

 

[OffgridTractor]

• Don't try to time the market (dollar cost averaging)
• Do buy ETF's instead of individual stocks, especially when starting out. Do some research in this subject.
• Do buy and hold - don't sell
• Don't read the news - investing should be boring. Keep buying, don't sell.

 

[grsthegreat]

• Don't try to time the market (dollar cost averaging)
• Do buy ETF's instead of individual stocks, especially when starting out. Do some research in this subject.
• Do buy and hold - don't sell
• Don't read the news - investing should be boring. Keep buying, don't sell.

Agree 100%. When i chart all the years of returns as a yearly basis, all excep 1 year have exceeded 10%. Generally alot higher than 10%. I have never been panicked by the drops and crashes, as the market has always gone above previous highs. During Covid i had lots of people sat…sell now. We didnt, and the returns skyrocketed.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

Agree 100%. When i chart all the years of returns as a yearly basis, all excep 1 year have exceeded 10%. Generally alot higher than 10%. I have never been panicked by the drops and crashes, as the market has always gone above previous highs. During Covid i had lots of people sat…sell now. We didnt, and the returns skyrocketed.

Fear is very costly. Investing cannot be emotional, or you'll end up broke

 

[scootr]

Just follow a successful investor like Nancy Pelosi

She has incredible luck in the stock market. Recent buys of Ai stock have skyrocketed

 

[ultrarunner]

I was told in my teens buy and hold but it didn’t work well for me as I held all the way to the stocks being delisted… basically cured me of the equity markets.

I found real estate gave me a very good 40+ year run but the crazy regulatory climate that has evolved here regarding any residential rental is full of peril.

So 4.25 interest on cash at the credit union it is.

 

[grsthegreat]

Just follow a successful investor like Nancy Pelosi

She has incredible luck in the stock market. Recent buys of Ai stock have skyrocketed

Id like to have insider knowledge investing also, but i would end up in jail

 

[Mtsoxfan]

I've bought and held proven performers, and money makers. Insurance companies, defense subcontractors etc. Also others. Some will not really change in price, I invested for their returns which are reinvested. Insurance companies will (usually) always make money. Cigna is the one I bought. I saw the stock split twice before I bought, once since then, but stock price rose from @$50 per share to close to $300 now. Only regret was not buying more when covid hit and it dropped (very temporarily) to $75.
Point is, returns are a factor in investing to consider, above stock price increase.
Everyone will have an opinion, different strokes for different situations...

 

[ultrarunner]

Someone said buy what you know and what does an 18 year old know?

Not a single person in my family owned stock since 1929…

I bought Coleman Camping, Pizza Time Theater, Credo Petroleum and LDP stocks.

Only sold one stock and that was Apple… sold it in 1982

 

[shooterdon]

Do not waste your time picking stocks or timing the market. Unless you have insider information, it becomes a crap shoot.

My advice is to look at the Vanguard 500 S&P Index Fund. It has very low management fees and has performed well over time. Worst 3 year return was 7.5%...last 5 years it has averaged over 14%

https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/VFINX/performance/

I have most of my investments with Fisher and they have done well (averaging 12%), but you need a minimum of $500,000 to become a client. I have inherited some money and currently looking at the Vanguard Fund or something similar.

 

[bigtiller]

I got in during the .com bubble of the late 90's and stayed in during the .com bust of the early 00's.

Never mind today's price, just get in, stay in, and contribute regularly. You'll be fine.

 

[2manyrocks]

Duration and diversification in quality stocks are key. An ETF tied to the S & P could work. Don't invest in something you don't understand that someone pitches to you.

Investing in an exchange transaction fund instead of a regular mutual fund will help insulate you from getting taxed on capital gains while you hold the fund, but you will have capital gains taxes when you liquidate your holdings.

 

[JasperFrank]

Just get an indexed stock Vanguard or Fidelity and don't look at it. The small investor can't "play the market." No matter how smart you think you are, there are smarter people out there just trying to screw you.

 

[LittleBill21]

can't buy cheap if the market doesn't drop (2020 was the last big one, and only for short while.) just invest it as it becomes available

I do this with M1 Finance, where you can build your own "mutual fund" i picked out 8-9 stocks I like, then I do percentages into those, where i throw a bit of money at it weekly where it spreads out based on those percentages.

you have to decide your end goal here, for my parents, I favor only dividend funds, so they get money at the end of the month they can just blow.

if your looking for set and forget, fidelity offers a variety of no fee funds, that would be perfect. I don't know why anyone does bonds, the rates were always worse then a HYSA

 

[ultrarunner]

Work offers target date funds and mine is over half in bonds

HR said it’s prudent and automatic based on age…

I could pull it all for a Treasury Fund or stick with target date.

I’m not seeing returns anything close to what is posted here.

At one time the plan also offered a cash account that would never be below 5%… that fund ended when rates dropped to never return.