Buying into the stock market

[LittleBill21]

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

your not going to if your in a target date fund, your close to retirement, your money is in the safest vehicle they offer.

I am in the most aggressive. Target date funds are for people who want safe no touch options, their returns sucks, i was out by year 2

 

[OffgridTractor]

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.

Just thinking about your comment of buying in cheap. If you buy in now, what you bought today will be 'cheaper' then it will be in another year. So you will have achieved your goal.

If you build on that, soon you'll be doing just fine.

 

[Carl_NH]

Currently two years to retirement so roughly 60% moderate or "safe harbor" which earned 7% last year then 40% more aggressive position "tech funds" - Semiconductor then S&P 500, which earned 15%. We don't plan to take any $ from our investments until the RMD starts at 73.

The 60% is what we need in retirement, and the 40% is the engine for discretionary purchases. We rebalance every year to maintain the 60/40 so this has put more $ into the safe harbor.

So lineman - with your age / timeline you have a fairly long runway - get some holdings into more aggressive funds like the S&P 500 and or Tech funds as you have time to recover if there is a dip. Also invest monthly or quarterly for $ cost averaging. investment.

 

[Oaktree]

• Don't read the news - investing should be boring. Keep buying, don't sell.

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.

Ultrarunner makes a good point. Individual stocks don't always go up, I've gotten burned a couple times myself on ones I should have gotten rid of before they tanked. As the song goes, you got to know when to hold 'em, and know when to fold 'em.
Be informed.

 

[OffgridTractor]

Ultrarunner makes a good point. Individual stocks don't always go up, I've gotten burned a couple times myself on ones I should have gotten rid of before they tanked. As the song goes, you got to know when to hold 'em, and know when to fold 'em.
Be informed.

Yep. It's basically the argument for ETF's. Individual stocks don't always go up, but the whole stock market usually does.

 

[JasperFrank]

Its sort of a Law that small investors just look for the "big return." Like they think they will win the lottery or something. Some do, but this is so uncommon as to be closer to a myth. We only celebrate the very rare winners. We don't look at all the other losers, which are the vast majority. It is so common to hear of a person that said, "I doubled down on this good deal," then hear they lost everything. Been there done that. Be aware of the whisper in your ear,... to get in early. This is why I leave it up to the experts now, and let them do the work and due diligence.

 

[ultrarunner]

When mom retired she converted her 401k to IRA mutual fund with a very sold record…

She never had a mutual fund and every month the statements showed a loss…

She lost 50% and said no more… pulled what was left and bought a 5% annuity and could sleep again.

 

[shooterdon]

If you are the type that looks at your holdings every day, stay out of the market.

If you panic when the market drops 15%, stay out of the market.

 

[ultrarunner]

If you are the type that looks at your holdings every day, stay out of the market.

If you panic when the market drops 15%, stay out of the market.

Yep I never looked taking the in it for the long haul at 18 with my Dean Witter account…

The problem is my positions all ended at zero except for one that is about half of what I paid many decades ago.

I admit I don’t have the temperament.

What I use to worry about is being over the FIDC insurance limit of 10k

Recent events or fairly recent bank failures have demonstrated the Feds willingness to make all whole even in excess of deposit insurance… Silicon Valley Bank and Signature

 

[Cycledude]

This discussion reminds me of the conversations I’ve heard while riding in Las Vegas Casino elevators

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

I don't know... We have found it awful easy to make $800k in the past 20 years just investing ourselves. That's gains...

I've never seen a fund go to zero, or cut in half.

You'd have to awful at picking investments, or the most unlucky investor ever.

 

[KennyG]

I've had great luck investing in index funds on my own. I've tried small investments based on advisors and they were both losers. In one case I bought a stock on their recommendations and it tanked. I looked into it and saw a rebound coming, wanted to buy more but the broker wouldn't return my calls so I forgot about it. I could have made a windfall.

The market does look a little overvalued at the moment. If I had a large sum I wanted to invest now, I would immediately put it in a money market and then move it month by month into stock index fund or a combination stock and bond index fund. Probably over a one to two year period.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

If you want to learn about investing, the best thing to do is read this book:

Amazon.com

If you don't have time, the basics are stocks are a good investment, timing the market or trying to pick individual stocks is folly, investment managers are a waste of money unless you have at least $50 million to invest. Buy a low-fee mutual fund that is indexed to a stock index like the S&P 500, and hold onto it.

The Vanguard company was formed based on ideas from this book. The Vanguard S&P 500 Index Fund embodies everything he's talking about.

 

[ultrarunner]

I don't know... We have found it awful easy to make $800k in the past 20 years just investing ourselves. That's gains...

I've never seen a fund go to zero, or cut in half.

You'd have to awful at picking investments, or the most unlucky investor ever.

Mom got caught in the 2000/2002 market downturn and it was only a few months after she went from IRA certificate to the mutual fund… her fund really dropped 50% and said I can’t sleep at night…

There have only been three such declines since the early 1940s. The 50% decline in 1974 was followed by a rally of 2447% before the next 40% decline. The 51% decline of 2000-2002 was followed by a 105% rally before the next 58% decline in 2008

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

Actual active investment takes a lot of time and is very hard work.

If you don't have the time, find a good low load index fund based on the S&P 500, the NASDAQ, or the Dow Jones if you are less aggressive.

I used to watch key segments of the market which I understood. Made a killing when Western Digital's first terabyte drive, started failing and their stock fell. And, because most investors had no idea about the technology, SeaGate stock followed it down. They both dropped so low the value of all their outstanding stock was less than half of their cash reserves on hand. So, I bought a bunch of Seagate and a bit of Western Digital. The next week I sold and more than tripled my money. I got out of the stock of home builders and mortgages too early, that market didn't collapse for a year after I bailed out.

Best investment return I ever had was on a sports bet. Sugar Ray Leonard versus Hearns. The boxing press had Sugar Ray winning the decision by two or three rounds. Las Vegas sprots books adjust their odds based on what the bettors are betting. I was driving home from work, the evening of the fight. Local news was saying Ceasars Palace was giving 30 to 1 against Sugar Ray. Everybody was betting on Hearns. I drained my bank account to put $2500 on Sugar Ray at a sports book near where I lived in Henderson, Nevada. They were only paying 25 to 1. Paid off the house. Funny part is even though I won, the significant other was still pissed that I had done it. It was only after her Dad talked to her about it that she finally calmed down.

 

[ultrarunner]

Actual active investment takes a lot of time and is very hard work.

If you don't have the time, find a good low load index fund based on the S&P 500, the NASDAQ, or the Dow Jones if you are less aggressive.

I used to watch key segments of the market which I understood. Made a killing when Western Digital's first terabyte drive, started failing and their stock fell. And, because most investors had no idea about the technology, SeaGate stock followed it down. They both dropped so low the value of all their outstanding stock was less than half of their cash reserves on hand. So, I bought a bunch of Seagate and a bit of Western Digital. The next week I sold and more than tripled my money. I got out of the stock of home builders and mortgages too early, that market didn't collapse for a year after I bailed out.
Best investment return I ever had was on a sports bet. Sugar Ray Leonard versus Hearns. The boxing press had Sugar Ray winning the decision by two or three rounds. Las Vegas sprots books adjust their odds based on what the bettors are betting. I was driving home from work, the evening of the fight. Local news was saying Ceasars Palace was giving 30 to 1 against Sugar Ray. Everybody was betting on Hearns. I drained my bank account to put $2500 on Sugar Ray at a sports book near where I lived in Henderson, Nevada. They were only paying 25 to 1. Paid off the house. Funny part is even though I won, the significant other was still pissed that I had done it. It was only after her Dad talked to her about it that she finally calmed down.

Wow… 62k from $2500.

I’ve seen a few marital disagreements on principal never mind the result was a win/win

One guy bought a boat that his work friend had to sell quick.

The boat was 3 year old bought was dirt cheap for cash…

The wife went ballistic and threaten the marriage was over… he said you didn’t answer your phone.

Anyway, he polished it up and bought a new battery and changed the oil and two weeks later sold it clearing 6k just to make the wife happy… hadn’t even transferred title so he went with the buyer to make sure it was transferred…

 

[two_bit_score]

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

I agree to the extent that you should not do it with money you can't afford to lose or really do not want to lose. Buy companies you deal with in the regular course of everything. You can watch them and buy more or sell quicker. You can see stock splits coming. WMT, TSCO and SHW are some recents. They were pretty obvious. Just be sure you could lose it and not cry. I'm watching several now. One I will likely buy. If a company has been in business over 10 years and the stock has gone up and to the right, consistetly for 10 years I would probably buy it if I ilked it otherwise.

 

[kenmac]

the time to invest in the market was yesterday.. Having said that, I suggest to Invest in low cost index funds.... Vanguard VOO comes to mind .

 

[ponytug]

the time to invest in the market was yesterday.. Having said that, I suggest to Invest in low cost index funds.... Vanguard VOO comes to mind .

Yesterday? Darn! I thought it was twenty years ago.

Due to the power of compounded interest, low cost funds put more of the investment return into the owner's pocket. Perhaps there are folks here who have experienced better outcomes, but I have never seen a professional broker beat index FDA, after the broker's fees were removed. A couple of times I have had a look behind the curtain and I've seen what the big investors use to make their investment calls, and to my mind there is no way that a retail investor is going to beat them at their game, which means either gambling on higher risk "investments", or accepting a diversified stock index fund is as good as it gets.

I think that someone wants to provide support for newco because they think that they are cool, go for it, but I wouldn't kid myself that it is a rational investment. Many moons ago, I had some stock in a fusion energy company that was kicking the pants off everyone else in the world. Then the founder had a heart attack and died, and so did the investment...fun while it lasted as vicarious entertainment, but no, it wasn't a sound investment. I think that young companies don't have the resources and resilience that larger companies have and are always going to be at risk of seemingly random events. I've seen board room fights crater companies, misplaced faith in partners (customers, suppliers, marketing agents), and frankly bad apples who drive out key personnel that cause company collapse when there isn't anyone on deck who knows one end of a screwdriver from the other. That happens to big companies as well; never speak ill of the dead, and all that, but anybody remember "neutron" Jack Welch and how well GE did during and after his tenure? GE who?

Jack Welch - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I am a big believer in the power of human resource accounting, and the value of institutional knowledge to companies. Ok, getting off the soapbox now.

All the best,

Peter

 

[scott_vt]

Good Afternoon ,

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

grsthegreat,
Agreed ! In answer to the OP, if you have some money you won’t need for sometime, get started ! Some real good advice here !

I have heard some rumblings about a correction but who knows when that might happen ! I personally use an advisor myself, you pay them a percentage and it’s their job to see that your portfolio does well !
I don’t have the desire to do my own investing, but some people do and for them it’s more of a hobby !

Who knows what these tariffs will do to the market over time ! Should be interesting!

Good Luck !