They mos def will inflate the dollar to deal…not just because they were planning it anyways…but because I’m going into hardcore savings mode and its the perfect way for fate to fuck with me and money again…I swear the Furries cut pictures of my wallet instead of string…
I’ve mentioned this site before, but www.bankrate.com is a good resource for finding out good deals in online savings accounts and CDs. Just make sure to check for the requirements and minimums for opening up the accounts so you’re comparing them together corrected for yield.
-ninj
Hello everyone. Not sure if this goes exactly here or if I should just make a new thread? I’ll post here anyway.
So my girlfriend and I are planning on moving to Japan sometime in the future. I have a few questions. We’re 18/19 so keep that in mind please.
Thanks!
looks like you randomly decided to go to Japan, glad you didn’t ask how to eat, or shower or think… I suggest you save up some money for a while then move otherwise I doubt it will be worth it, and I can guarantee you don’t speak japanese so, postpone it for a year.
Well I was thinking 2-3 years. hehe
Thank you. I didn’t notice it got bumped until I was about to go to sleep. ;(
Don’t you think it’d be wise to find a job before you leave to a foreign country? Unless you’re going to go to school over there you should really consider finishing/starting/going to college first.
You know what else I’ve noticed people don’t talk enough about is asset allocation. You should never have all of your money in just one kind of asset. Not stocks, not gold, not bonds or cash. Not even in your own business. The higher a percentage of your money in that one asset, the greater your chance of having a sudden drop in price.
Gold/Silver people are especially difficult to tell this to, because a lot of them started off going 100% into some stock they saw going way up in price, then got wiped out when it was revealed the company never had any earning power. I talked to one yesterday who said they would be just fine if silver prices dropped in half. “I’d still have the coins”, they said. Well that’s great, but what will you do for income? Those coins aren’t earning you a thing until you start selling them, and once sold, they’re gone. And I’m telling you right now, regardless of the state of the economy, when an asset class had gone up 400% over a decade’s time, it’s got a greater chance of dropping than rising.
Anyways, my suggestion for anyone is to keep the majority of your money in safe bonds or the stocks of companies that have been around for decades, and then have a smaller percentage in things that are more volatile. Precious metals fits that bill, I personally love high yield stocks like BDCs and junk bond funds, but your individual tolerance for risk will vary. Once you decide on the percentages, adjust what you own over time as the prices of things rise and fall. You’ll have a better idea of when to buy low and sell high that way. Play for the long term, the odds of you living a long time are better than you might think. Just don’t ever be ok with losing half of your net worth.
Job prospects for econ majors, how are they?
Anyone here a financial analyst, or actuary or something related?
compared to all the other majors? the same. if you play the game right, you can make yourself more competitive. eg, pile those internships no matter what. its been awhile since ive read this thread, but iirc, koop works in finance.
Can anyone tell me if Sagat is giving me good financial advice?
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Maybe he should stick to teaching people how to do tiger uppercuts.
He’s speaking the truth, in a somewhat abbreviated sense. Benjamin Graham talks about these ideas a lot when you’re trying to make an investment decision. Say you’re looking at a 10 year plus horizon. Maybe you can get a great return on a company’s profits, but if bond rates are very high, that’s easier (almost guaranteed) money that awards you for your patience. I have 30 year bonds that I buy through the treasury that I swap out every time interest rates rise. That way I can get a very long stream of income from it that compounds internally.
Totally correct in the sense that the economy doesn’t make much difference to the markets. You need to skate to where the puck will be, not where it is now, so to speak. Read Benjamin Graham’s “The Intelligent Investor” for more about it. In the same vein, Mary Buffett’s “Buffettology” has a great explanation of how Warren uses interest rates in his decisions.
And lastly, yeah ignore the chatter on CNBC and other financial networks. They are under the mistaken idea that investing requires frequent activity to be successful. I do like the specials they run profiling various companies though.
Just to add one thing to the last post, there is a lot of money flowing into the bond market right now, but if you think about that reasonably, it doesn’t make a lot of sense. Why are people rushing in to grab interest rates of 4% or less? They’re doing it because they’re uncertain about the future, that’s why. At the same time, stock prices, having been depressed are slowly rising now, and as time passes, all of the hurt companies are going to start improving, which is going to bring things up further.
I am nearly certain that people are going to see those stocks going up and get impatient sitting in cash and bonds. And they’re going to get really pissed if they bought bond funds, because those funds will be decreasing in price as interest rates go up. Sheeple are going to start coming back to stocks en masse, but the problem is that prices will have already risen by that time. It’s going to make a huge overpriced bull market, and you should be ready to start cashing out and buying the bonds that will then be good deals 
Im excited right now. I just opened my account with sharebuilder (only $200) but im consistantly adding money into it @ $40 biweekly directly on my pay periods. Well Im doing the automatic investing. My question is has anyone used it and what can you tell me about it. Also CD, im going to send you a pm in a moment.
I use Sharebuilder for some custodial accounts I contribute to for my nieces. I like them a lot. Stick to the plan you have of contributing regularly, but don’t use their fee based trading plans. On the basic plan they charge $4 a trade, just make your trades after you get $200 or so in the account. That will keep your cost of trades to just 2%.
I just did a business analysis on Abbott Labs for my college accounting class. The company is a brilliant buy at it’s current price, there’s no way I could see myself being disappointed as an owner of this company. It’s on my list of must buys now. They have a fantastic earnings growth and dividend history and I think the price is a super bargain.
Questions, how much money (minimum) is suggested to put into stocks (if this question seems vague, please tell me)? How many companies (minimum) should you hold shares in, so that you are “diversified”? Also, it seems that stocks are truly the best way to make money, in terms of “holding” (also, it is quite risky), but are there other alternatives that can guarantee higher than 3% annual average, such as bonds, mutual funds, CDs, etc… (I say 3%, because that is usually what the annual inflation rate is)?
I have more questions, but I want to see where this goes.
Most people don’t even bother with investments unless they have 5k-10k to do something with, and even though interest rates at banks are a joke you still need that much minimum for a cd or anything.
I guess you could take 1k-2k if you are really confident about a certain stock, or are a pro at calls and puts, but even then you would really have to be all in to see any returns.
There are two major points you brought up here, let me address both.
There’s no minimum with several brokers, most notably Sharebuilder. What you’d be concerned with as a smaller investor are fees. Since they charge $4 to buy, you can keep your costs pretty low even if you’re investing just a couple hundred bucks. Instead of trying to find good individual stocks, buy only index funds until you understand things better. Vanguard has a good one, VTI. Gradually purchase that as time passes and it will smooth out the “risk”.
The other thing is, nothing is guaranteed to do anything when you’re talking rate of return. You should have at least some of the money you are growing in safe government bonds or a bond fund. Eventually, stock prices will start to drop and you’re going to want money available to buy them at low prices. Try to keep at least 25% of your money in bonds. My favorite bond fund is also run by Vanguard, and trades under BND.
And that’s why most people are poor. I started Sharebuilder with $5 and those accounts are worth $10,000 today. It’s not about starting with a big amount, it’s about being consistent when you’re adding to it.