I've got a good saving going, and I've always put as much of my check each week into my saving as I could.
I haven't made a withdraw in about 8 years.
Anyway, my money is just in the bank drawing next to nothing.
I've never been much into investing, so any advice?

It boils down to really learning how a given investment works and how much,or little risk, you can live with.Look around you and see who has done well.What is it that they are doing?
If you have a spousal unit,that will play into it too.

Interview several financial planners, aka: investment advisors. Discuss your needs, goals, and degree of risk you are comfortable with. Look at all of the possibilities (growth stock mutual funds, balanced funds, municipal bonds, government securities, tax-deferred investment accounts, etc). Ask for references, other people who have been dealing with these folks for a number of years.

Shouldn't take too long to find one that knows how to listen, understands the importance of meeting your needs long-term rather than just picking up a quick commission.

I've been with the same guy for 19 years. He has not only done an excellent job for me, he has also become a friend.

We generally keep enough in fairly accessible accounts to deal with any emergencies and handle a year or two of regular expenses if that becomes necessary. The rest is spread out in multiple different accounts of different types, much of it in tax-deferred retirement investments.

Depending on your age you might want to consider a Roth IRA account, which can be funded via many different types of investment accounts. Earnings grow on a tax-deferred basis, then proceeds are generally tax free at retirement age. Just removing the tax burden allows investments to grow much more effectively, and not having to pay income taxes on your retirement distributions makes them worth much, much more down the road.

Get a very good investment adviser. Listen to what he/she says. Then do as much "research" as you can on retirement investing and the adviser's you talked to. Then go back to the adviser that you trust and talk again. Set up a plan and get going.
You didn't mention retirement, so if that is not in your plan this will work either way. Good luck and keep saving.

I would put a years expenses away for emergencies. After that I would look at my debt levels. If you have a high interest credit card then pay it off. Look at your debt levels after that.

Next question is to determine how much risk you are willing to take on. Another is do you have a spouse and kids. If you have kids then you have to think about their future education expenses.

Good land with water sources would be a great investment.

It all really depends on what on whether you have family to take care of and your risk tolerance.

I take it, your not married.

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Don

I'm a long time investor but i hesitate to recommend a novice to start now, considering the mkt is near an all time high. Cash in a savings account is losing buying power every day due to inflation so a hedge is advisable.

If you aren't loaded with precious metals I think silver is a buy right now but i wouldn't want over 10% of my portfolio in it. I'd buy junk US coin silver in halves, quarters and dimes. I like gold too but think silver is the better buy based on gold to silver traditional ratios.
http://www.rapidtrends.com/silver-to-gold-ratio/

Rental property is a hedge but that's hands on work to be successful. Good guns have been an effective hedge as have .22lr ammo.

I'm fully invested in the stock mkt and since I don't sell I suppose that means I'm a buyer. My favorite companies are Eli Lilly, Ford, Walgreens, S&W, GW Pharmaceutical, Stockyards Bank of Kentucky, Park National of Ohio, Yum Brands, Papa John's, Con Agra, Vectren Energy, McDonalds, Kroger and a few more. I don't like mutual funds but an index fund is fine if you don't have time or inclination to do your own homework. I have the time and enjoy the risk/reward aspect of investing.

If you are young, time is your friend. if you're old, well, good luck because you're getting a late start on compounding.

Never too late to read and study Benjaman Graham's books, especially The Intelligent Investor.

The Graham Investor ? Intelligent Value Investing

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God spelled backwards is dog.

- Keep saving. Every time you get a raise, increase the percentage you are saving. If your employer offers a savings plan, 401k, etc. in which some of your savings are matched, put your money there.

- Keep 6 to 12 months of living expenses in an easy to access account, such as your bank savings account. For funds in excess of that amount, set up an account with one of the major financial companies such as Fidelity or Vanguard. They offer various stock and bond funds of their own, as well as funds of other companies. Many funds are "no load", which means that there are no upfront sales charges.

- Stock funds carry more risk, but the returns are higher. Bond funds carry less risk, and the returns are lower. The allocation percentage of each should correspond to your particular financial situation and your ability to sleep well at night with your appetite for risk. When I was working, I was 100% in stock funds. Now that I'm retired, I'm 50% stock funds and 50% bond funds.

- There are managed funds, where the managers select the stocks/bonds they buy and sell. Then there are index funds, where the stocks/bonds approximate the average for an index such as the S&P 500. Index funds tend to have lower costs. Over the long haul, index funds usually have higher returns than most managed funds.

- The larger financial companies have lots of information online for new investors about how to start investing. You'll have to live with the consequences of your decisions, so start learning now, and take any advice you get from a stranger on the internet with a grain of salt.

As others have said, it all comes down to your risk tolerance and how you would feel about losing (at least on paper) part of your savings. These days, with the bond buying of the Fed, interest rates are so low that the only place to earn a decent rate of return is in stocks. You can mitigate your risk there by investing in Exchange Traded Funds (ETF's) like some low volatility ones by Vanguard - like BND or VTI with yields around ~2%.

Disclaimer: In the late 80's I bought some Apple around $40/share and sold it around $20 a few years later

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Lou

A bank account has been the worst place to keep money for a long time now. They dont even pay interest. There is a bibical story. The goodman of the house was going on a extended trip. He gave a amount of money to each servant to invest for him. When he came home and called them together to see how they did the first servant doubled the money and he blessed him. He went down the list with various results and blessed them all. The last servant didnt invest any of the money and hid it in fear he might make a bad investment and lose all the money. The goodman rebuked the servant, took his money and gave it to the others. You have to invest in something. To leave it sit at no or next to no intrest is bad. Dont gambel and invest it all on one bet. You hedge and bet it in pieces of other tools.
But what do I know? I am not well off for many reasons. Yet I never stiffed anyone nor do I owe anyone. I always was a gambler and while I made some bad investments a few made up for it and gave me maybe 20 X`s my money back on those investments. Now that I am retired I dont jump around as much as I did working. Years ago I had a financial woman adviser with morgan stanley. She was extremely aggressive. She made me some very good calls within my 401K and a couple ira`s. She retired and her daughter took over. She is a lot more conservative than her mom was. That works good too as now at my age I cant afford to lose.
When I hired in on my job there was another guy who hired in right after me. Our company gave us what they called a basic benifit plan. It was some token amount like a couple hundred dollars a year that we had the choice of putting in a bond fund or some generic stock fund that held various stocks. Also you could go 50/50. My friends wife wanted to be conservative and had him play it safe. He chose bonds. I gambled it on the stock fund. Not long before I retired 35 yeas later we compared the amounts we had in the plan and he said mine was far more than he had and wished he hadnt listened to his wife to play it safe with bonds.

Two more things. Lobo is right about a roth IRA. I never had one as I was too far downstream when they came out with em. That silver thing? I got into silver just before the hunt bust around 1984. I lost something like $14,000s at the most critical time of my life. Newly married the first time with a kid etc. I had started out, made a little, got greedy and bought more on margin. Never again! If its such a darn good investment why are they trying to sell theirs to you?

Wait for the next stock market crash and load up. In '09 I bought GE for $7/sh and Pfizer for $11.50. Sold them both in '11 for around $20. I know I sold too early but I figured printing money out of thin air and buying treasury bonds would be a finite solution. Which it is, just not as soon as I figured. Joe

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Wisdom chases me; I'm faster

FM, it's all about timing. The investments you made 20X on, someone had to sell you theirs. Anything you buy comes from someone who wants to sell. I'd rather have silver at $20 an oz than money in a savings account at 0%. The main thing is to diversify and not have your eggs all in one basket. I don't trust the government to keep their hands off IRAs.

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God spelled backwards is dog.

Whoever you get as a financial adviser ask them about Institutionals. They aren't risky and don't pay supper-duper amounts, but they are steady and pay nice yearly returns. Ours gives us about $14-15K a year and never touches the principal which is enough to supplement our two Social Security checks and allow us to live comfortably which is all we want.

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Dick

If I was to live my life over I would buy a old chicken farm or similar that had a bunch of buildings or sheds. I would have bought old classic cars, pickups, harleys and indians at the bottom of the market and hide them in the buildings. Later you would sell them slowly as you need the money with no tax factor at about 100 Xs what you paid for them! Hey! I seen mint 40 ford coupes go for $200s that would bring over $20,000s now! Same ratio for old indians and harleys. Guns too. You can drive, fondle and shoot them while you wait to cash in.
One gift I always had through the years that I never used: Since a boy up, every car, motorcycle and gun that I liked seemed to become the most sought after of their gender through the years. I did have a few of all slip through my hands.

Hold on here guys! I was raised in a place like that. I spent all of my early life planning, plotting and conniving to get away.
I would like to have my Shelby GT-350 back.
And maybe just one of those 1940 Fords. A convertible would be really nice!
Met a guy up in Ohio who had a warehouse full of Cadillacs.
He bought a new one every year, his wife got last year model.
Then her 'old' car was put into the warehouse.

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

Beware of the fees, they can eat up all your return. Financial advisers and mutual funds both charge fees. If you pay an adviser to buy mutual funds, you are paying fees twice.

Mutual funds are required to publish their holdings. If I find a fund that interests me, I use this as a source for ideas of companies to research.

My investing preference is to find solid companies in industries I consider to be stable, with little debt, who are down due to temporary issues (value investing). I then sit on it long term, I'm less concerned with short term performance.

There are a few industries I simply won't invest in. Retailers are the big one. Their profits are razor thin, their customers for the most part don't think the business is entitled to make a profit. The instant someone cheaper comes along and undercuts them, they are done.

Researching individual companies takes work. Barons is a weekly newspaper that is pretty good.

There are a lot of complicated financial products out there, most of which I don't understand. I don't buy if I don't understand it.

Investing is risky. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. When a stock tanks, does that make it a good buy, or is it a sinking ship? When it goes up, do you take your profit or ride it out? There are no guarantees.

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Common sense isn't so common.

My wife has a financial adviser, I do my own investing. We were married in our mid fifties so decided to just keep out own investments separate. So far she's been doing better than I do but not by much. I would say hire an individual that comes recommended by someone you know who has experience working with a pro. Way too much to know for the average investor.

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That's just somebody talkin.

Find a good investment guy you trust. Really check them out. Ally bank (an online bank) pays the best interest on a savings account. My investment guy told me about them. HUGE difference from my Regions account

I did well with the houses I bought (the divorce destroyed that)Ok in the stock market,bought bp oil when it tanked and bac between $6.50 and $8.00.I didn't carry disability ins (Dumb!) and didn't plan on a divorce.Those two were huge.Lifes a crapshoot.

Tried real estate and did quite well with the boom. Got out just before the bust.

Looked around and found tax liens....where I invest they pay 1.5 percent per month or 18 percent per year.

Risk, of course, not near as much as driving down the Interstate.

Education...needed...go to local courthouse...talk with librarian...get all the data on how your state does them....take it home and read it at least three times to get past the legalese.

Some states sell tax deeds, not have tax liens.

You are loaning the taxing jurisdiction the money for the interest or penalties they collect when the delinquent tax payers pay up.

DO NOT jump in with both feet....try it on a small scale, say $10,000 start basis.

You can use a self directed IRA.

If they do not pay you get the property.

Work...I work about 15 days out of the year.

Income....done right....your $$$ will double every 4 years.

Bankers rule of 72 says at 18 percent you double every 4 years.

If you get a good piece of real estate, do a Quiet Title and clear the title and then do whatever you please with it.

Sounds simple....yes it is....just requires a bit of due diligence...not someone else telling you what to buy or how.

I would not hire an investor, I have an advanced degree but you do not need one or have to a series 7/63 to do it. It works like a savings accounts and most online houses allow you to monitor, trade and sell or buy whatever you want even from app based smart phone devices.

Several houses allow you to do this and it depends on you, PM me if you want the name of the one I use but there are a lot out there. I just went through a stock split and now have exponentially more shares than I once did. Only around 45 percent of the people invest their money into the stock market IRA or traditional 401ks. While some will say it is risky, looking to sell a 11 dollar stock when it hits 20 bucks, real money is made in the long term. So think hundreds of thousands and millions instead of hundreds or thousands the only real way to see value in it because you can not really touch it till you retire anyway without paying taxes on the money. If I could give any advice to anyone reading this is yes it is risky but so is gambling and while it is not like a casino it still can make you a lot of money in the long run. As far as how it works, link your bank account to it, deposit money into it and invest. I am sure that a Financial Adviser would tell me that I am doing it all wrong but I have been getting 30-40 percent returns on my money year over year for as long as I have been in it and I am diversified and vested so it is nothing that can not be done by anyone with half a brain and a sense of what might be a good investment. Good Luck.

I have always done well directly owning stocks in dividend reinvestment plans ("DRIPs"). I bought 30 blue chip DRIPS in the 1980's and all but one have done well. Financial advisors are the used car salesmen of the financial world. I hear there are good ones, but I have never met one. Good luck!!

You sure are on the right track! You have mastered the first and most fundamental rule: It's not what you make, it's what you keep that matters.

Buy distressed assets that you can turn around based on your skills and knowledge, and buy great assets from distressed people. Not "good" or "mediocre" assets, but high quality assets from people whom did not pay attention to the first rule and overextended.

The opportunities are endless, and the strategy is timeless and apropos in any market environment.

Crossroads at midnight.

How old are you and what do you want?

I started long ago and solid performing stocks have been good but the value has fluctuated wildly. Bonds are pretty safe.

If you don't want to do a lot of research Mutual Funds are easy. I haven't checked on the performance in the last few years but for a while, they tanked after years of good performance. Does anybody know how they have been doing?

WHOEVER your broker is make sure that you know people that have used them for a long time. Some brokers eat people up by making frequent changes and charging a brokers fee. Once a year is about the shortest length of time to wait to make changes. If you are relatively young, be in it for the long haul. If you are older and want to see an increase, you might get a little riskier.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

One quick trip to Columbia.

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Why, I aughta.....

I would recommend you take an adult education course on investing. Cheap, and gives you the basics.

And, a second for the 401k thing if available.

Pick a fast horse.

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Forum consigliere

Does the big money know something?

Why is the big money dumping stocks? | Talking Numbers - Yahoo Finance@@AMEPARAM@@video/why-big-money-dumping-stocks-213248736.html@@AMEPARAM@@why-big-money-dumping-stocks-213248736

This is probably the wrong group of people to ask about financial advice,
Most of us are constantly broke from buying guns!
At least, I am anyway.
olcop😀

Never bet on a gray horse on a cloudy day.

One thing I would have is a Traditional IRA.
I've been trading stock through one for several years.
Any gain isn't taxed until you make a withdrawal.
You are the one who directs which investments you want to make
if they are allowed under the guide lines of the IRA.
Check to see what is considered an investment under the plan..
land, stocks, metals, etc.

Just remember.. investment broker is spelled, "BROK-ER"...
you.. not them!

You could invest in a firearms business

Or you can buy some stock, gold and silver, bet on horses or go to the casino.

I think buying a rental property makes good money too if you can deal with drama, repairs and tenants.

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Jorge

IF.. you draw a wage from a company that has a 401K, like I did...
The company would match the first 5% of my wage.. 100%!
The 401K was with Fidelity and my account was placed in a very low risk fund. Sure.. it only made 1%-2% return a year...
BUT.. I placed $5,000 a year into the 401K.. AND they placed $5,000 match also! My friend.. that's a 100% return per year!

Then when I retired, I rolled over the 401K into my IRA!

Marry a rich girl,no prenup

He who marrys for money generally earns it.

Go back to 1995 and buy mutual funds!!! They tripled in 5 years!!!

I have a well established company that is currently looking for an investor for expansion, pm me and I can give you details if you might be interested.

Alternatively, I believe that real estate tends to be one of the safer investments, and it's hard to go wrong with bonds. A lot can depend on how risk adverse you are, and how you want to balance that with profits potential. Personally, I've always had bad luck when it comes to stocks, and no longer consider them reliable but I know others often fair much better.

I know there seem to be a fair number of members on here that collect high grade revolvers. Which will most certainly appreciate over time, and will be a safe investment, although I'm not certain how the return would work out over a long period.

Some people are able to buy guns because they have invested wisely. It's just that I'm not one of them.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Nobody has mentioned lead. Buy lead. "A commodity in the hand is worth two in the bush." The market is forecasted to crash again; and worse. Silver was previously mentioned; its tangible.
Also previously mentioned: diversify.

I started doing this a few years ago.
I think my company matches 3 or 4 %.
Anyway, I'm just putting in the minimum, should I put in more?

Heck yes! You are turning down free money if you dont max out what the company matchs.

I ve invested alittle this year. Dividend funds Coke, GE, At&t and a few others. I m 28 years old I got time to wait, and let the dividends add up.
Invested a couple hundred dollars getting my wife started selling Origami Owl Jewelry (pm if anybody needs to buy their wife a gift) nice little side income for us. Looking into side business for me.
But so far my best investment as been buying Smith and Wessons. Got a buddy harassing me about 34s he keeps trying to tell me I don't need a 2in and a 4in. He s also after my 5in 27-2. Got another friend who keeps offering me money for my 3in 65. The 8 3/8 27 is just sitting in the safe. I watch about twenty gun trader groups on faceboom every day. I try and buy all the S&W's that I know are underpriced.

Ive also got 6months of expenses in the bank and 1k in the safe. And a little bit of silver

Absolutely for sure. You want to put in enough to get the max from the company.
That's free money dude! Like walking down the street and seeing a $100 bill laying on the sidewalk.
Would you think, I would pick that up, but I don't work on Sunday?
Take the company's money!

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

If you have a 401K, I would put the max that the company will match. If you also have a IRA you can put money in it also and you will be able to direct that money into other investments.
Be sure to know what investments are allowed under an IRA, it could be something that will make your money more liquid and give you more control.

You will not be taxed for the money going into an IRA or 401K unless you draw it out, this will not have income tax taken out of your check for your contribution, this will lower the amount of income tax you'll pay at yearly tax time.

You do know you can borrow money from a 401K account if needed, as long as you pay it back you will not be taxed.

Read up on the latest rules on a 401K and IRA.. you can also transfer money from a 401K into an IRA. I would do this every couple of years because other than the company match the money wasn't making much in the 401K.

Interest rates are so low now, I would stay FAR away from bonds. When the interest rate goes up, and it will eventually, the value of those low yield bonds will tank.

If I could do it over, I would put the minimum to get the company match in the 401k instead of the max. Gains from stocks invested myself will be taxed at a more favorable capital gains rate. Contributing to a 401k means that you are delaying taxes now (when they are low) until the future (when they will be much higher). Future withdrawals will be taxed at the full ordinary income rate.

If you can, do a Roth 401k instead of a regular 401k. With the Roth, contributions are after tax but the earnings are tax free. In the long run, the value due to earnings will far exceed the contributions.

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Common sense isn't so common.

One of my degrees is in Finance. You've got a lot of material to learn. Just get started. You'll be fine.

I recommend real estate and the S&P 500 index. I do not, and would not, own ANY bonds right now. But that's all a function of age, risk tolerance, etc. Your mileage WILL vary. (FYI: I would also be short, that's selling and not buying, precious metals like gold, silver, and all that - they can mine/extract all they want for $300 an ounce. Once the hype dies down, it'll drop like a rock.)

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But then, what do I know?

Give a investment broker a call like Fedelity?

I been in there 401k program for almost 40 years now.
My company had there plan at the corporate level. I was a blue collar worker who worked for corporate headquarters.

It was explained to me for my 8 year investment of 10% of my pay they would give me at the end of eight years $80k. I put n 16% of my pay to kick it up a notch. The company matched up to 3%. So I put a total of 19% of my salary in it. At the end of each year they were paying around 10% interest on my money. My money snowballed like a freight train.

Invest your money wisely and let it work for you. Keep some on hand for emergency situations and invest the rest.

I got lucky I listened to the old timers I worked with.

I borrowed against my money to purchase land in Vermont. I paid myself 7 1/2% interest rather than pay a bank.

I don't ask my guy at UBS to give me advice on guns...