34 replies to this topic

[Anileve]

What are some of the best investments in your opinion? I was thinking about real estate, but prices in New York are out of this world. I wouldn't really care about purchasing a 1 family house or a condo. A coop is a good residential investment, but not much of an income. A townhouse is substantial income, but it's a headache when it comes to the maintenance. Stocks are too much of a risk. That leaves one with little else. What are some of the financial investments that work for you?

[Azat]

Eveul if you like real estate look in to REITs. However remember that most analysts are saying that the real estate market is in a bubble and may come down.

Stocks are NOT risky is you invest properly and diversify. You will not gain as much as one high flying stock but you also will not loose much at bad times(if any)

It is also a good idea to have a muni and a regular bond in your account.

Some cash to cover 6 months of expanses in case of loosing a job(I have to learn how to do that as well)

Couple of mutual funds

And you are done.

remember the rule of 105 which says 105-Age=Percent in stocks which will give you time to recover in case of disaster prior to retirement.

also the rule of 72 when it comes to compounding interest which says that 72/rate of return=Number of years to double your money

Oh ya and if you hit it rich please dont forget to send some change to this poor old man.

Edited by Azat, 24 January 2006 - 04:18 PM.

[Azat]

I wanted to add that it is very very important to diversify when investing. Initially it is hard as one usually has money to buy only 1 or 2 stocks but over time you get to buy other investments and build a nice portfolio. I have investments that have done well and some that have done crappy. I have investments where I own as little as 20 shares and some that I own 900 shares and it all takes time. It is also important to reinvest dividends. Over time this will payoff generously.

Here is the list of investments that I own only as a guidance. I cant recommend any nor can I say that if you buy them you are going to make money off of them. Its just there as an example of "ok" balanced/diversified portfolio. Some I have owned for only few months and some like ORCL I have owned for over 10 years

In my regular account
AGR.B Agere Systems, Inc.
AMAT Applied Materials, Inc.
AMGN Amgen, Inc.
AV Avaya Inc.
BAC Bank of America Corporation
BAX Baxter International Inc.
D DOMINION RESOURCES INC
DELL Dell Computer Corporation
DIS The Walt Disney Company
EMC EMC Corporation
EMR EMERSON ELECTRIC CO
GE General Electric Company
IBM International Business Machines Corp.
ITG Investment Technology Grp
JDSU JDS Uniphase Corporation
KRB MBNA Corporation
LU Lucent Technologies Inc.
MSFT Microsoft Corporation
ORCL Oracle Corporation
PCTEX **PUTNAM CALIFORNIA TAX EXEMPTINCOME FUND-CL
PFE Pfizer Inc.
SUNW Sun Microsystems, Inc.
WM Washington Mutual Inc.
WMT Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
SAN JOSE CALIF G/O SERIES 2005
Municipal Bond

In my IRA
AA ALCOA INC
ABT ABBOTT LABORATORIES
AMP AMERIPRISE FINL INC
AXP American Express Company
C Citigroup Inc.
CMCSA Comcast Corporation
DD E.I. DuPont de Nemours
DELL Dell Computer Corporation
DRE DUKE REALTY CORP
EMC EMC Corporation
G The Gillette Company
HD The Home Depot, Inc.
INTC Intel Corporation
MCDTA McDATA Corporation
NOK Nokia Corporation (ADR)
PG PROCTER & GAMBLE CO
PHSTX Putnam Health Sciences
PHIGX PUTNAM HIGH YIELD TRUST
PVOYX Putnam Voyager
SCH The Charles Schwab Corp.
T AT&T Corp.
XOM Exxon Mobil Corporation
PRUDENTIAL FINL INC Corporate Bond

Edited by Azat, 24 January 2006 - 09:36 PM.

[aSoldier]

Stocks are too much of a risk.

No, they're not.

You might want to try making money online. Seeing as how your computer literate, it shouldn't be a problem to get started. There are a lot of eBooks out there...

Edited by sSebB, 25 January 2006 - 12:39 AM.

[MosJan]

for now and for next year it will be gold
just don;t go spend all of your savings on it
only invest 20% in each market - play safe & stay the helll away for me real estate - unless your getting it for free

%20 of your $$$ in Gold
%20 or your $$$ in mutual funds
%50 of your $$$$ in HyeForum stock's
%10 of your earnings to Movses & Azat Retirement found

[aSoldier]

All you need to know.

No joke, no bs. It's not a scam. This is straight-to-the-point money making strategies/secrets that WORK. I just quit my job. It's worth every freakin cent!

Edited by sSebB, 29 January 2006 - 09:35 PM.

[Sip]

My goal for the next couple of years is to reduce my debt... student loans, credit cards, car loans, home equity line of credit, etc ... all gotta go except obviously for mortgage that I will never be able to pay off most likely

I'll worry about investing after these loans are brought under some order.

Edited by Sip, 29 January 2006 - 11:40 PM.

[Azat]

All you need to know.

No joke, no bs. It's not a scam. This is straight-to-the-point money making strategies/secrets that WORK. I just quit my job. It's worth every freakin cent!

I have a feeling I know how this guy is getting rich and it has NOTHING to do with his investment strategies...

[aSoldier]

I have a feeling I know how this guy is getting rich and it has NOTHING to do with his investment strategies...

I'd like to hear this..can you explain?

[Sip]

Yes send me $49.99 and I'll send you a CD and lots of other helpful information which will explain it all.

Edit: I decided to lower the price for this one time.

Edited by Sip, 30 January 2006 - 12:38 AM.

[aSoldier]

[Anonymouse]

What are some of the best investments in your opinion? I was thinking about real estate, but prices in New York are out of this world. I wouldn't really care about purchasing a 1 family house or a condo. A coop is a good residential investment, but not much of an income. A townhouse is substantial income, but it's a headache when it comes to the maintenance. Stocks are too much of a risk. That leaves one with little else. What are some of the financial investments that work for you?

Real estate is a good investment, if you have the money, and if the time is right. Right now the real estate market is home to a bubble that many don't even know, and yet many more choose to ignore and engage in denial. Thanks to Greenspans easy money policies and low interests and pumping more money into the economy, this excess liquidity fueled the boom that we currently have. (Note: Ever since the Federal Reserve's inception the economy has been hostage to this drastic boom-bust cycle).

I'm currently investing in various mutual funds, such as American Funds, which are really good and their performance has been very admirable. I plan to be a millionaire by the time I am 50.

I am also going to start investing and direct trading in stocks once I actually make some more money, and invest in a variety of other mutual funds.

However, the best investment right now, and the most stable, is in the precious metals such as gold. As the world economy gets ready to suffer what potentially looks like the soft depression of the 21st century, central banks around the world will witness what the erroneous policies of pumping endless money does. And factoring in the current U.S. deficits in all walks of life (neither Americans individually, nor the government save) this country is in debt, so the value of the dollar will definitely fall with time. In fact, if you study economics you can see the value of the dollar having fallen ever since the inception of the Federal Reserve the value of the dollar has dropped in time, relative to that of gold. Hence that oft repeated mantra that a dollar today is worth less than a dollar fifty years ago. (I refer the reader to Murray N. Rothbard's classic What Has Government Done to Our Money? Case for the 100 Percent Gold Dollar).

So a wise investment if you are not the risk taker, would be in mutual funds, and I suggest you not be an aggressive investor. Another wise investment would be in Chinese mutual funds, since the Chinese economy is growing at one of the most fastest paces in any economy, and is poised to be the worlds biggest economy in 20 years and maybe even less. So it's a good idea to invest in that market.

If you invest in stocks, it is more risky, however, the pay off is bigger which is essentially what we all want, and it takes a certain savvy to do that, and the money. Remember, live within your means, and so too invest within your means. That means, if you must first save to invest, then do so.

Edited by Anonymouse, 30 January 2006 - 07:36 PM.

[Anonymouse]

I wanted to add that it is very very important to diversify when investing. Initially it is hard as one usually has money to buy only 1 or 2 stocks but over time you get to buy other investments and build a nice portfolio. I have investments that have done well and some that have done crappy. I have investments where I own as little as 20 shares and some that I own 900 shares and it all takes time. It is also important to reinvest dividends. Over time this will payoff generously.

Here is the list of investments that I own only as a guidance. I cant recommend any nor can I say that if you buy them you are going to make money off of them. Its just there as an example of "ok" balanced/diversified portfolio. Some I have owned for only few months and some like ORCL I have owned for over 10 years

In my regular account
AGR.B Agere Systems, Inc.
AMAT Applied Materials, Inc.
AMGN Amgen, Inc.
AV Avaya Inc.
BAC Bank of America Corporation
BAX Baxter International Inc.
D DOMINION RESOURCES INC
DELL Dell Computer Corporation
DIS The Walt Disney Company
EMC EMC Corporation
EMR EMERSON ELECTRIC CO
GE General Electric Company
IBM International Business Machines Corp.
ITG Investment Technology Grp
JDSU JDS Uniphase Corporation
KRB MBNA Corporation
LU Lucent Technologies Inc.
MSFT Microsoft Corporation
ORCL Oracle Corporation
PCTEX **PUTNAM CALIFORNIA TAX EXEMPTINCOME FUND-CL
PFE Pfizer Inc.
SUNW Sun Microsystems, Inc.
WM Washington Mutual Inc.
WMT Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
SAN JOSE CALIF G/O SERIES 2005
Municipal Bond

In my IRA
AA ALCOA INC
ABT ABBOTT LABORATORIES
AMP AMERIPRISE FINL INC
AXP American Express Company
C Citigroup Inc.
CMCSA Comcast Corporation
DD E.I. DuPont de Nemours
DELL Dell Computer Corporation
DRE DUKE REALTY CORP
EMC EMC Corporation
G The Gillette Company
HD The Home Depot, Inc.
INTC Intel Corporation
MCDTA McDATA Corporation
NOK Nokia Corporation (ADR)
PG PROCTER & GAMBLE CO
PHSTX Putnam Health Sciences
PHIGX PUTNAM HIGH YIELD TRUST
PVOYX Putnam Voyager
SCH The Charles Schwab Corp.
T AT&T Corp.
XOM Exxon Mobil Corporation
PRUDENTIAL FINL INC Corporate Bond

Interesting that you have Oracle, Intel and Microsoft since their performance has been crappy at best in the past few years, ever since the tech boom bubble popped. Are you waiting for them to pick up pace? It's a good thing you don't have any GM shares. Now I am waiting for all the people who jumped on the Google bandwagon to witness another blowout there.

Also, Exxon is good since they just reported their highest 3rd quarter profits evar!

Edited by Anonymouse, 30 January 2006 - 07:40 PM.

[Anonymouse]

I have a feeling I know how this guy is getting rich and it has NOTHING to do with his investment strategies...

Never trust get rich quick schemes, is the advice I got from a senior economist at SmithBarney, and I suggest everyone take it.

[aSoldier]

It's not a get rich quick scheme. It works.

[vava]

I suppose I prefer to get rich slow except that recently it,s been too slow for my liking

[Anonymouse]

I suppose I prefer to get rich slow except that recently it,s been too slow for my liking

Well, I can understand that, and as humans we are impatient and we want things faster rather than waiting out the years. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty young and investing at this age, I have all the patience and in fact I've been crunching the numbers. With saving as well as investing I plan to to retire at 50.

[aSoldier]

I have some tips on how to buy a house with no-money down.

[vava]

...With saving as well as investing I plan to to retire at 50.

What'll ya do then?
Honestly, I don't think I'll ever retire - unless it's to sail a boat around the world or such. I can't imagine becoming "irrelevant" as many of our marginalised senior citizens quickly become... that's arguably a fate worse than death (depending on your idea of death, of course)...

But then, this is off-topic I,ll just end here.

[Azat]

Interesting that you have Oracle, Intel and Microsoft since their performance has been crappy at best in the past few years, ever since the tech boom bubble popped. Are you waiting for them to pick up pace? It's a good thing you don't have any GM shares. Now I am waiting for all the people who jumped on the Google bandwagon to witness another blowout there.

Also, Exxon is good since they just reported their highest 3rd quarter profits evar!

Well I have owned all those 3 stocks(Oracle, Intel and MSFT) for over 8-9 years each and am still up significantly on them but yes you have seen one of my biggest flaws. I know when to buy good stocks, but I am really bad when it comes to selling stocks. I never can sell them at the appropriate time.

BTW: I am in the same boat about retiering at 50. In fact earlied 45. I am not sure if I will reture at 45-50 because I will drive myself nuts if I do, but I want to have that option to myself when I get to that age.

Edited by Azat, 30 January 2006 - 11:50 PM.