Investing megathread extravaganza

[DaFace]

A place to talk about investing stuff.

[Hog's Gone Fishin]

Originally Posted by ndws

I'm looking to start dabbling with penny stocks to get my feet wet. I figure in the first couple of years while I learn, its the equivalent of going to the casino. Most likely I'll come out with empty pockets, but its fun...and in this case, hopefully a learning experience. And if a penny hits along the way, bonus.

Great approach. That's the way I've gone about it. I've lost thousands.

[Buck]

I only bought 7 shares of KTOS. I can't really afford much more right now.

But I will read the thread and see what I can do.

[ndws]

Originally Posted by DaFace

I think that's the way to look at it. If you want to mess with individual stocks because it's fun and/or interesting, go for it. Just know that it's a game and that if you are purely looking to maximize your returns, you're almost certainly better off going the boring route.

Yep, I'm on the boring bandwagon already. I just looked at the math on my last pay stub, and between my retirement (pension), 401k, and personal Roth (with company matching totaled in) i'm putting right at 28% of my income into retirement. So unless there is a massive market correction in the handful of years before I retire (I'm 39 now, and my rule 85 doesn't go into effect until I'm 57 at the earliest, I should be ok without needing to rely on any day trading/penny stock nonsense I may try to do on my own.

[ndws]

Originally Posted by Hog Farmer

I've lost thousands.

That was my experience with season tickets lol

I would rather put that money into something potentially meaningful now that I'm out of them.

[kepp]

Originally Posted by ndws

I'm looking to start dabbling with penny stocks to get my feet wet. I figure in the first couple of years while I learn, its the equivalent of going to the casino. Most likely I'll come out with empty pockets, but its fun...and in this case, hopefully a learning experience. And if a penny hits along the way, bonus.

That's what I'm doing. I started with $100 a few months ago and now have....uh, $27

But it isn't money I'm worried about...just learning.

[kepp]

Originally Posted by ndws

Yep, I'm on the boring bandwagon already. I just looked at the math on my last pay stub, and between my retirement (pension), 401k, and personal Roth (with company matching totaled in) i'm putting right at 28% of my income into retirement. So unless there is a massive market correction in the handful of years before I retire (I'm 39 now, and my rule 85 doesn't go into effect until I'm 57 at the earliest, I should be ok without needing to rely on any day trading/penny stock nonsense I may try to do on my own.

My wife and I are on track to pay off our 30 year mortgage about 19 years early, hopefully right in time to retire at 55...fingers crossed.

[Discuss Thrower]

Penny stocks are an awful idea.

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by kepp

My wife and I are on track to pay off our 30 year mortgage about 19 years early, hopefully right in time to retire at 55...fingers crossed.

Depending on your rate, you may not have the right goal in mind. But hey, if it gives you peace of mind or you vastly prefer it to anything else, I definitely understand.

[kepp]

Originally Posted by Amnorix

Depending on your rate, you may not have the right goal in mind. But hey, if it gives you peace of mind or you vastly prefer it to anything else, I definitely understand.

Not sure I understand.

[Demonpenz]

i will be back later to show what i bought in vanguard should I move that to another etf.

[Demonpenz]

Originally Posted by kepp

Not sure I understand.

it feels great to have it paid off but you could invest money monthly to have a better overall profit. Like I have 0 interest in my car. Would love to pay it off but using my money now to pay off the car instead of using money to make money isn't a good play.

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by kepp

Not sure I understand.

If your interest rate on your mortgage is particularly good (say, less than 5%, and especially if you're below 4%), you could likely come out more positive by just paying the minimums on your mortgage and investing the money elsewhere. This is particularly true since mortgage interest is deductible, so your effective interest rate is probably even a little lower.

So as an example, if you've got a 4.0% APR on your mortgage, your effective interest rate is probably closer to 3.0% (assuming you're in the 25% tax bracket). Compare that with the rule-of-thumb rate of 7% that you could get in a typical set of investments, and you're actually leaving money on the table by paying off your mortgage early.

That said, there are benefits to knocking out a payment to give you more flexibility too. All personal finance is a bunch of rules that just depend on your situation and priorities.

[Unsmooth-Moment]

I have been using the betterment app on my android and I put about $125 a week into it. I'm happy with how it has been doing. I'm basically using that instead of a savings account at my bank.

[ndws]

Originally Posted by kepp

That's what I'm doing. I started with $100 a few months ago and now have....uh, $27

But it isn't money I'm worried about...just learning.

Yeah, I'm only looking at maybe doing 100 or 200 just to get a feel for it. Heck a coworker of my wife's paid off her house doing this. Not that I even expect to break even dabbling around with it, but its fun to daydream about the success stories.

[lewdog]

Originally Posted by DaFace

If your interest rate on your mortgage is particularly good (say, less than 5%, and especially if you're below 4%), you could likely come out more positive by just paying the minimums on your mortgage and investing the money elsewhere. This is particularly true since mortgage interest is deductible, so your effective interest rate is probably even a little lower.

So as an example, if you've got a 4.0% APR on your mortgage, your effective interest rate is probably closer to 3.2% (assuming you're in the 25% tax bracket). Compare that with the rule-of-thumb rate of 7% that you could get in a typical set of investments, and you're actually leaving money on the table by paying off your mortgage early.

That said, there are benefits to knocking out a payment to give you more flexibility too. All personal finance is a bunch of rules that just depend on your situation and priorities.

Agreed and I'll add too it. They say in order to make more in investment returns compared to saving on mortgage interest payments, your stocks need to generally average 2-3% more growth than your mortgage interest rate.

We refinanced last year into a 3.6% rate. I need to roughly have my investments gain 6% to come out ahead for putting more money towards investing, rather than paying off the mortgage early. So far, we are definitely coming about ahead by paying the minimum mortgage payment and dumping extra cash into investments.