Investing is growing money over a longer time frame. When appropriate a specific tag like stocks, mutual funds etc should additionally be used.
80
votes
11answers
10k views
Best way to start investing, for a young person just starting their career?
I am young, just started my career, and looking to begin investing so I can make my money work for me. I'm still living like I did in college (occasional purchase on myself, but most of it goes into ...
16
votes
3answers
9k views
Can someone explain a stock's “bid” vs. “ask” price relative to “current” price?
In my online brokerage account, I want to buy a particular stock and I see :
Bid: 13.20 x200 Ask: 13.27 x1,000
the current stock price is :
13.22
Can someone explain what the bid and ask ...
22
votes
3answers
690 views
Recent graduate with new job: Choose Roth 401(k), or traditional 401(k)?
I just graduated, and I'm starting a new job soon. My employer has pretty good policy for matching 401(k) contributions, so I want to invest as much as possible, especially during this first year.
My ...
14
votes
6answers
844 views
16
votes
5answers
1k views
Strategies for putting away money for a child's future (college, etc.)?
So my wife and I will be having our first child at the end of the year, and I'm trying to devise a strategy for things like putting money away for the little person now, while I have the time and ...
41
votes
9answers
4k views
Why does gold have value?
I'm curious about why is there so much financial interest and news coverage about gold.
It's hard to do things like buy food or pay the rent with gold, but I can do this with cash. Gold doesn't yield ...
11
votes
6answers
363 views
Does dollar cost averaging really work?
Does dollar cost averaging really work? If I have money available now, why shouldn't I invest it all at once? If the market's going up, wouldn't that be better?
41
votes
11answers
4k views
Why would a company care about the price of its own shares in the stock market?
After a company has issues shares, why should it care if the value of the shares go up and down?
Since the shares are now being traded among the public, if the value goes up or down, that is strictly ...
12
votes
5answers
769 views
How to evaluate stocks? e.g. Whether some stock is cheap or expensive?
What kind of information do you obtain before buying (or selling) a stock? I know the PE ratio is very important, but not the only thing. Are there any rules of thumb to determine whether some stock ...
19
votes
7answers
454 views
Shares; are they really only for the rich/investors?
I've always been under the impression, that if you want to be a player in the "shares game" you either have to be an full time investor, or someone who has a lot of money to play with.
Is this true? ...
20
votes
3answers
7k views
Is the “Bank on Yourself” a legitimate investment strategy, or a scam?
There seem to be a lot of advertisements by "Bank on Yourself", promising to show how you can invest in a certain type of life insurance policy. Is this really a legitimate investment strategy, or ...
8
votes
4answers
247 views
What is the best way to invest in gold as a hedge against inflation without having to hold physical gold?
What is the best way to invest in gold as a hedge against inflation without having to hold physical gold? Is it possible for a regular person to just purchase shares in GLD?
4
votes
2answers
327 views
Legal documents required for managing an investment portfolio among friends?
I am considering setting up a personal kind of hedge fund / stock portfolio among friends.
I am trying to figure out what kind of a legal agreement I should have them sign for investing with me to ...
3
votes
1answer
231 views
Are Investment Research websites worth their premiums?
There are websites that claim to own formulas that outperform the market. Examples of these websites are - Zacks Investment Research or Investors Business Daily. Each keep a list of equities that they ...
17
votes
3answers
1k views
What to do with sudden wealth?
I am about to receive a considerable(for me, anyway) amount of money- about $100k- and really have no idea what to do with it to make it grow even larger.
Of course I want to pay off credit card ...
31
votes
7answers
3k views
Why does a company pay dividends at all?
If a company can lower the dividends and even stop paying them at all during hard times, why would they re-install them at all?
If I understand correctly a company pays dividends so that investors ...
13
votes
2answers
990 views
How would bonds fare if interest rates rose?
The first thing I learned about bonds is that when interest rates rise, the price of existing bonds tends to fall. Unfortunately, I didn't learn much else about bonds. So I have a couple questions ...
6
votes
4answers
329 views
When is a good time to invest in gold? In what situations is the price of gold likely to drop?
When is a good time to invest in gold?
What are situations likely to trigger a drop in gold prices?
What are alternatives to gold?
12
votes
5answers
785 views
Why should I invest my money in a life insurance policy?
As i am 24 now i get lot of calls from lot of insurance companies asking to take up an insurance policy.... So i decided to get answers for some of my questions in basicallymoney...
Why should i ...
14
votes
3answers
255 views
Are peer-to-peer loans viable options for savings/investing?
Now that peer-to-peer sites like Lending Club and Prosper have matured are they viable options to add to my savings/investment portfolio or should I only use them with extra cash?
11
votes
8answers
1k views
At what interest rate should debt be used as a tool?
I know people love to preach the merits of being 100% debt-free, but when used intelligently, debt can be a powerful tool. All else equal, if I have debt at an interest rate of say 1% and have an ...
9
votes
2answers
204 views
Investing in a leveraged index ETF for retirement. Risky?
I'm 23, and in addition to my 401k at work, I have a few thousand saved in an IRA. Right now I have it sitting in Treasurys earning around 3%.
Over the past 50 years the S&P has averaged around ...
8
votes
5answers
1k views
Buying gold / silver as a hedge against hyperinflation
I'm becoming more interested in buying gold / silver coins as a hedge against inflation and especially hyperinflation. I know very little about this, and there are thousands of sites on the internet ...
7
votes
2answers
547 views
How can I purchase Skype stock during the IPO?
Skype will be going IPO soon. How can I purchase their IPO stock?
8
votes
7answers
1k views
A University student wondering if investing in stocks is a good idea?
I'm a University student (with a University student budget) and I was wondering if it is worth my trouble and my money to invest in the stock system? I don't know much about it, but it seems like a ...
6
votes
3answers
327 views
How does the yield on my investments stack up against other investors?
I started investing a couple years ago when I started working full time. My investments are doing well. I would ideally like to know how well. Of course, I can go see what my performance was in terms ...
13
votes
1answer
154 views
Is there a benefit to creating a donor advised fund to make charitable donations instead of simply donating to organizations each month?
I'm looking to set up recurring charitable donations to various groups, and I'm considering using a donor-advised fund through Fidelity or Vanguard. General question: Is there a benefit to placing ...
4
votes
2answers
383 views
Pros & cons of buying gold directly vs. investing in a gold ETF like GLD, IAU, SGOL?
Google search brings up some articles on this topic, but they can be biased, so:
What are the advantages and disadvantages of buying physical gold vs. investing in a gold ETF like GLD, IAU, or SGOL? ...
3
votes
1answer
179 views
“Cap gains exposure” of an ETF — what does it mean?
Morningstar provides an ETF data point called potential cap gains exposure. For example, here is Vanguard's Europe ETF (VGK):
This value is negative 78% for VGK. I understand that this is a good ...
3
votes
2answers
152 views
How to analyze risk of a bond?
If given the screen below as an example, how would you analyze the risk of a bond? I am not sure what to look for to know if this is a good investment.
What risk factors should be considered when ...
15
votes
5answers
601 views
Where should my money go next: savings, investments, retirement, or my mortgage?
I am a little unsure where to put my money at this point in my life. I have followed all the basic advice on what to do with your money and now I am at a point where I just don't know what to do ...
13
votes
7answers
1k views
Is it wise to invest money in the stock market?
My uncle wants me to invest money in buying shares. I would like to ask these questions to my fellow users:
Is it wise to invest money in the stock market?
Is there any age limit to start into stock ...
13
votes
1answer
314 views
What are the important differences between mutual funds and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)?
I've been considering, but haven't committed myself yet to investing in Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), but have to admit that I don't yet fully understand the use-case for them.
What factors are ...
10
votes
9answers
504 views
Why is a house “not an investment”?
I have heard a few people say that "a house is not an investment" as an argument to stay in an apartment. (To me, this seems like a stupid reason, but that is not my question.)
Of course, this is ...
9
votes
4answers
3k views
When is Cash Value Life Insurance a good or bad idea?
What makes CVLI either good or bad? If you get it while young (~23 years old) and have a respectable starting salary then what are some benefits or detriments to having it?
The specific policy I'm ...
8
votes
3answers
475 views
What low-fee & liquid exchange-traded index funds / ETFs should I consider holding in a retirement portfolio?
I'm still (one year later) going through an exercise to restructure my retirement portfolio.
To date, I've been using a mix of exchange-traded index funds. Some trade on the TSX, and others trade in ...
13
votes
5answers
535 views
How can life insurance possibly work as investment?
Every here and there I hear about the following investment option: There's an insurance company that is willing to take my money and hold it for some very long time (like 5 years or more) and then ...
10
votes
4answers
2k views
What should I look at before investing in a start-up?
A friend from college (and middle school and elementary school, for that matter) has talked to me a little about his company, a start-up working on technology tangentially related to Internet ...
6
votes
1answer
171 views
How does compounding of annual interest work?
I have tried reading up on it, but I just find it confusing.
Apparently, if you started investing $150/month at a 15% annual return and kept reinvesting the profits, here is what you would have ...
6
votes
1answer
307 views
Why should I avoid mutual funds as an investment?
I've heard in passing when discussing investments, "oh, you're crazy to invest in mutual funds". I didn't want to seem like I didn't understand at the time. What are the downsides of investing in ...
6
votes
4answers
223 views
How do I screen for stocks that are near to their 52 weeks low
I would like to know how to do filtering with online screening tools for stocks that are around their 52 weeks low in price
2
votes
5answers
561 views
What's the most conservative split of financial assets for my portfolio in today's market?
Mid 30's, looking for what split I should have between Australian shares, International shares, property, cash, interest, bonds, options, etc. or maybe none of the above. What is considered to be a ...
11
votes
7answers
2k views
Saving $1,000+ per month…what should I do with it?
I am able to save $1,100 a month, after all expenses and after paying the minimums ($225 a month on my 2.24% and 3.25% student loans). I want to make smart decisions with my money, but am not sure ...
10
votes
1answer
476 views
What does Chapter 11 Bankruptcy mean to an investor holding shares of a Chapter 11 Company?
If I currently have shares in a company that has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection what impact does this have on me? Does this mean the shares stop trading? If the company successfully ...
9
votes
2answers
2k views
What is a stock warrant? How do warrants work?
What is a stock warrant? How do warrants work? I've been told they are similar to options; how? Then why not just call them options - what makes them different?
7
votes
6answers
464 views
Is my company 401k okay or should I be using an IRA?
My company does not have a matching 401k. Instead it is a profit sharing 401k. How should I approach this? Should I consider investing primarily in an IRA instead? How much should I be ...
7
votes
7answers
532 views
In this day and age, Is Bogleheadism (index fund investing) dead?
I've always been a believer in index funds, and lately have been reading books such as The Coffee House Investor and The Lazy Person's Guide to Investing. It all makes sense to me except that the ...
6
votes
2answers
199 views
What are some well known or well regarded arguments against investing?
I'm looking to research the arguments against investing, or at least arguments that present a rather different view of investing than is the conventional wisdom. By "investing", I mean putting money ...
12
votes
4answers
218 views
For an investor, what's the appropriate response to the U.S. Debt downgrade?
So the S&P has downgraded United States debt from it's AAA status. There have been other threads discussing why/when a downgrade will happen, as well as possibility of default. Instead, I want to ...
11
votes
10answers
512 views
Can paying down a mortgage be considered an “investment”?
I've read a few articles online about investments, and other articles about paying down home mortgages. One thing that I've noticed is that people who advocate paying down mortgages seem to emphasize ...
