Questions tagged [investing]

Investing is the process of buying assets such as securities, real estate and other items of value that will hopefully increase in value over time, providing a return in the form of income payments or capital gains.

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37 votes
10 answers
9k views

Should a high-school student invest their (relative meager) savings?

I am a high school student, I don't really have much money, between one and two grand in my savings account. However, I have friends who are investing in both penny stocks and stocks. I do not really ...
Pablo's user avatar
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37 votes
1 answer
9k views

"Marked down as someone wanting to sell shares." What does that mean?

A few years ago I and a few friends created a company based on the web. During the raising funds period, we got a plan for $500,000 for 20% and we got investors. The last news about investors that I ...
Uncoke's user avatar
  • 489
36 votes
8 answers
9k views

We're in an asset bubble currently, what can I do about it?

My opinion is that we are in an asset bubble: house and property prices are sky-rocketing, interest rates are low, and inflation rates are high. I'm aware of the futility of trying to time the top of ...
Anonymous's user avatar
  • 479
35 votes
15 answers
18k views

Why can't you just have someone invest for you and split the profits (and losses) with him?

There is a large sector of professionals providing the basic service of "take your money and invest it for you". However, it appears that none of these people want to share the profit nor the risk, ...
Superbest's user avatar
  • 2,678
35 votes
12 answers
17k views

"Don't invest now because the market is high"

I have heard many people in my life say things like The market is low so it's a good time to invest or The market is high so don't invest It makes me wonder if mean-reversion is actually a ...
Oliver Angelil's user avatar
35 votes
8 answers
12k views

High income, sudden windfall

I currently earn quite a good salary (around $250,000 Australian dollars per year). Due to a recent investment coming good I am expecting to be receiving a windfall of around $1.2 million Australian ...
Throwaway's user avatar
  • 401
35 votes
8 answers
5k views

What's the catch in investing in real estate for rent?

I can see a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom $100k property on Zillow (est. mortgage $375/mo) next to a university so rent prospects are good. Rent estimate by Zillow, confirmed roughly by Craigslist: $972/mo. ...
chx's user avatar
  • 656
35 votes
4 answers
5k views

Should I invest when in debt?

I have just consolidated my debt and am thinking where I want to be in the future. My payment plan is to be debt-free in three years. It is not an extremely aggressive plan; I still want to have a ...
TheRealTy's user avatar
  • 585
35 votes
2 answers
3k 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 ...
JohnFx's user avatar
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34 votes
12 answers
9k views

Excess income after fully funding all retirement accounts. Now what?

Long-time lurker, first time asker... I have a positive problem. We are a family of four with two small kids with one working parent (me). We have very little debt: our only debt is our mortgage, ...
Randall's user avatar
  • 443
34 votes
3 answers
8k views

Can I profit from anticipating a drop in value?

Suppose there is an investment, such as a stock, which I currently own no units of. I predict this investment will soon drop in value. I have no reason to predict that the investment will bounce back ...
Mar's user avatar
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34 votes
3 answers
5k views

What is it called when you sell and reinvest to pay lower taxes?

Every year or so, I sell my investments and then immediately buy them again. I do this because I'm in a low enough tax bracket that I don't have to pay capital gains on my long term investments, so I'...
BlackThorn's user avatar
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34 votes
5 answers
3k views

Why not just invest in the market?

I've seen it said a number of places that investors can never beat the market. Why use investors, then? Why not just put your money in a market index fund?
yters's user avatar
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33 votes
5 answers
9k views

Why is half of your IRA Required Minimum Distribution forfeited if you do not make minumum withdrawals by 70.5 years of age?

I do not understand this rule: "IRA confiscates half of your account if you do not make your withdrawals by 70.5 years of age". Why? What does it mean to make withdrawals? Just to request your money ...
YohanRoth's user avatar
  • 693
33 votes
5 answers
6k views

ESPP--any reason not to go all in?

I'm just finishing up paying off my student loans (woohoo!) and am starting to look at places I can put my money to make it work for me. I've read Kobliner's Get a Financial Life and am interested in ...
scohe001's user avatar
  • 448
33 votes
4 answers
9k views

22-year-old inherited 30k from 529 payout - what is the best way to invest?

I recently received the payout of my college 529, about 30k amount. It's been in a mutual fund with a private investor for about six months. It's the same investor my parents use. I recently got my ...
lll's user avatar
  • 447
33 votes
6 answers
5k 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 ...
duffbeer703's user avatar
  • 30.3k
32 votes
6 answers
13k views

Is it legal to mortgage a property twice or more?

I was talking to one loan agent lately about getting an investment loan, she was trying to convince me to mortgage my house but my house has been mortgaged already. She was saying "let us not worry ...
Yu Zhang's user avatar
  • 573
31 votes
12 answers
11k views

Investor Paradox. How can you calculate how much is a company worth when buying part of it changes the total value?

I have a (probably very simple) question to which I haven't been able to wrap my head around. Say I have a company, and I am told that it is worth 1 USD (100% of the company). My friend, who has 1 USD,...
Daniel Duque's user avatar
31 votes
9 answers
5k views

Why are cryptocurrencies not considered proper investments?

I plan to invest a portion of my savings in cryptocurrencies that I understand on a technical level (e.g. Bitcoin and Ethereum). However, otherwise prudent financial advice articles on the internet ...
user102086's user avatar
  • 1,232
31 votes
6 answers
6k views

Why cannot LLCs be used to negate increased risks when doing leveraged investments?

Let's say that I am confident that some investment will grow by 15% per year, and that I have 10K to invest, and I'd like to use leverage to invest 100K. What stops me from creating an LLC with 10K ...
Zubo's user avatar
  • 487
31 votes
8 answers
12k views

Why would anyone ever invest in a cash-only etf?

I understand the benefits (and risks) of ETFs, and I also understand the benefits of a term deposit in a bank. I have seen that there are ETFs that essentially keep the investment in cash, that is, ...
Juan Antonio Gomez Moriano's user avatar
31 votes
6 answers
4k views

Is there a threshold (in effort, or capital) beyond which it makes sense to be an active investor?

According to Benjamin Graham's The Intelligent Investor one could define an aggressive investor in accordance with the following line (not a verbatim extract from the book): The difference between a ...
embedded_dev's user avatar
  • 1,171
31 votes
4 answers
9k views

What are the benefits and disadvantages of investing $60-70K in the following methods?

I have $60-70K that I'm planning on investing in stocks/ETFs/funds. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of investing this amount of money with a human financial advisor vs an automated "...
Ren's user avatar
  • 261
31 votes
3 answers
76k 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 ...
Jeffrey's user avatar
  • 1,636
31 votes
2 answers
4k 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 debt(...
user1255049's user avatar
31 votes
7 answers
3k 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 ...
James's user avatar
  • 2,034
31 votes
2 answers
19k views

Is my stock gone forever from a reverse split / bought by another company?

I'm a complete novice in regards to investing and had purchased some shares of OXIS from TD Ameritrade back in March of 2015 (NASDAQ). The company (OXIS International) became very devalued and did a "...
Joe's user avatar
  • 413
30 votes
4 answers
6k views

How does high frequency trading work if money isn't available for 2-3 days after selling?

Do companies that perform high frequency trades just have large enough money pool, or do they get money back quickly somehow?
Inachus's user avatar
  • 261
30 votes
6 answers
5k views

Is a Roth IRA good for a high schooler?

I am a high-school Senior who will not earn enough income working this summer to have to pay income taxes. I have a full ride to college, so I was thinking of using my earnings/savings for retirement. ...
maxbear123's user avatar
30 votes
3 answers
1k views

What are "preferred" stocks? How are they different from normal (common) stocks?

What are "preferred" stocks? How are they different from normal (common) stocks that you can buy on a stock exchange?
gyurisc's user avatar
  • 2,438
28 votes
7 answers
8k views

I have savings and excess income. Is it time for me to find a financial advisor?

My current status looks like this: I am a single professional engineer in bay area in my thirties. I invest on our company stock every month, as ESPP, and after that I have ~4.5k net income every ...
xis's user avatar
  • 401
28 votes
5 answers
7k views

How much money do I need to retire?

Assume that I need $15,000 (USD) per year to cover all my costs including health insurance. How much money do I need to retire? The naive approach would be something like this: An ETF gives, on ...
simplemind's user avatar
28 votes
4 answers
4k views

How do I invest and buy/sell stocks? What does "use a broker" mean?

This is an embarrassingly basic question. I'm a college student and know very, very little about the world of investing and purchasing stocks. I realize that some Googling could find me the answer ...
Casey Patton's user avatar
27 votes
7 answers
8k views

What does "building wealth" mean as an investing term?

As far as I know, and from a general perspective, "building wealth" seems identical to the term "making money." I am confused because investing generally isn't about making money in the same sense as ...
Young Investor's user avatar
27 votes
6 answers
9k views

What does "not touching the principal" actually mean?

When talking about "trust fund children" or large savings it's common to hear the phrase "not touching the principal", which means that only the "earnings" from the money ...
ConcernedCitizen's user avatar
27 votes
13 answers
18k views

Best way to invest $300,000 inheritance for a couple intending to retire in 10 years

My wife and I are getting older and have a target to retire in 10 years. We just inherited $300,000 from a family inheritance (from liquidated property). So this money will come shortly and I'd like ...
CoolDocMan's user avatar
27 votes
2 answers
13k views

Why did I lose 2 cents more than the difference in the stock prices on my Robinhood trade?

I don't understand how stocks work but I'm hoping someone can explain it to me given my short example here. So on Monday, I purchased 2 stocks priced at $2.50 each, using an app on iOS called ...
hack3rfx's user avatar
  • 405
27 votes
7 answers
4k views

Why is the dominant investing advice for individuals to use mutual funds, exchanged traded funds (ETFs), etc

The dominant advice on this site (including that which I give to novices) regarding investing is to only invest in fund vehicles (mutual funds, ETFs, etc), rather than in individual stocks. Why is ...
warren's user avatar
  • 3,229
27 votes
10 answers
36k views

Is the stock market a zero-sum game?

In the stock market, over both the short and long-term, does someone necessary need to lose in order for someone else to make a profit? If not, then more fundamentally does something — in the most ...
TheEnvironmentalist's user avatar
27 votes
5 answers
3k 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 ...
sharptooth's user avatar
  • 2,889
27 votes
6 answers
4k views

Why would I buy a Bond at a Negative Interest rate?

I read that France is selling bonds at Negative Interest Rates, and more recently Germany Started in 2016. I understand why this is beneficial for France, but why in the world would I pay money to ...
C. Ross's user avatar
  • 7,856
26 votes
8 answers
6k views

Fee-only financial advice vs. asset management (which includes advice)?

My wife and I are looking for a financial advisor. I am 52 and she is 48. We have a million plus in assets, with most of that in 401k... about 500,000 in a brokerage account. We have found a ...
moscafj's user avatar
  • 957
26 votes
8 answers
8k views

Is there any point in adding more than 6 months' runway in savings instead of investing everything after that?

I have saved enough to be able to survive for 6 months. I don't have any debt. So far, I've been investing a small part of my income in a diversified portfolio and have seen ~11% returns, which I'm ...
ignoring_gravity's user avatar
26 votes
4 answers
7k views

What is the difference between these two S&P 500 ETF?

I wanted to invest in the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF which has the ISIN code US9229083632 However I just discovered it is not available in my country. As an alternative I am considering investing in ...
Octoplus's user avatar
  • 719
26 votes
10 answers
10k views

Why do investors pay trillions for minority stakes in companies, when their only potential payback is modest uncertain dividends? [duplicate]

I'm struggling to understand the core reason to invest in stocks as a minority shareholder. Majority shareholding makes more sense as you effectively control the company, so you can pay yourself ...
Jin Long's user avatar
  • 464
26 votes
1 answer
8k views

If Bernie Madoff had invested in Berkshire Hathaway, would the ponzi actually have succeeded? [closed]

Bernie Madoff operated the largest known Ponzi scam in history, defrauding people of an estimated $20B for almost 3 decades. From Wikipedia: Rather than offer high returns to all comers, Madoff ...
Atte Juvonen's user avatar
26 votes
9 answers
6k views

What does one typically use as a money reservoir for stocks, when they are "on sale"?

I've read about people who claim to have made a lot of money investing in stocks (or funds) after a crash. They say the stocks were "on sale". But I wonder, where did they get the money to buy these ...
Ken - Enough about Monica's user avatar
26 votes
5 answers
2k 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 next....
radix07's user avatar
  • 912
26 votes
3 answers
15k views

Frequency of investments to maximise returns (and minimise fees)

If I have a certain amount of money to invest regularly, how do I calculate the amount to let accumulate in my bank before I make that investment, assuming there is a fee associated with each ...
codebeard's user avatar
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