Where to go for investment advice. No, seriously.

Loc R.

Note Investor · Pasadena, CA · Member since 2009 · 849 posts · 544 votes

15y

Commit to yourself and your daughter's future. There is plenty of information out there.

Make a pros & cons chart for every type of investment. Invest in what you understand and know. If you don't know or understand, teach yourself, and/or get someone (who has no financial interest) to mentor you.

Good luck.

3 Reply

Mitch Kronowit

SFR Investor · Orange County, CA · Member since 2009 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes

15y

I find the best people to get investment advice from are successful investors, not some tool in a cheap suit peddling commission-laden products for the benefit of his own wallet. See what the most successful people around you are doing and do the same.

I've lost most faith in the stock market, having concluded it's an "insider's" game won only by the large institutions with the right connections. So I sold off most of my individual stocks and kept a hand full of mutual funds, hopefully managed by a few of these "insiders".

Otherwise, I'm putting most of our money into real estate. First off, it's selling near it's market bottom, so the potential for price appreciation is huge. It's not as liquid, therefore not as volatile, as stocks and bonds, and I have much more control as to how the asset is used and maintained.

3 Reply

George P.

Real Estate Investor · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 268 votes

15y

Originally posted by Mark Claire Updegraff:

Take control! Roll over to self directed Ira & purchase cash flowing rental property. Do a google or BP search on self directed Ira or Solo 401k for more info.
Cheers, mark

You can't rollover 401k while still being employed. Only when leaving the company.
Solo 401k is not an option either since the TS is working for someone, not himself.

Cheers

Bryan Hancock

Investor · Round Rock, TX · Member since 2010 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes

15y

Find some local wealthy individuals and do what is necessary to forge a relationship with them to learn how they invest.

Steer WAY clear of the "advisers" peddling commission-laden products. The worst part of dealing with these people is that most of them think they know what they are doing because they have a few licenses. You may ask them why they are peddling other people's products if their investment prowess is so high.

"Wall Street is the only place that people ride to in a Rolls Royce to get advice from those who take the subway." ~Warren Buffett."

3 Reply

Mitch Kronowit

SFR Investor · Orange County, CA · Member since 2009 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes

15y

Originally posted by Bryan Hancock:

"Wall Street is the only place that people ride to in a Rolls Royce to get advice from those who take the subway." ~Warren Buffett."

Love it!

Bryan Hancock

Investor · Round Rock, TX · Member since 2010 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes

15y

Another thing I would add is that select private placements and inside deals are where a ton of money is made in this country. As your investing prowess grows you should look into these vehicles for growing your wealth.

Unfortunately our government "protects" people from investing in these deals and instead pushes everyone to the sanitized products that lower the big firm's cost of capital at the expense of helping Joe Six Pack accumulate wealth.

I could go on and on...but I don't want to bore you to death ;-)

OP

Member since 2008 · 26 posts · 0 votes

15y

I agree that the stock market is tilted toward the already affluent. I bought a speculation biotech penny stock a while back that had what I thought was a good product. What I didn't count on was the CEO milking investors and not caring about FDA approval. All the information I got from fellow investors was roughly equal, buy/sell depending on their positions. I had only invested a few K so the losses didn't break me, but it did make me very skeptical of what would have otherwise been seemed a good investment.

Within the framework of those investment vehicles mentioned, I have choices of funds. The Utah 529 has many options, most of which offer no sense of relevance more or less than any of the others listed. It's a bit of a crap shoot. I understand bonds become important as I become more risk averse,but for now, yea.

IF I had the where with all, I'd probably offer up the time to research value investing as it seemed to work well for Warren B. Without his level of critical analysis though, it might be just as risky for me as the penny stock incident.

Thanks BTW for all the input. I do realize this is a real estate forum, but where better to find smart people with money.

OP

Member since 2008 · 26 posts · 0 votes

15y

Then there was the Investors Magazine referral I bought into. I watched the stock a while and was confident that it had a pretty good baseline. A few days after I bought in, their credit rating went from AAA to AA and the stock took a big dive. Lol, ouch. I no longer aspire to be a speculator.

http://www.businessinsider.com/warren-buffetts-true-investment-strategy-2011-6

Mitch Kronowit

SFR Investor · Orange County, CA · Member since 2009 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes

15y

Originally posted by Jon C:

IF I had the where with all, I'd probably offer up the time to research value investing as it seemed to work well for Warren B.

Most of us cannot invest the way Warren Buffet does. He buys entire companies and takes control of the management.

http://www.epicinvestor.com/2009/12/why-does-warren-buffett-buy-entire.html

That's why I like real estate. Once I own the home, I control it, not the previous owner, not some board of directors, not any stockholders... just ME. Buying 1,000 shares of XYZ stock is like buying a single wall switch in somebody else's house. Big fat hairy deal.

Bill Vaughan

Real Estate Investor · mckinney, TX · Member since 2011 · 29 posts · 4 votes

15y

Personally I am a value investor. Following are some excellent books to consider

www.efficientfrontier.com blog that discusses investment performance over time, and various strategies.
www.tweedy.com Mutual fund company and private manager. On their site under research are alot of studies show value investing outperformance over time

www.gmo.com Manager that runs tens of billions. if you register you can read their commentary. their opinion(and alot of other investors) is that high quality stocks are the best buy right now(Microsoft, CocaCola, IBM, Exxon, Walmart) These stocks outperformed several years ago when lower quality stocks were decimated.

www.vanguard.com they have alot of free investment tools

Email me if you want more info or websites.

OP

Member since 2008 · 26 posts · 0 votes

15y

WB let the rating companies off the hook for their real estate security bundle ratings fiasco. He said the numbers were there for all to see and that anybody that was buying in should have known, regardless of what their rating was. (it was free speech after all)
I think his proximity to the whole process made him biased an unreliable on that topic. I have to wonder if he invested in the credit default swaps?

OP

Member since 2008 · 26 posts · 0 votes

15y

Thanks. I'll see if I can get the little woman to part with her kindle for a while:)
I'm not a big reader so this might take me a while. I'll hit you up after I've had some time to chew this.

Kevin Yeats

Lender · Fort Pierce, FL · Member since 2009 · 825 posts · 486 votes

15y

Jon

You already have some good advice here.

When meeting with any securities broker, a good question to ask the broker is "Why does that make sense for ME?" The only possible, legitimate answer is "diversification" which is sometimes overrated IF your real estate investments or business investments differ from your securities holdings.

Second, there are many fee-based or fee only financial planners who are selling the plans to guide you to your financial goals. Expect to pay a fee, expect to tell him/her everything and don't expect anything for free.

Third, if you don't feel comfortable trusting the person advising you, find someone else.

Finally, I will share these four steps to comprehensive wealth management. There are many "substeps" to each of these. If you (or anyone) wants more details, send an email to me.

A Comprehensive Wealth Management plan:
1) creates and grows wealth
2) protects and preserves wealth
3) plans for the efficient distribution of your wealth during your lifetime
4) plans for the efficient distribution of your wealth after your lifetime

These steps entail the use of insurance and legal and accounting professionals. These steps are difficult to accomplish all by yourself.

I also recommend reading "The Richest Man in Babylon"

Good Luck and be thankful that you are looking ahead.