Don't bother with schemes and "tax advantaged" pitches... just save up excess cash and invest it properly and forget all the other stuff.

Anything that involves life insurance is a joke... just do it the right way and you'll be farther ahead.

Since I don't invest in Mutual Funds or have a 401K or IRA --- I wasn't aware that there were rules changes about FINALLY showing the actual costs for participants to be in these plans!


http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_new...ticipants?lite

Good to know.

I only have 10% of my assets in a 401K, so it will be nice to know the mumbo jumbo fees..

90% of my assets (investable), are in Schwab.

I get several "on line" investing letters -- I glance at them and try to find any nugget of info that may be something of interest. This morning one was touting British Petroleum (BP) and their 5% dividend.

After a quick read - I went to Schwab to research this name.

Remember this is the very company that recently had the big Gulf spill -- so has some HUGE potential liabilities etc.... BUT sometimes you can catch a beaten up stock like this and make some money when it rebounds.... so the name was at least worth a quick look.

BUT -- Here is why I'm posting.... true the dividend is 5% - true it's been beaten down.... BUT MY FRIENDS -- DO NOT FORGET TO CHECK THAT TOTAL RETURN and this thing is a GIANT PIG..... It has a NEGATIVE T/R for one year - 3 year and 5 year!!! It's 5 year T/R is MINUS 29%

So this is just a reminder -- before you buy - DO THE WORK! And don't forget that what gets you way ahead of the game is a stock that pays you a dividend AND has growth too! If they don't -- move on.....

When BP dropped like a rock after the spill, I looked at it but passed on it.. From the outside , it looked like something that would rise back up. But like you said, once you peeled back the layers, it was not worth it.. :cheers:

awww c'mon guys. youre hurting my feelings now:mad:

(I work for bp up here in washington!)

They never spilled any oil -- not their fault -- and they never inhaled....


HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

yeah, it was all Halliburton's fault. Oh wait.......:rofl: :D

I imagine BP will eventually rebound but it may be a number of years and they may have to go through some major changes first. I'm not willing to wait or gamble so no BP for me.

Between Kevin Costner lending his knowledge and attempting to plug the hole with multiple "junk shots" I don't what we could have done differently:rolleyes:

Honestly though my take on bp, and i must admit im a little biased, is that the only major unknown remaining with the gulf spill is what the EPA is going to fine for the spill. Since the government basically gives the EPA whatever they want whenever they want and never seems to question them, they can either fine bp to the point where it makes it a very hard and long road to recovery...or they can impose a reasonable fine based off what bp has already payed out to help fix the situation. I strongly feel that if the latter is done, then investors may have more confidence in the company and the stock price will rise. But, im not expert and my guess is as good as anybodys, its just my take!

Aman....

A lot went on behind the scenes and the blame game is hard to figure out..

You are still our Lat-G brother, no matter where you work.. :cheers:

Was it BP. Halliburton, or someone else at fault ? For me, it is impossible to say, so I will not throw stones at anyone...:thumbsup: