Well I will throw in my two cents again.

I am hooked on that show, "American Greed", where people get scammed out of their money. It just amazes me what people will do with their life savings...Sad.

One thing I would say is to get a subscription to Kiplinger's Magazine just as some more reading material. Also maybe Smart Money, or Money magazine.
It couldn't hurt to get more info on investing, How much you need for retirement, Long term care , ect...

Also IF you need help....And I say IF, you would be looking for a FIDUCIARY, who would only be a FEE-ONLY Planner..Someone in the NAPFA or Garrett Organization.

You never write the checks to them, you ALWAYS have a Custodian like Schwab or Fidelity, ect...

A Fiduciary has the obligation to have YOUR best interests at Heart, and they do not sell you products on Commission..They are not Brokers.

I know most of you do your own Investing, but for those who may need help, try the magazines first, and then try a FEE ONLY FIDUCIARY..

Just a thought for the day...:cheers:

Good info mike!!


Look up - Wesley C Rhodes if you want to read about what happens when you give the money to the "broker" without using a real brokerage! He might be in prison but my friends lost ALL their money!

Oh man, that really sucks... How people could sign over their money I will never understand..

I watched American Greed last night and this guy had hedge funds putting in 100 million into the scheme... It broke the ponzi scheme's back trying to pay 20% payments on 100 Million.

The moral is, IF you need help, you must do your research, and you ALWAYS have a custodian(Schwab,Fidelity,ect..), who hold the money in YOUR name..

Never sign your money over to someone because they will spend it..

A Fiduciary is the way to go...

I have family that use Chase....WTF.....1.4% fees plus all the other fees, and ALL the Investments are Chase...Chase stocks, Chase Bonds,ect...
I try to tell them, but I have finally given up...At least they won't lose it all, but they are getting screwed..

Part of Investing is studying, and IF you need help, no sweat, just get the right help. Some people without help will read all these pages and they still won't do much because they are not sure.. You must get skin in the game or Inflation will eat your savings.

But always have the money set up in a TRUST in You and your Wife's name.. One , it is your money, and two, the Trust saves your Heir's when you die...

If you're wondering what happened at Philip Morse (PM) today -- it rose 4% -- this is what happens when companies decide to increase their DIVIDEND BY 10% !! How many of you got a 10% raise this year??





The Board of Directors of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE Euronext Paris: PM) today increased the company's regular quarterly dividend by 10.4%, to an annualized rate of $3.40 per share.

The new quarterly dividend of $0.85 per share, up from $0.77 per share, is payable on October 11, 2012, to stockholders of record as of September 27, 2012. The ex-dividend date is September 25, 2012.

Nice!

Looks like we might be in for a couple of months of the "death of a 1000 cuts" period.... where there is no "catalyst" for stocks to move UP.... People on the sidelines waiting for the election to firm up etc.


NOW is the period when I don't care what you argue about --- which stock -- blah blah blah --- but DIVIDENDS WIN! There's no growth in capital... but your capital grows because you're getting paid to hold! Here's 2 weeks of my Schwab account dividends received just this month only! I just finished a 4,000 mile road trip... and this pays for my gas. :rofl:


09/17/2012
as of
09/15/2012 ED CONSOLIDATED EDISON INC
type: QUALIFIED DIV
$3,630.00
09/12/2012 JNK SPDR BARCLAYS CAPITAL HIGH YIELD BOND ETF
type: ORD DIV - CASH
$6,682.32
09/10/2012 HYG ISHARES TRUST IBOXX $ HIGH YIELD CORP
type: ORD DIV - CASH
$5,845.32
09/10/2012 PFF ISHARES S&P U S PFD FUNDS&P U S PFD STK INDEX FD
type: ORD DIV - CASH
$2,516.50

Pays for fuel for a few years, DB!

Hey now!


The month isn't even over yet!! I should get at least a couple more!


:rofl:

So it's been 10 months since this thread was started.... and where are we now?

We've talked about all kinds of stocks.... even though this is NOT a stock picking thread... but let's just see where some of the names tossed about here are.

Kinder Morgan Partners (KMP) UP 4.42%

Enbridge Energy Partners (EEP) DOWN 5.86%

Philip Morse (PM) UP 21.3%

Altria (MO) UP 14.9%

Chevron (CVX) UP 12.96%

Annaly Capital Management (NLY) UP 5.73%

AT & T (T) UP 29.7%

Verizon (VZ) UP 17.28%

Home Depot (HD) UP 48.7%

Lowes (LOW) UP 20.21%

McDonalds (MCD) DOWN 5.31%

Con Edison (ED) UP .56%

High Yield (HYG) UP 8%

Junk Bonds (JNK) UP 7.54%

Gold (GLD) UP 8.10%


THIS IS STOCK PRICE ONLY -- NOT TOTAL RETURN -- TOTAL RETURN WOULD BE HIGHER.

Total S&P 500 UP 9.19%


So if you're stock is up MORE than 9% you're beating "the market".


Total S&P 500 WITH dividends reinvested - UP 10.504%


Using the period December 2011 to September 2012