Investing 102

[Vegas69]

I agree Greg. If you have $10 bucks, turn it into $12. The common philosophy is that if you don't have much, you can't become much. Most of us have to start at the bottom and work our way up the ladder. Moral of the story, if you don't make good decisions with little, you will never have a lot. And it leaks into every aspect of life, not just money.

[Tony_SS]

I turned my son from a spender into a saver. He couldn't hold onto a dollar to save his life.

I took him to the bank, opened an account, they gave him a cool green pig, and they matched his first $20 deposit, along with another $20 for his straight A's and community service. The have a cool coin counter machine he likes to work. He has over $88 and is all about "saving" and going to the bank now.. not bad for a 6 yr old who's bombarded with cool stuff to buy.

Saving, then investing, right?

[glassman]

A friend of mine (whos very monetarily wealthy btw) said if you count your pennies, the dollar's add up.

When i refer people to this thread (about 20 who are serious) I tell them "its a thread on HOW to buy, not WHAT to buy"

Be consistant.
Diversify.
Dont invest and forget (i did for 15 years, now my bottom hurts lol).
Start early.

And most of all, KISS (keep it simple stupid) *ask me how i know this one? cause i tend to overcomplicate everything in my life, ahhh, the job of an analyst...

[glassman]

Originally Posted by Vegas69

I agree Greg. If you have $10 bucks, turn it into $12. The common philosophy is that if you don't have much, you can't become much. Most of us have to start at the bottom and work our way up the ladder. Moral of the story, if you don't make good decisions with little, you will never have a lot. And it leaks into every aspect of life, not just money.

And Todd, since you see this everyday in your job, is living within your means....

[GregWeld]

Originally Posted by glassman

And Todd, since you see this everyday in your job, is living within your means....

I have to chime in here -- on the whole "living within your means".





It's FAR FAR easier to live within your means if you have plenty of "means". LOL


I've had this discussion many times with many of my friends. I've always been very open about money - money management - and discussions like this aren't and shouldn't be embarrassing. They ARE embarrassing if you are embarrassed by your own personal situation. By that I mean --- if you're one of those people that APPEAR to be doing well.... driving the new Audi - New house - out to dinner all the time - etc.... and your cards are about maxed out... and if you lost your job next week -- you couldn't make your next house payment... YEAH -- you should probably not be discussing your finances without being embarrassed. You're EGO is driving you to bankruptcy. You need help but your ego would never allow you to actually get some.


I'm saying this hypothetically -- to "America" -- not to anyone here. The people here are (I presume) working to help themselves and improve their financial situation.



I've never ever had anyone tell me their cards are maxed and they can barely make the minimum payment. EVERYONE always makes the blanket statement "I always pay my cards in full every month". While I'd really like to believe it - and really hope that it's true.... the majority of people just ARE NOT doing that. They are managing their money by keeping their PAYMENTS in check -- and in the meantime are paying 18 or more percent interest.

GUYS ---- REALLY???


To the investors here -- how many of you would L - O - V - E to be earning 18% dividend on your investments???? HOLY COW --- I'D BE RICH!!!!

[toy71camaro]

Originally Posted by GregWeld

I have to chime in here -- on the whole "living within your means".





It's FAR FAR easier to live within your means if you have plenty of "means". LOL


I've had this discussion many times with many of my friends. I've always been very open about money - money management - and discussions like this aren't and shouldn't be embarrassing. They ARE embarrassing if you are embarrassed by your own personal situation. By that I mean --- if you're one of those people that APPEAR to be doing well.... driving the new Audi - New house - out to dinner all the time - etc.... and your cards are about maxed out... and if you lost your job next week -- you couldn't make your next house payment... YEAH -- you should probably not be discussing your finances without being embarrassed. You're EGO is driving you to bankruptcy. You need help but your ego would never allow you to actually get some.


I'm saying this hypothetically -- to "America" -- not to anyone here. The people here are (I presume) working to help themselves and improve their financial situation.



I've never ever had anyone tell me their cards are maxed and they can barely make the minimum payment. EVERYONE always makes the blanket statement "I always pay my cards in full every month". While I'd really like to believe it - and really hope that it's true.... the majority of people just ARE NOT doing that. They are managing their money by keeping their PAYMENTS in check -- and in the meantime are paying 18 or more percent interest.

GUYS ---- REALLY???


To the investors here -- how many of you would L - O - V - E to be earning 18% dividend on your investments???? HOLY COW --- I'D BE RICH!!!!

Yeah. I wonder the same. I listen to a lot of Dave Ramsey's radio show. Keeps my thought process in check. I've always handled money very well. Until I got married. The other half didnt handle money well at ALL. It was a big issue. Eventually we divorced, i ate a quite large CC bill on that one (that wasnt even MY stuff). But oh well. From that point forward, I've vowed to never carry a balance on my CC. 5 years later, I havent paid an interest fee yet! But, it can be a tricky game that some people can't manage. Me, i personally pay off each purchase a day or two after it hits my card. i dont wait for the bill to come at the end of the month and get surprised!

On a side note, me and my current GF (future spouse!? ) have taken some of Ramsey's ideas even further and have implemented emergency funds (which first resulted in her getting herself completely out of CC Debt). Now we have monthly budgets, savings accounts, and purchased a house this year (albeit, with a mortgage, but thats OK).

We're well on our way to be financially fit, in the short term AND long term (retirement). Plus the communication level is MUCH greater than the 1st go around. LOL

[GregWeld]

First of all Albert.... AWESOME!!


Second -- there's absolutely NOTHING WRONG with a mortgage!

What people do wrong with a mortgage is to repeatedly refi - taking out equity to spend... and lengthen the time in which to pay it back!

The entire exercise should be to retire with a paid for house!! (unless you're retirement far exceeds what normal people are going to collect in those years).


The "ISSUE" is spending more than you can really afford to spend -- the CC allows this - and on a repeated basis. I think a NORMAL use of a CC is -- perhaps an emergency repair - or something unexpected -- and then a guy has to make some payments at those high interest rates.... BUT that is where you should have some dough saved for such emergencies. NOT BEING ABLE TO SAVE is the big mistake -- and that should be he first clue that someone is spending too much.

I have a buddy -- married -- old like me and retired now --- but he's a millionaire -- with a paid for house (millionaire NOT including the value of his house).... and the couple together never made 100 grand a year. He saved a 1/3rd of his income every year since he got his first job. The proverbial "pay yourself first". Called him today to come help me with the trailer --- and he can't -- why? Because they're out cruising around in his new F-250 and Airstream... ENJOYING RETIREMENT.

They spent years NOT having all the new stuff -- stayed in the same house etc -- so that he could spend years enjoying life later. GOOD FOR HIM!!!

[WSSix]

Good job, Albert.

You're very correct about CC bills and life style, Greg. Somewhere in this thread, I think I read the comment "Just because you can pay for it doesn't mean you can afford it". I like that comment. I also think most people don't get it. If it weren't for the points that I get, I wouldn't use my CC. But I like it when the CC company pays me to use their card

[GregWeld]

Originally Posted by WSSix

Good job, Albert.

You're very correct about CC bills and life style, Greg. Somewhere in this thread, I think I read the comment "Just because you can pay for it doesn't mean you can afford it". I like that comment. I also think most people don't get it. If it weren't for the points that I get, I wouldn't use my CC. But I like it when the CC company pays me to use their card

Trey - I (WE) use the hell out of the credit card... in fact we are massive chargers.... but it still gets paid off every month regardless of how astounding the balance is.


Here's the part that busts me up --- someone that makes payments on revolving charge cards --- will have a HIGHER credit score than the guy that pays it off.

To me - that's the stupidest thing EVER.