Investing 102

[gearheads78]

Originally Posted by im4u2nvss

Reading Investing 102 daily gives me further reason to put my 67 firebird as a "second priority" to saving for the future. A big thanks again!

Don't say that too loud. There will be vendors here wanting to lynch GW.

[GregWeld]

Originally Posted by gearheads78

Don't say that too loud. There will be vendors here wanting to lynch GW.

Well they should thank me - cause in the end you can buy a lot more stuff when you actually have some real money!

I'm a veritable one man economic firestorm with the amount of car related stuff and activities I do each month. LOL


Really though -- this is the truth. You can buy way more stuff when your savings are saving more than you could have on your own. That starts to free up money for the fun stuff.

And I've never said don't buy anything… and I know you're just poking me… I say start to factor in your retirement and ignore it at your own peril is all.

[im4u2nvss]

Originally Posted by GregWeld

Thank you -- and by the way -- TOYS should be the LAST item on a list. You can have all the toys you ever wanted once you can afford them. Affording them does not mean at the expense of something more important or more basic. LIVING in retirement is a pretty basic need. It's not a want - it's a need. Do it right and you can have a couple cars to play with and go on trips with when you not only have the time - but the dough.

You can not "save to spend" -- that is not savings -- that is just a pile to spend. That's okay to do AFTER you've funded the retirement account. Then you can SET ASIDE some money for the hobbies and go spend them. Just know that the sooner you fund the retirement -- and it starts on the road to self funding (the dividends start to become more per year than you could have ever saved) -- then you can start to feel free to "indulge".

Do the math…. if you have 25K right now to go buy a car for a "project"… if you put that away instead - in as little as 7 years - it's going to be 50K - and in as little as 14 years it's going to be 100K… and the next flip it's 200K…

You said you have 30 years…. okay --- we have 200K and that took 21 years to get to - the next flip -- inside your 30 year time frame -- takes that to 400K.

Think about that TIME on your side -- 25K became 400K and you didn't do a thing except invest it instead of spend it. Think about now if you had been adding each year just a couple grand to your nest egg - and now you retire with a cool million dollars in CASH (equities actually). Or you're an even better saver and you retire at 55 instead of 65… Now we're talking!

IF I'VE LEARNED ANYTHING about living in retirement -- it's that the only thing I have of any real value - is my TIME. No amount of money can get it back… and each day another day slips away never to be had again. If I sold all the stuff I have I can't buy it back.

I figured as long as I have the project already, whats the hurry on finishing it up if it means holding back my retirement. Like you said, retirement is a "need" firebird is a "want" and with time I will have both.

Extra thanks to you Greg. For someone in your position, to take the time to help all of "us" is an extremely good deed on your part. Kudos to you!

[Vegas69]

Originally Posted by GregWeld

IF I'VE LEARNED ANYTHING about living in retirement -- it's that the only thing I have of any real value - is my TIME. No amount of money can get it back… and each day another day slips away never to be had again. If I sold all the stuff I have I can't buy it back.

Wise words my friend. Time is infinitely more valuable than money. We live in America, money is easy.

[sik68]

They announce a QE taper, and the market jumps UP! Just another friendly reminder from Mr. Market that your crystal ball sucks.

[GregWeld]

Originally Posted by sik68

They announce a QE taper, and the market jumps UP! Just another friendly reminder from Mr. Market that your crystal ball sucks.

When you - or anyone - has the market figured out - let me know - we'll go together and make zillions…. 'cause I've been doing this since 1986 and I'll be damned if I can make sense of it!

[JKnight]

Yep...and there's always a loser (relative to today only) amongst the winners. For me it was Ford's (F) announcement of lower margins. Were it not for that, it would have been a heck of a day!!

[GregWeld]

Originally Posted by JKnight

Yep...and there's always a loser (relative to today only) amongst the winners. For me it was Ford's (F) announcement of lower margins. Were it not for that, it would have been a heck of a day!!

I have 20,000 Ford (F) shares… I bought more yesterday. It's a very small holding for me - but still affected my days paper gain.

So here's why --- IF the economy is doing better so much so that the Fed can taper -- then people should be buying more cars. Now if EUROPE would just snap out of their recession (sooner rather than later)… then we'll be clicking on all 8 as they say.


Now -- here's your deal and why I pitch this (as will anyone with experience)… a FORD day like today - is why you have to have DIVERSIFICATION --- and no one stock or investment should be more than 5% of your total invested funds. That way - one "disaster" doesn't kill you. You might not like it - but it doesn't kill you. Today was a good eye opener to see why people press that.

[JKnight]

Yeah, it's definitely one of those deals where nothing in the fundamentals about the company or why I own it has changed, so I'm not going to start worrying. I wish I had more uninvested cash to pick up some shares on sale, but I am heavy enough in the one name as it stands that it might not be prudent anyway.

[GregWeld]

If you guys remember awhile back -- all the talking heads on TV could discuss was the rising price of GOLD -- and all the predictions were for $2000 an ounce etc… One of our readers was HEAVY into the precious metal. I hope he got out at the top. Today it's trading for about half that prediction.


Okay - I can't predict a thing except that usually in the morning I have to get up and go to the bathroom. That's become pretty predictable…. My comment / post here is not about predictions or right or wrong… it's about the basics of what I've been pounding about day in and day out…

THAT IS --- when EVERYONE is talking about something - it's time to RUN FOR THE HILLS -- if you're in whatever they're talking about -- SELL… if you're not in and you're thinking you need to be because everybody but you has made a killing on "it"… DON'T YOU DO IT!

See - my belief is - that we're all just pretty average Joe's. We're not really smart enough to see that gold was going to go from $900 to $1800 in a year… we're not smart enough to have foreseen the complete collapse of housing… we're not smart enough to… well -- you get the point. My belief is - that by the time I've caught on and am finally willing to join the thundering masses… "IT" is all over.

For certain - there are people that are forerunners… Stielow was PT before PT had a definition. There are people that follow precious metals that probably made three fortunes. I know of one guy that SHORTED housing just before it collapsed and they say he made over a billion (with a B) doing so. I really wish 1) that I was that smart and 2) that I had the balls to act on it.

#1 I'm not - and #2 - I don't.

Oh sure… it's EASY when all is going gangbusters to THINK you're brilliant and or "woulda, shoulda, coulda". I absolutely entertained shorting housing at the peak or near it… I knew (felt) it was unsustainable… Housing couldn't possibly double and triple again and again… but would I gamble that I was right about my "prediction" -- hell no. Anyone with a brain could tell this was going to end badly for the lenders (banks) or builders. EVERYONE but me was making money flipping houses - and you could borrow for zero and pay even less per month! LOL It just HAD to be bad!

Ask the guy that has taken a billion (with a B) dollar short on Herbalife (HLF).(a bet that the stock will drop and he can buy it back cheaper than he sold the borrowed stock he "shorted" - in other words he owes whomever he borrowed the shares from. The shares that he borrowed - HE has to go out and buy those shares on the open market and deliver 'em to who he borrowed 'em from. That's what a naked short is.) He calls it (HLF) a pyramid scheme… but the SHARE PRICE has gone up 125% since his short position (so he's LOST an enormous amount of money on his bet so far on paper). Big bet big winner IF his prediction is right - but so far he's a big azz loser…

I figure since I'm Joe average - that I'd be wrong just at the right time…. hahahahaha and the minute I'd unwind my "bet" - then what I had predicted might come to be fact - and I'd have lost. So I just don't try to be a predictor of things.

I'd rather "predict" that I'll get my dividend from Altria (MO) on time… and just be happy with that. But that's about as far out on a limb as I'll go. For me - it's way more fun to go skiing and go play the virtual golf machine - than to try to "win big" sticking my neck out. I'll also predict that all of my stocks will - at some point - go down. It's just a given. I WISH they wouldn't but I know they will. I will also predict that if I do nothing about that - that they'll come back before I'd need to sell them at a loss. Not sure how long that's going to take - but in the meantime the dividends will continue to roll in so I'm all good. I can eat - I can pay my water bill… with that (the dividend) -- while I wait for my prediction of higher prices to come true. Todays big up or todays big down either make me happy or make me sad… but neither really matter all that much. I will predict that they'll continue to go up and down. That's all.