This group has been SO helpful to me over the years. ;)
But I knew I was pushing it with a OT post of this nature. I was very pleasantly surprised.
Thanks to everyone. Very good comments IMHO.
BTW: It's in a moderate risk no-load fund appropriate for my age with a low ER. The 403B is in a similar fund. I'll sleep well tonight. Now I can file and get $80 bucks. Casino here I come! ;)
You don't plan to keep your money, then? Casinos lead to bankrupcy and crime, not retirement.
Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus
Now I can file and get $80 bucks. Casino here I come! ;)
pleasantly surprised.
Investment advisors will always tend to put themselves in a safe mode when handing out advice. Luckily when the market was heading downward 2008 , I went safe. As the market bottomed, I said, how much lower can it go. Much of my money was put in vanguard capital value fund. It outperformed everything. As a result, I gained 50% over what I would had had, had I done nothing. The first thing an investment advisor will say, put more money in. Sure. When I first started in vanguard, they said diversify. Fools. I lost money 25 years ago. Should have been all good stock funds. High risk vs low risk, I say your age and retirement date is not the most important issue.
Greg
pleasantly surprised.
My wife's motto is "Buy high and sell low." ;)
"Go with what you know."
My quickest and best gains were in real estate and I enjoy it. You can touch it and work on it.
For the vast majority of people, not really because the success rate for timing has been so low y wouldn't suffer if they took it for granite, for all intensive purposes.
The Hulbert Financial Digest, which has been tracking hundreds of investment newsletters since the 1980s, has found that the vast majority of market timing newsletters have done worse than the overall stock market, including the newsletters written by people who have CFAs or financial PhDs and who know how to spell "utmost" correctly. Worse, the timers have usually lagged the market even when risk is factored, which is surprising because timers tend to go to cash (money market funds) when they feel the market is going to fall, and cash has lower risk than stocks. Here's one of Hulbert's old NY Times columns about this:
Most of them are smooth talkers who seem like they're making sense even when they're selling something ridiculous or bad for the customer. The worst financial planners play way too much to people's fears about about taxes or losing money on investments and try to make financial matters seem more complicated than they actually are, just to make customers think they can't handle anything on their own but need a Certified Expert.
It may take as much skill to properly choose a financial planner as to choose mutual funds. That's not to say financial planning is only about investing, but it's usually best to avoid retail sales people.
I hear the term CPF kicked around a lot these days. I think if I had millions to invest it might make since.
BTW: The first thing I did was call the bank and asked about IRA's. They gave me a brochure and a name to call. I talked to a financial planner who tried to sell me a load-fund. Sirens went off. To his credit: he told me I could go to Vanguard and do it myself. Conversation over.
Even compared to a Roth IRA? Unlike other IRAs, Roths are never deductible, but all profits are tax-free, not just tax-deferred, and there's no requirement to start withdrawing money from the account after age 70.5 and thereby start pay taxes on that money. Also with Roth IRAs you can withdraw contributions at any time with no penalty or tax (not so with the profits).
The Hulbert Financial Digest has found that Morningstar's 5-star funds have tended to underperform in the future, which isn't unusual for funds with high ratings, regardless of who does the ratings. Forbes magazine says its Honor Roll and Best Buy funds also tend to became underachievers, and it's probably the only publication that very openly admits that flaw of its rating system. Forbes instead recommends paying more attention to costs, risk ratings, and asset allocation.
I'm looking at it as pay $900 or invest $6000. From that simple POV it seems like a no-brainer.
If you read all my threads, you would see I haven't opened a financial text since grad. There's a reason for that. I want someone to say: Trust me and put your dough here.
Thanks for making me feel like a fool. ;)
There are a lot of certifications, and one I've heard of is CFP, Certified Financial Planner, which has certain college education requirements and passing a test by the CFP trade group. There are some other certifications that require no testing, just paying a registration fee.
It's rare for a commissioned financial planner to do that because most just spout lies about how their products are better than Vanguard's, and a few will even "prove" that their products are cheaper.
Being tax time, he was probably too busy to go through the routine. I was expecting some pressure but because it was through my CU he maybe working at some kind of discount.
I read that in Canada the lowest cost mutual funds tend to be those from banks, but in the US the situation is the opposite. Here the typical financial adviser working in a bank is an independent seller who rents office space from the bank and sells load funds. This is usually also the situation with credit unions, which is really bad because customers think credit unions are nonprofit organizations that hold the customers' interests foremost. One of those sales people in a bank once told me that an S&P 500 index fund with a 0.88% expense ratio and 5% sales load was a bargain because so little of the expense ratio went to management fees, and a 5% commission for a $10,000 investment was a cheap price for the advice I'd be getting.
Sounds true, to me. I've not shopped for financial planners, but your counsell sounds right.
Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus
Storm>
Most of them are smooth talkers who seem like they're making sense even when they're selling something ridiculous or bad for the customer. The worst financial planners play way too much to people's fears about about taxes or losing money on investments and try to make financial matters seem more complicated than they actually are, just to make customers think they can't handle anything on their own but need a Certified Expert.
It may take as much skill to properly choose a financial planner as to choose mutual funds. That's not to say financial planning is only about investing, but it's usually best to avoid retail sales people.
On the other hand, my advice to call several financial planners...... might not hvae been the wisest thing to advise. Glad you have internal warning sirens.
Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus
BTW: The first thing I did was call the bank and asked about IRA's. They gave me a brochure and a name to call. I talked to a financial planner who tried to sell me a load-fund. Sirens went off. To his credit: he told me I could go to Vanguard and do it myself. Conversation over.
Does the buy and sell and paying capatial gain taxes apply with an IRA ?
Say buying a fund, going in and out of the fund and into and out of a money market account .
I thought you mainly payed taxes on an IRA when you actually got the money in your hands.
No.
No tax bills then.
Yes.
A couple friends of mine went to Disney in Florida. They said all the food and concessions were quite expensive. I can imagine leaving with less money.
You could get a Scrooge costume, and go around, doing stickups? Naah, better not.
Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus
The key to casinos is to take a certain amount of money and when gone, leave. I liken that money to the cost of admission to that particular theme park. However, unlike Disney World, I sometimes get out of the casino with more than I came in with. Ain't NEVER had that happen in Orlando (g).
Well put. I tend to agree with you ...and watching paint dry probably would be exciting vs. my normal daily events :(
I was at Disney in Orlando for a soccer tournament for my daughter a bit more than a year ago Took my son along as well.
We stayed at Disney's sports theme hotel where ironically sports were not allowed. It was all for show Some of the girls were just kicking the ball around while waiting to go to a field. Security showed up and told them to stop. Food at the hotel was not only expensive, but bad enough that the kids were willing to walk a mile to go have breakfast at MacDonald's which by the way offered a better breakfast for about half the cost. It actually was cheaper to get a cab and go into town for supper than eat at Disney Food and service were better too.
AS for the tournament, It was supposed to be a "select" level. WE got better competition in Iowa in April than we got in Florida.
If anyone proposes Disney for another tournament, I will do everything to not go.
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