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Investment Thread - For all your money needs

TWDeac

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Where should you invest your monies? Stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etc..

What are the best savings account? Where can I get the highest interest rate?

Do you have student loans? Are you looking into getting student loans? What should you know in either case?

I'll flesh this out more, but I think we should have a thread like this.
 
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So I started my Tradeking account. It works pretty well. I just bought 3 shares of Euroseas, INC(ESEA) and 10 shares of PMC Sierra(PMCS).

I put $100 in the account just to mess around. We'll see how these stocks do. I'm not really using much methodology to pick these stocks. Eventually, when I have more money to invest, I'll break out my spreadsheets.
 
I'd be interested in seeing what some finance-types would suggest for alternatives to savings accounts, seeing as how interest rates are absurdly low.
 
I'd be interested in seeing what some finance-types would suggest for alternatives to savings accounts, seeing as how interest rates are absurdly low.

Its tough right now to find ways to earn a good return on your savings. I'd suggest ING Direct or Ally for your savings. They offer a little bit better than 1% on your savings :sick:
 
TW what's your thoughts on Vanguard?

I'd probably open a Vanguard account if I had lots of money. You need at least $3,000 to open an account with them and for most Vanguard funds, at least $10,000.

I've never been inside an account, so I can't make many judgments, but most reviews I have read aren't that good about their brokerage options and support.

I'd encourage you to do some research if you're actively thinking about opening up an account somewhere.
 
The stock market is taking a beating right now. My poor stocks :(
 
Over-reaction to Japan news. Probably mostly herd psychology; I'd invest more right now.

Unfortunately, I chose to invest last week. It will take some time to transfer more money over to my tradeking account. By that time, I'd think that the markets will rebound for the most part.
 
I transferred $200 of my tax refund to my Tradeking account. I'm going to do some research on some more stocks and see what I can find.
 
Unfortunately, I chose to invest last week. It will take some time to transfer more money over to my tradeking account. By that time, I'd think that the markets will rebound for the most part.

Bro, how did you not see this earthquake happening?!
 
I'm enjoying having stocks to watch everyday. Although, I'm sure it could be nerve wracking once I have a substantial amount of money invested.
 
In other news, my bank has a savings program they call SMART. The first $1,000 you save, you get $50. That isn't the cool thing about though.

They have an option where you can set up anywhere from $0.50 - 5.00 to go into your savings account every time you use your debit card. In about 6 months, I've saved $600 on nothing but those tiny transfers. It is definitely a painless way to save and its actually kind of gratifying..
 
My stockbroker has me in callable debt issued by major financial institutions.

Typically the terms are something like 20 year debt, pays 10% for a year, callable after a year and then usually pays some factor of the spread between say the 2 year and the 30 year swap at a point when you buy the debt which is usually much higher than 10%.

Every one I have bought has been called pretty quickly after it could.
 
My stockbroker has me in callable debt issued by major financial institutions.

Typically the terms are something like 20 year debt, pays 10% for a year, callable after a year and then usually pays some factor of the spread between say the 2 year and the 30 year swap at a point when you buy the debt which is usually much higher than 10%.

Every one I have bought has been called pretty quickly after it could.

That is pretty sweet. I don't have the funds to pay for a broker at this time, but I'd like to eventually do that. It would save me a lot of time.
 
I'm looking for strategies to pay off student loans. I'll be graduating in May and my deferment will end, but I still think I get a 6 month grace period.

I'm looking at 2 types of federal loans (Perkins and Stafford) and a third through USAA.
 
I'm enjoying having stocks to watch everyday. Although, I'm sure it could be nerve wracking once I have a substantial amount of money invested.

Yeah, I did a similar thing in October -- put $100 in an account to mess around and get a feel for how the market works. It's definitely interesting to watch the stocks, but the major lesson I learned was that, personally, I shouldn't watch them too closely. If I make a well-educated and confident investment decision, I should feel alright letting it ride. Watching too closely is stressful and can lead to poor decisions.
 
I'm looking for strategies to pay off student loans. I'll be graduating in May and my deferment will end, but I still think I get a 6 month grace period.

I'm looking at 2 types of federal loans (Perkins and Stafford) and a third through USAA.

You do get the grace period which is super nice.

Generally, you want to pay off the ones with higher interest rates first. There are bunch of cool websites that will show how much you'll pay over the length of your loans if you pay 1) the ones with a higher interest rate first 2) the ones with the higher principle first.

http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx

This is a nice site and will prevent you from having to do all the PV and FV calculations yourself.
 
Yeah, I did a similar thing in October -- put $100 in an account to mess around and get a feel for how the market works. It's definitely interesting to watch the stocks, but the major lesson I learned was that, personally, I shouldn't watch them too closely. If I make a well-educated and confident investment decision, I should feel alright letting it ride. Watching too closely is stressful and can lead to poor decisions.

I definitely agree with your last point. I can't say I used to much of my technical experience to pick these stocks, just some basic criterion.

I enjoy watching the ebb and flow, so I don't mind checking them everyday. I'd say it is probably like facebook checking.
 
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