I’ve been investing in the stock market for the past seven years. This has been a horrific year for investors, and my portfolio is down 40%. I will not need the money for about 15yrs. should I stay in the market or sell? I’m invested in fixed income and mutual funds. The fixed income part of my portfolio has been holding ground, but the mutual funds have taken a hit. Your thoughts?
Stock market nightmare?
I’ve been investing in the stock market for the past seven years. This has been a horrific year for investors, and my portfolio is down 40%. I will not need the money for about 15yrs. should I stay in the market or sell? I’m invested in fixed income and mutual funds. The fixed income part of my portfolio has been holding ground, but the mutual funds have taken a hit. Your thoughts?
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notxursuperman
You should only sell if there are better investment opportunities. Not the grass is greener on the other side type of investments… but better funds, or individual stocks. You can take a loss on your investments and use the write down and allocate your assets into a better fund or stock.
I do not ever recommend mutual funds. If you have the time of day, study individual stocks. These aren’t the race tracks, there chances that poor businesses will ever take away market share from Branded companies. When you scattershot, you are at the mercy of your poor holdings dragging down your holdings that are beating the market. A chain is only as strong as it’s weakest link… remember that.
Imagine if Wallstreet was a Mall… and you had $100,000 to invest in each store. Would you equally spread out your money to each store so they can invest it for you? Probably not, because you already know by foot traffic which stores have a grasp on the consumer and are capable of offering you better returns. So you focus on the ones that have been driving in brand traffic, not fad traffic. Don’t worry about the market as a whole, worry about individual companies.
I as a person like to think I’m above average and I expect my stocks to do the same.
Obviously you will want to do your homework before taking anyones advice, so goodluck to you.
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$so fresh so clean$
stay in the market
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Ryan M
Stay in. Its not like the market can go down ANOTHER 7000 points right?!
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Susan M
Stay very diversified and stay in. You are young enough to get through this and though some of the stocks may be worthless, some will be golden. It is just beyond most anyone to say what will make money in this environment.
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Kevin B
no one knows for certain when the turn around will occur, assuming it will! Sell now and acknowledge a huge loss–tax write off indeed. However, miss the turn around momentum, and you could miss a big part of your investments’ recovery.
So it is a hard decision–stay or go. I say go, but unfortunately, I’ve been saying go for months now, and while that has been the correct idea lately, it may not be in the coming months.
I say take some of your stock-invested cash and turn it into stable assets–food, guns, etc.
Welcome to tomorrow.
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the d
it is absoulutly too late to sell.
hopefully they will recover in the next 10 years, chances are they will.
No debt, Max IRA's, Mutual Funds…What to do next?
My wife and I have a combined income of around 0k. We have zero debt, we max out two traditional IRA’s, we put 00/month into mutual funds, and we are putting around ,000/month away in hopes of purchasing a home soon. We need to know what to do next and if this is the best plan? If we don’t buy a house this year, where should we put that money? We have a financial adviser, but his response will undoubtedly be to send him the money. Any ideas?
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Ronny C
Put your 16,000/month into a high interest savings account and hold off buying a house until you can’t stand it no longer then drop every dime you can on your home. Run the numbers through a mortgage calculator to see what you would save in interest depending on what you would/want to put down. Don’t worry about losing a little interest on all that money by not investing it right now, you’ll make that up in what you save on your home loan. The obvious, go fixed rate, split your future house payment into bi-weekly payments (you basically make one extra payment a year) that shaves almost 3 years off a 15 year loan and pay your house down as quick as you can. One last thing, take your wife somewhere nice, with all that money you’ve saved. Vacationstogo.com has killer deals, just went to the Bahamas, AMAZING!
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STEVEN F
Federal income tax of $300,000 = $63,224
FICA tax = $10,071
Take home pay = $300,000 – $63,224 – $10,071 = $226,705$16,000 x 12 = $192,000 to house fund.
$1500 x 12 = %18,000 to mutual funds.
$10,000 to 2 maxed out IRAs (contributions not deductible at your income).
Total = $210,000$226,705 – $210,000 = $16,706 for ALL state and local taxes and living expenses.
Your telling me your MONTHLY savings exceeds you ANNUAL living expenses. Try again with believable numbers.
To pretend I believe you, there are exactly 3 things you can do with money.
1. Invest it.
2. Spend it.
3. Give it away.
I recommend doing ALL of the above.
what are the effects of devaluation on 1)commodities, 2)consumers, 3)employment?
Social Studies
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azkazk2005
Devaluation case M>X. Some commodities will be more expensive as imports at good price make them cheaper. Some companies will show up, making the products that we imported before devaluation. Consumers will find higher prices and they will change some expenses. New assignments will be made in the companies affected. Employment will rise because of the new companies. Employment related to imports will be temporally destroyed.
How long do you keep the annual reports sent by mutual funds?
Same question for the prospectus they send you
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El Guapo
I agree with the other answerer. As long as you have access to the internet, there really is no need to hang on to those documents.
If you do want to keep them, then you should keep them only until the new one comes out (so, one year in most cases).
I hope that helps – good luck!
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wfr21
That depends on you. Companies are required to send those reports out to all shareholders however they would much prefer to save money and only display the data on their websites but they aren’t yet able as not all shareholders have computers or access to one. The two reports you mentioned are usually available online at the Company’s website so, unless so feel the need to retain either, recycle at your earliest convenience after your review.
How can I generate interest/confidence from potential investing partners for real estate investment?
I would love to buy rental properties however my personal cash has been more or less tapped out with the falling equity in my house. Therefore I need to use other peoples money however I don’t know the best way to "ask" them for it and of course I am a little afraid of the "what if’s" of the whole situation and losing their money. Is it best to offer a nice rate of return on their money for the short term or offer them equity in the property – more like a partnership. However, as I mentioned above I don’t have a lot of skin to throw into the game…anyhow any suggestions would be welcome. Thanks as usual!
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?
Without being an experienced investor, you will not find many willing to give you their money without any of your own in the deal, much like everyone else has said. In addition, some lenders won’t lend to you, but would prefer an LLC instead.
Hard money loans might be a better route for you, but take note that these loans often have high interest rates and offer short term financing. Hard loans can be handy for those with little to no credit and in a crunch for money. These loans tend to focus more on the finances of the property (equity, ROI) rather than the borrower (like a traditional loan would). In addition, a lot of these lenders as well would like experienced investors.
I would suggest doing some research on real estate investing, expanding your education in the field and joining some local REI clubs. Networking in this field is the number one thing you can do to get going in the right direction, so start small and local and build from there. You will probably have to finance at least one deal on your own, so make sure it’s a good one to use for your portfolio. Track record means a lot in investing. Good luck!
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ibu guru
You cannot approach prospective investors when you have no cash to put up your share, and especially when you have no experience & expertise in managing such investments. If you and a family member want to go in together on a project, perhaps you can arrange a partnership agreement where they put up a larger percentage of the down payment, and you do more of the work – a "sweat equity" deal. Do not try this with anyone but an immediate family member or a person who knows you very well and has a similar investment outlook, goals, interests. And make sure you put everything in writing.
From what you say here, even if I were your mom or dad, I would not invest with you simply because you have no real clue what you are doing. You need knowledge and property management experience before you do diddly. You are not ready to invest, even if you put only your own money at risk.
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Doctor Deth
unless you are risking some of your own money and are doing 100% of the legwork – finding properties, etc, investors don’t need you
1-property would have to need minimum of expense to make it rental-ready
2-there has to be demand for rental properties in that area – every month without a tenant eats into yours (and investors) incomes
3-you need to show positive cash flow from day 1
4-YOU would have to have pretty good credit yourself, so you don’t drag down the others by increasing the int rates, as well as enough income to almost qualify on your ownwithout all of these things, you have little hope of finding investors for partners
anyone who has the 20% down plus closing costs needed to buy investment property (which it probably all YOU are looking for with investors) doesn’t need anyone else’s help
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Chad Doty
I’m with the last two response about experience. You don’t have the proof yet. You might be able to do it, but the person investing would be gambling.
Get educated first. Learn how to find, evaluate, acquire, renovate, (operate or sell) properties first. Then when you have the education (and it needs to be more than a book), approach the close circle about doing it. The other option is hard money but even then they would look for some level of education or experience prior to lending.
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BillH
I suggest that instead of pulling your hair out trying to figure out the system yourself, obtain one of Ron Legrand’s courses on obtaining private money. I think you’ll love the system. It’ll save you a lot of hassle. No, I’m not an employee of his or anything like that.
is there an online brokerage for Taiwan Stock Exchange? or anyother easy way to invest in Taiwanese markets?
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muncie birder
You can invest in Taiwan ADRs. Here is a listing of available adrs
http://www.adrbny.com/dr_country_profile.jsp?country=TW
You can also invest in a mutual fund that invests in Taiwan companies. TWN and TFC are two closed end funds that invest in Taiwan. Both have performed well this past year 24% but their long term records are not so good.
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Frank Castle
Yes.
Know any good online interest calculators?
So when you google around for investment calculators, there’s a ton of results. The problem is that I can’t find the kind or calculator that I need.
I’m looking for one where I can put in a value for initial principal and an interest rate as well as figure out the value of the fund and interest where some of the money is spent every year.
In other words, if I invest x and get y% interest but use y/2% or some other fraction of that interest to live, what would the value of that y/2% be from year to year and how much would the principal be worth from year to year?
The math on this isn’t difficult, its just tedious especially considering that I’d want to play around with the numbers some and I don’t want to do it over and over. Maybe this would be just as easily done in an Excel or Google spreadsheet?
I hope that made sense and I would greatly appreciate anyone who knows where something like this is or how to set up a spreadsheet appropriately.
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magnolia
Here’s a site for financial calculators.
Buying a property in Europe ?
I’m a youth in middle twenties, and thinking to invest my little savings in a small property. I’ve never owned one but I can only buy one room with the savings I have in some countries, and maybe nothing in other countries.
As I dont have any experience I’m asking which websites are a good start point to know where the prices are good to buy, or even to rent the property I buy when I return to live with parents as I dont have any income.
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gardenoflia
Every country has different laws regarding a non-citizen buying real estate in that country. Some don’t have normal mortgages, as we do. Websites: I like International Living. Never looked at any others.
stock dividends!! help?
20% stock dividends on 40,000 common stock of stated value common stock. Market value a share. What is the equity entry. How much is now in common stock, paid in expenses and retained earnings?
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capwest5a
Stock dividend is 20% or 8,000 shares (40,000 shares * 20%)
Market price on declaration date is $70
Entry to record declaration:
Debit ‘Stock Dividends’ $560,000
Credit ‘Stock Dividends Distributable’ $200,000
Credit ‘Paid-in Capital in Excess of Par’ $360,000{$560,000 = 8,000 x $70} , {200,000 = 8,000 x $25}
When the shares are actually issued, the entry is
Debit ‘Stock Dividends Distributable’ $200,000
Credit ‘Common Stock’ $200,000
———————-
EDIT:Common Stock increases by $200,000
Paid-in Capital increases by $ 360,000
Retained Earnings decreases by $560,000So that would be the entry if it all went down at once…
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notxursuperman 6:32 pm on September 2, 2010 Permalink
You should only sell if there are better investment opportunities. Not the grass is greener on the other side type of investments… but better funds, or individual stocks. You can take a loss on your investments and use the write down and allocate your assets into a better fund or stock.
I do not ever recommend mutual funds. If you have the time of day, study individual stocks. These aren’t the race tracks, there chances that poor businesses will ever take away market share from Branded companies. When you scattershot, you are at the mercy of your poor holdings dragging down your holdings that are beating the market. A chain is only as strong as it’s weakest link… remember that.
Imagine if Wallstreet was a Mall… and you had $100,000 to invest in each store. Would you equally spread out your money to each store so they can invest it for you? Probably not, because you already know by foot traffic which stores have a grasp on the consumer and are capable of offering you better returns. So you focus on the ones that have been driving in brand traffic, not fad traffic. Don’t worry about the market as a whole, worry about individual companies.
I as a person like to think I’m above average and I expect my stocks to do the same.
Obviously you will want to do your homework before taking anyones advice, so goodluck to you.
$so fresh so clean$ 6:32 pm on September 2, 2010 Permalink
stay in the market
Ryan M 6:32 pm on September 2, 2010 Permalink
Stay in. Its not like the market can go down ANOTHER 7000 points right?!
Susan M 6:32 pm on September 2, 2010 Permalink
Stay very diversified and stay in. You are young enough to get through this and though some of the stocks may be worthless, some will be golden. It is just beyond most anyone to say what will make money in this environment.
Kevin B 6:32 pm on September 2, 2010 Permalink
no one knows for certain when the turn around will occur, assuming it will! Sell now and acknowledge a huge loss–tax write off indeed. However, miss the turn around momentum, and you could miss a big part of your investments’ recovery.
So it is a hard decision–stay or go. I say go, but unfortunately, I’ve been saying go for months now, and while that has been the correct idea lately, it may not be in the coming months.
I say take some of your stock-invested cash and turn it into stable assets–food, guns, etc.
Welcome to tomorrow.
the d 6:32 pm on September 2, 2010 Permalink
it is absoulutly too late to sell.
hopefully they will recover in the next 10 years, chances are they will.