I think the safety factor of and are ideal. are very patriotic. I know individual are risky. Please share your /strategies/and general knowledge.

 

  • Col. Kurtz 5:01 am on October 10, 2009

    I’m very diversified – for reasons other than just safety. For example, I am putting more and more into tax free municipal bonds and muni bond funds, because they help lower my income tax bill. For the simple reason that (drum roll, please) I’m sick of paying lots of taxes!

    Other than that, I have money in several mutual funds, namely of the so-called "growth and income" variety, i.e. they invest in dividend-paying shares of companies that are expected to grow in share price, so you get the double kicker of income from the dividends, plus the growth of the underlying shares. I have these funds set up to automatically reinvest the dividends back into more shares of the fund.

    I also have FDIC insured bank CD’s, because they are paying a pretty good interest rate, plus you are protected against loss of principal and income (up to amounts allowed by the FDIC coverage). You sure as heck don’t get this protection with stock or mutual fund investments!

    I am also into precious metals, because I think they are the only "real" currency out there, plus many other investors are "voting" against the dollar and other currencies by putting at least some portion of their money into precious metals, so, I think it is a good long-term trend investment. Plus, gold is nice to have and hold (just make sure you keep it in a safe deposit box!).

    I own shares of individual companies, mainly in technology and industrial sector companies (semiconductors, aerospace, and forestry companies, am also thinking of adding Starbucks and Safeway shares).

    Finally, I might mention real estate: I own my own house, which is one of the best investments I’ve ever made. In fact, some investment advisers say that owning your own house is THE best investment you could ever make.

    Hope this helps.

    Good night, and good luck. Col. Kurtz.

  • sarandjas 5:01 am on October 10, 2009

    I’ve just invested on the stock market for the first time and have made $120 in a month, a 12% return. Before I invested, I checked out the graph of the company to see what there history had been like over the past 3-5 years. I also checked to see what dividends they paid out, and logged on to my brokers website to get a forecast outlook of the company. This all seemed to work for me, but I’ve also been told of people that have been badly burnt by shares, especially those that are speculative. I guess the other point I need to make is that I’m investing for the longterm so I’m prepared to sit on the shares instead of sell if the price falls.