Let's talk about investments

[Phoenix]

@smitcompton, I'd love to hear what you wanted to discuss.

 

[GreenPapaya]

Oh, I've read and reread this thread and still can't make heads or tails of it. I've maxed my tsp (federal 401k) and IRA (fidelity). Most are in sp500 and small amounts in small caps and international funds, then IRA is split between total market and nasdaq. I do have a small brokerage account in info tech etf. With my and hubby's job i figured it's best to stay away from individual stocks. But I honestly have no idea what I'm doing and feel like I'm a long way from making any money. I feel like I'm heavily in tech but not sure how to diversify.
I just regret front loading my ira in January. Ooof.
I wish I understood what everyone is saying. I wish i knew more about investing! No real estate here, since I can't afford anything in NYC. Only 13 more years until retirement eligibility and I don't know what I'm doing, should be doing, etc...
I've heard people made a ton of money last year on crypto and such, but I don't understand any of it. But I'm happy you guys are doing so well! Just wish I could take advantage of it too

 

[LilAlex]

Oh, I've read and reread this thread and still can't make heads or tails of it.

Really? I think you are doing great -- you are probably among the more knowledgeable on this thread. There is not much more to do than what you are doing. TSP is amazing -- ultra-low-fee index funds, and hopefully your 5% match (?) is maxed out. Your other stuff sounds very reasonable (I do not know your risk tolerance).

The scariest thing of all is the rampant meme-stock and crypto FOMO that makes people like you think everyone is getting rich except them. That is not how it really is. Even back in the "worst" of the dot-com boom, everyone at least had faith in the short-lived companies they were investing in. (Pets.com -- talk about a wide moat -- who else could ever sell pet stuff...over the internet!?!) Now we are not even that savvy -- folks just buying whatever has gone up the most or hyped the most on social media, irrespective of industry or market cap or business model, etc.

There is no one right way to invest. Patience, discipline, diversification, a steady hand, and regularly-scheduled investing are key. There are, however, an infinite number of terrible ways to invest. That does not mean that you can't make a million (or zillion) with a terrible strategy. Just like most of us don't put our life savings on black at the roulette wheel for that 49% chance to double our money.

Relax; you should be fine!

 

[SomethingNew]

Oh, I've read and reread this thread and still can't make heads or tails of it. I've maxed my tsp (federal 401k) and IRA (fidelity). Most are in sp500 and small amounts in small caps and international funds, then IRA is split between total market and nasdaq. I do have a small brokerage account in info tech etf. With my and hubby's job i figured it's best to stay away from individual stocks. But I honestly have no idea what I'm doing and feel like I'm a long way from making any money. I feel like I'm heavily in tech but not sure how to diversify.
I just regret front loading my ira in January. Ooof.
I wish I understood what everyone is saying. I wish i knew more about investing! No real estate here, since I can't afford anything in NYC. Only 13 more years until retirement eligibility and I don't know what I'm doing, should be doing, etc...
I've heard people made a ton of money last year on crypto and such, but I don't understand any of it. But I'm happy you guys are doing so well! Just wish I could take advantage of it too

All I know is it's never too late or too early to start investing, 13 years to retirement is still a lot of time. You still have a lot of earning power, I don't think front loading IRA is a bad idea. I did that too before and always try to max out. If you are serious about real estate, you might want to follow the market more closely. Interest rates are coming up and most likely a cool down on the housing prices. I can see NYC is thru the roof now, so is everywhere else. But for us, real estate is a big part of our total investment. My DH and I like to go open houses whenever we see something interesting and obsessed with Redfin all the time. We want our investments to be long term. Yes, owning rental units is a ton of work but it pays off overtime. Also, comparatively real estate has more tax benefits than other investments.

I was silly though, we refi'd last year and converted from a 30 year mortgage of our primary house to a 15 year. Because I didn't want any debt when I retire, but after talking with a few of our close friends, I should have kept it at a 30 yr mortgage. Interest rate was low when we refi'd, and over a long term, it is cheaper to use bank's money instead of our own capital. In other words, the money we could save by stretching out the amortization can generate much higher return even investing in conservative mutual funds.

 

[GreenPapaya]

@LilAlex I very much doubt that! Everyone here sounds very knowledgeable. I'm not familiar with the acronyms yet. I'm 75% in C and the rest in S and I. I'm comfortable in 100% stocks because my husband does not like the market and has about 80% of our total networth in cash and bonds anyway.

Yes I've been steadily putting money away since 2006 and have been making the maximum contributions since 2016. I started contributing the max to my ira last year. My husband started an account in the 90s and then we went to Europe for 3 years and just completely forgot about it.

I have no hope of owning a place in nyc. I can't stomach paying millions for a run down apartment, and that's even before the pandemic. That's since we've moved here in 2006 and prices have long outpaced my salary. It's okay, in 13 years I would want to move somewhere in Spain or southern France. But I'm starting to enjoy learning about investments, it's a steep curve if you want to make a living off of it but it sounds like I'll be okay just consistently saving. I thought there was a magic formula or something. One of my coworkers is 2 years from retirement and just put 500k in marijuana stocks. I do wonder sometimes what he knows lol.

 

[smitcompton]

Hi,
Phoenix== In Dec, after my mentioning that I used to own 10,000 shares of Citibank, I remembered that it was 15,000 shares. The company did a reverse split of 10 for 1 and made the price 10x more. So instead of it being 5-6 $ a share it became 60,00 per share. I sold it at that point. With this on my mind I noticed that Citibank at present was selling at 60.00 per share, the same amount that I sold it for10 yrs ago(aprx).

I looked up the stats and found that the price earnings ratio was 5.8. Really, really cheap. Earnings season was upon us and I thought that I should buy this, with a trade in mind. So I bought it , one trade at 58, one trade at 59. Thats what I was going to discuss with you. It went to 67.00, but a favorite bank analyst of mine, Mike Mayo, says that in 2-3 yrs it can triple. So I didn't sell it. That is why my portfolio keeps growing. I like what I buy. So far, so good. I just wanted your comments.
I hope your portfoio is OK.

Annette

 

[VRBeauty]

My “portfolio,” such as it is, has lost about 10% of its value since the beginning of the year. It has lost more than it would have cost me to buy a fantasy jewelry suite I was eyeing earlier this year. So I can’t help thinking that if I’d cashed out part of my portfolio and bought that jewelry - even though it would mostly sit in the safe - I’d at least have the jewelry now!

Oh well. I do need to re-evaluate some of my holdings in light of major market shifts, but alas, I’m not planning to count jewelry as part of my “portfolio” any time soon.

 

[LilAlex]

But I'm starting to enjoy learning about investments, it's a steep curve if you want to make a living off of it but it sounds like I'll be okay just consistently saving. I thought there was a magic formula or something. One of my coworkers is 2 years from retirement and just put 500k in marijuana stocks. I do wonder sometimes what he knows lol.

No magic formula. There is a hot new trend every week. It is all noise; only the "amateurs" listen to it. Weirdly, there is some element of self-fulfilling prophecy now because the enthusiasts can instantly reach millions of the gullible via social media -- and the latter in turn create demand for the meme stock du jour and cause some price inflation. (Back when I was a kid in the biotech boom, this $#@% came in thru the fax machine, if you can believe that . Same quality now; different medium.) The truth eventually comes out. Even Tesla "can't fool all of the people all of the time."

The way to live off your investments in retirement is to have a lot of money saved and invested appropriately. It's been said over and over up above. Remember, "It's not timing the market; it's time in the market." If you think some rando on the internet who can't put two sentences together has the inside scoop on next-gen chip technology or AI or EVs or consumer space travel, I can not help you.

The people who try to turn a little bit of money into a lot of money overnight -- in the stock market or at the track -- almost always get burned. Not 100% of them but the vast majority.

I don't feel that I am able to reach you so I will simply wish you the best of luck! You may need to gamble on some of these "hot tips" (hopefully with < 10% of your net worth, total) and see how it works out. I get that some people do it for fun -- plenty on this thread -- like being at the casino or to test their wits. I worry that is not what you are looking for.

 

[LilAlex]

My “portfolio,” such as it is, has lost about 10% of its value since the beginning of the year

Congratulations -- you are doing very well! Honestly! After ten-plus years of near-relentless gains, a few bumps are not unexpected. If you are invested sensibly, stay the course.

EDIT: If a 10% drop in your net worth is causing you to lose sleep, you are probably invested too aggressively for your goals and/or temperament. This is an area where education can really help. Many years see a dip this size or bigger. The average daily change in the US stock market is ~ 0.75% per day. There are some cool figures (graphs) that help put all of this in perspective -- I will see if I can find them. But again, if a 10% drop causes you heartburn, you ain't seen nothing yet. We've lost nearly half our money in the stock market three separate times. The key is to be diversified and to not panic (= panic-sell).

 

[Phoenix]

Hi,
Phoenix== In Dec, after my mentioning that I used to own 10,000 shares of Citibank, I remembered that it was 15,000 shares. The company did a reverse split of 10 for 1 and made the price 10x more. So instead of it being 5-6 $ a share it became 60,00 per share. I sold it at that point. With this on my mind I noticed that Citibank at present was selling at 60.00 per share, the same amount that I sold it for10 yrs ago(aprx).

I looked up the stats and found that the price earnings ratio was 5.8. Really, really cheap. Earnings season was upon us and I thought that I should buy this, with a trade in mind. So I bought it , one trade at 58, one trade at 59. Thats what I was going to discuss with you. It went to 67.00, but a favorite bank analyst of mine, Mike Mayo, says that in 2-3 yrs it can triple. So I didn't sell it. That is why my portfolio keeps growing. I like what I buy. So far, so good. I just wanted your comments.
I hope your portfoio is OK.

Annette

Hi Annette,

Wow. That's so interesting. Unfortunately, I can't comment as I never trade any bank stocks. That's great that your portfolio keeps growing. Congrats.

My stock portfolio at this point is still not big. And some stocks are still up, admittedly a lot are down. I also have a substantial proportion of my portfolio in index-linked funds (S&P and the Nasdaq). I've been buying into the downturn too but not enough. I'd like to buy more. In fact, I've been waiting to buy in. Market is still not down enough for me.

I do have a diversified portfolio and most of my money is in property, with quite a bit of cash set aside waiting to buy in when market really goes down.

 

[smitcompton]

Hi Green Papaya et Al.,

I think it would be a good idea for me to explain the extraordinary action that took place in these meme stocks that LilAlex keeps mentioning as just too awful to even think about.
On Reddit, under the category of Wallstreet Bets, a group of young investor traders discovered that Hedge Funds were shorting some stocks. For those of you that don't know what that means, it is betting that those stocks will go down, not up. If the stock should go up, the short seller has to cover his short position by buying the stock as it goes up in price, thus he loses money.
These traders on Wallstreet Bets decided to teach the hedgefunds a lesson.(people don;t really like short sellers).As a group they decided not to sell any shares, but to continue to buy. The Hedgefunds couldn't buy any shares to sell their short positions and as the price went up, they kept losing money because they could not sell. Its social media and went worldwide. So prices kept rising (Gamestop, and AMC were 2 that were involved) and so a 10.00 stock was selling at 450.00. This happened about 1 year ago. Rich investors began to join in and they made a ton of money.-$700 million for one fund. One large hedgefund went sort of belly up. The stocks did go up and down because not all people held out, but did sell to make money. I bought and sold Gamestop myself twice. These are the meme stocks. Of course it ended and there were losers but the Hedgefunds were going to think twice about shorting stocks.
I met young adults that used Robinhood to buy in and make money. It was exciting and people still refer to it. I would not call that investing, but I wouldn't demonize it either. And the companies that were shorted got a new lease on life as they were able to borrow money to keep afloat.

It was really something. I know I am not giving it the clarity it deserves.

Annette

 

[Phoenix]

Hi Green Papaya et Al.,

I think it would be a good idea for me to explain the extraordinary action that took place in these meme stocks that LilAlex keeps mentioning as just too awful to even think about.
On Reddit, under the category of Wallstreet Bets, a group of young investor traders discovered that Hedge Funds were shorting some stocks. For those of you that don't know what that means, it is betting that those stocks will go down, not up. If the stock should go up, the short seller has to cover his short position by buying the stock as it goes up in price, thus he loses money.
These traders on Wallstreet Bets decided to teach the hedgefunds a lesson.(people don;t really like short sellers).As a group they decided not to sell any shares, but to continue to buy. The Hedgefunds couldn't buy any shares to sell their short positions and as the price went up, they kept losing money because they could not sell. Its social media and went worldwide. So prices kept rising (Gamestop, and AMC were 2 that were involved) and so a 10.00 stock was selling at 450.00. This happened about 1 year ago. Rich investors began to join in and they made a ton of money.-$700 million for one fund. One large hedgefund went sort of belly up. The stocks did go up and down because not all people held out, but did sell to make money. I bought and sold Gamestop myself twice. These are the meme stocks. Of course it ended and there were losers but the Hedgefunds were going to think twice about shorting stocks.
I met young adults that used Robinhood to buy in and make money. It was exciting and people still refer to it. I would not call that investing, but I wouldn't demonize it either. And the companies that were shorted got a new lease on life as they were able to borrow money to keep afloat.

It was really something. I know I am not giving it the clarity it deserves.

Annette

I watched that with great interest but never got in. Too chicken! haha

Gosh, the stock market did an about-turn last night! It's been super volatile. In fact, this stock market is great for day-trading. But it opens at 10.30pm these days my time and it's super hard to keep my eyes open past midnight.

 

[smitcompton]

Hi,

I just checked my portfolio and it went up a lot at the close. An investor on CNBC said this was probably the shorts covering in case something good happens over the week. I am just repeating what he said. I have no knowledge.
I understand your property values went sky high over in Singapore?
I wanted to ask you what you think of Las Vegas Sands. I used to own it. Wonderful dividend but they cut it completely. They have aa Flagship Casino by you. It looked beautiful in pictures. Have you been? I love Las vegas. It sounds as if I am a gambler, but I am not. Most of my life I never gambled, buy age mellowed me.
have a wonderful weekend.

Annette

 

[Phoenix]

Hi,

I just checked my portfolio and it went up a lot at the close. An investor on CNBC said this was probably the shorts covering in case something good happens over the week. I am just repeating what he said. I have no knowledge.
I understand your property values went sky high over in Singapore?
I wanted to ask you what you think of Las Vegas Sands. I used to own it. Wonderful dividend but they cut it completely. They have aa Flagship Casino by you. It looked beautiful in pictures. Have you been? I love Las vegas. It sounds as if I am a gambler, but I am not. Most of my life I never gambled, buy age mellowed me.
have a wonderful weekend.

Annette

That makes a lot of sense, actually. Other than AAPL releasing its earnings, there was not much good news. TSLA was down significantly, again, shortly after the open, but recovered somewhat. I managed to snag some. Let's see...

Our property prices have shot through the roof, for a few reasons: 1) people upgrading (needing more space cuz of WFH, bored cuz nothing else to spend money on, no/ little travelling, restrictions on social gatherings), 2) Hongkongers shifting their money out of HK and into SG, 3) Mainland Chinese doing the same thing, probably, 4) stock market resulting in more money floating around.

However, the govt has introduced new "cooling measures" which should slow down the growth somewhat.

Marina Bay Sands (MBS) is gorgeous! I used to accompany a friend who was into gambling, though I don't know how to play. We used to get free foods and drinks cuz of her. She's left SG to go elsewhere and ever since I've not been at all. I did trade LVS at one point. It's quite volatile and has gone down a lot since Covid and since China casino crackdown and hasn't really recovered. Is it a good stock to buy now? I really have no idea. I have a feeling maybe not. I worry about it having a huge amount of debt.

Have a fabulous weekend too, Annette.

 

[nala]

Why is money so important to you all?

 

[LilAlex]

I think it would be a good idea for me to explain the extraordinary action that took place in these meme stocks that LilAlex keeps mentioning as just too awful to even think about.
On Reddit, under the category of Wallstreet Bets, a group of young investor traders discovered that Hedge Funds were shorting some stocks. For those of you that don't know what that means, it is betting that those stocks will go down, not up. If the stock should go up, the short seller has to cover his short position by buying the stock as it goes up in price, thus he loses money.

I really can’t think of a more perfect example than this. Companies (like GameStop) that were essentially worthless were then bid up to astronomical valuations by a cadre of hive-mind internet trolls with a vendetta against hedge funds. (OK, maybe I get that last part.) Some did make money. This was facilitated in part by app-based investing that became, itself, like a game or online gambling.

Valuations eventually sank but nowhere near the appropriate near-bankruptcy baseline — and are still buoyed by irrational enthusiasm (or anger) among know-nothing bros. (It has dropped well over 50% in the last two months.)



So a company that makes nothing and does nothing is temporarily worth a fortune. This is supposed to be the paradigm? This is Beanie Babies back in the day, or tulip bulbs. (This is not a good investment.)

The trolls are dead-set against selling (so they say) and have even attained representation on the board (IIRC). Management has been quietly (but publicly, because it's the law) selling their shares and laughing all the way to the bank. GameStop has since put out some grandiose but vacuous strategies for re-building or re-branding — but it’s a failed business model and they are just stalling to try to support the insane valuation that fell in their collective laps. (Why is suddenly worth 100X what it was?)

I know GameStop. I have wasted spent many hours there with my kids. It is the real-world "Comic Book Guy" of Simpsons fame. They are the Blockbuster Video of computer gaming. They are decades behind their rivals. So the same people who tout the "next big thing" (Rivian, etc.) are also all in on...GameStop?

There is an investing rule that is so obvious that it is not even written down. Do not invest in things that have no actual value.

 

[LilAlex]

Why is money so important to you all?

It can be exchanged for goods and services. I require these goods and services for the health and well-being of my family and to prepare for unforeseen emergencies.

Funny forum for this epiphany. I assumed that it is what people used to buy their diamonds and other gems but I may be mistaken.

 

[SomethingNew]

Why is money so important to you all?

I started this thread, so I want to respond to this.

Money is important in every aspect without saying, but it depends on where you are and at what stage you are in your life. When you are young, you can be a lot more aggressive than when you are near retirement age. However, what I think is more important is investing wisely and understanding your personal financial goals. it is about knowing your tolerance level so you can avoid making the same mistakes. It is also about understanding your personal tax, assets and liabilities. I think it is very important to minimize financial obligations as we get older. As we age, we need passive income, assets, emergency funds for whatever reason and those only come when we set a solid foundation when we still have the earning power. In many cultures, it used to be kids will take care of the parents, but sorry, that's no longer the case anymore. One would considered lucky if their kids are financially independent.

I believe every kids should know about the value of time and money, and start understanding personal financing when they become teenagers. I signed up my kid (6th grade at the time) a personal finance summer camp, he had a lot of fun talking about money and creating their team business plan. They need to understand money doesn't come easy, and not only they need to work hard but also invest prudently. It is also common nowadays couples have kids later in life, which means they are burning a lot of cash pretty much until the kids graduate from college if not further, and by then, these Gen X&Y-ers are getting closer to retirement. It is therefore extremely important to plan out financial needs over the years. And yes, kids are extremely expensive, and so yes, money is important.

 

[Phoenix]

Why is money so important to you all?

I wasn't even sure if this was a serious Q, lol.

I echo what previous posters have said.

In addition, for me personally, who was born into a middle class family (whatever your definition is...just not poor but not rich) and who's also experienced extreme poverty to the point of being handed a bowl of rice after not having had anything to eat for days, having money is not only important, it's a necessity.

I have therefore this innate fear of being poor. I need money to pay for the necessary things in life (food, housing, medical expenses especially as I get older), but also for the mental comfort that I will always be aokie, and not having to rely on anyone to fall back on.

 

[missy]

Why is money so important to you all?

It's only important in the sense that it makes life easier. Money itself is not the end goal. It is not a means to an end but a means to reaching other important goals.

Money isn't everything but most things require money.
But I always say if you want to feel rich think of all the things you have that money cannot buy.

 

[dk168]

Why is money so important to you all?

It isn't, however, having some money makes life easier for me personally.

Money cannot buy happiness or inner peace.

I cannot take my money or blings with me to the grave, so I may as well enjoy life as much as I can while I am still in relatively good health physically and mentally.

DK

 

[nala]

It can be exchanged for goods and services. I require these goods and services for the health and well-being of my family and to prepare for unforeseen emergencies.

Funny forum for this epiphany. I assumed that it is what people used to buy their diamonds and other gems but I may be mistaken.

I think that we can all agree that this thread and the ideas exchanged on it are about generating wealth that goes way beyond your facetious answer of “goods and services..” and now I am even more curious to know why YOU answered in such a flippant manner rather than with your actual motivation for accruing an endless amount of wealth—given all the expertise that you have been sharing here.

 

[smitcompton]

Hi,
Geez Nala, I thought you were going to post about Casinos like Las Vegas Sands. HA,HA
LilAlex has at least gotten to the core. The Economic system is an exchange of goods and services, and it's a store of value. In third world societies cows may be the currency of value., tulips were at one point. Money is how things work. Sending your children to financial camp is one of the best things I've heard. Great Idea.
The economic system should not be equated to the social system. The social system gives a different kind of sustenance to our lives, which in the end is probably more important
than the economic system but they should not be interchanged. But I think Nala wants to ask why , after our basic needs are taken care of we still pursue the accumulation of money. There used to be a list called Maslows hierarchy of values. It was a pyramid that showed Human striving. The first need to be taken care of is physiological needs (water, food), the second is safety, (shelter, protection), the third is love and belonging, the fourth self esteem and confidence. and 5 is self actualization. Within these 5 categories a person could want more money to show for example how smart they are.#4 confidence and self esteem. It could fit under self actualization by showing you have a skill, or you wish to donate and make a hospital better. I don't think it is the same for everybody.
Nala, would you expect a CEO to give up his 35 million dollar salary because it far exceeds his needs? Would you forego your teaching salary because you didn't need most of it?
People feel more secure with more money. People here are not billionaires, but do seek security. especially when they will have no income from work as they age. No one wants to be poor. I think its a real fear.

Annette

 

[missy]

Plus we like Diamonds so…






I am being tongue in cheek. Diamonds don’t bring happiness.
please don’t take away my ps membership

 

[nala]

Hi,
Geez Nala, I thought you were going to post about Casinos like Las Vegas Sands. HA,HA
LilAlex has at least gotten to the core. The Economic system is an exchange of goods and services, and it's a store of value. In third world societies cows may be the currency of value., tulips were at one point. Money is how things work. Sending your children to financial camp is one of the best things I've heard. Great Idea.
The economic system should not be equated to the social system. The social system gives a different kind of sustenance to our lives, which in the end is probably more important
than the economic system but they should not be interchanged. But I think Nala wants to ask why , after our basic needs are taken care of we still pursue the accumulation of money. There used to be a list called Maslows hierarchy of values. It was a pyramid that showed Human striving. The first need to be taken care of is physiological needs (water, food), the second is safety, (shelter, protection), the third is love and belonging, the fourth self esteem and confidence. and 5 is self actualization. Within these 5 categories a person could want more money to show for example how smart they are.#4 confidence and self esteem. It could fit under self actualization by showing you have a skill, or you wish to donate and make a hospital better. I don't think it is the same for everybody.
Nala, would you expect a CEO to give up his 35 million dollar salary because it far exceeds his needs? Would you forego your teaching salary because you didn't need most of it?
People feel more secure with more money. People here are not billionaires, but do seek security. especially when they will have no income from work as they age. No one wants to be poor. I think its a real fear.

Annette

Ok
Funny that you imply that there aren’t any billionaires here and only billionaires pursue the accumulation of wealth for reasons other than fear of being poor. Interesting. Some would have stopped at millionaires but clearly you think they are posting here and clearly you think they are still doing it all for the sake of security and Also bc of your theory of self-actualization which you equate with having wealth and power to display how smart you are. K. Makes sense. Thanks for your honesty. Where does greed fall under Maslow’s tho?

 

[smitcompton]

Hi,
I guess I can't see where you are coming up with this greedy stuff. Billionaires was used to show extreme wealth. And yes, Ego does play a part in some peoples accumulation of wealth. I said security but certainly people are saving for future expenses that will have to be managed. Sorry, I don't see the greed you see. Yup, even if people are millionaires, they want to stay that way. Doesn't make anyone greedy IMO,
Annette

 

[LilAlex]

I think that we can all agree that this thread and the ideas exchanged on it are about generating wealth that goes way beyond your facetious answer of “goods and services..” and now I am even more curious to know why YOU answered in such a flippant manner rather than with your actual motivation for accruing an endless amount of wealth—given all the expertise that you have been sharing here.

This makes me sad -- and thank you for pointing it out. I never know how I am perceived in this forum.

Everything that I have posted about investing (and there is a lot up here, I admit) is equally applicable to every user of this forum irrespective of income level or net worth. The notion that understanding investments or managing money is the domain of the wealthy -- this only contributes to income inequality. Everyone needs to understand money and investing; these are life skills.

I do not understand families (or entire cultures) that feel that talking about money is gauche or taboo. They will spend half their lives and most of their waking hours pursuing money and many of the other hours contemplating how best to spend it -- but it's wrong to talk about it with the smartest and savviest people in your life who will give you unbiased (and unpaid) advice? How dumb is that? I don't mean with your co-workers or neighbors, necessarily, but with your kids and your spouse and your sibs. And I do not mean comparing net worth or even talking about net worth -- More like: "Hey, did you remember to do this by such-and-such date," etc.

I learned a lot of what I know about investing from my Dad, who was a hard-working, hard-driving, almost-first-generation type who came from nothing. In his eyes, you had to save and invest for your future because no one was there to help you. He called me in the first April of my first paying job and said "You have to put $2,000 in an IRA and if you do not have the money, I will lend it to you. But you have to do it!" I did not need the loan, and I followed his advice. It was things like that that got me off on the right foot well before I had any money to speak of. I had no idea how much money he had (and he would never tell me if I had asked). I do remember one year (when I was too young to understand) in a moment of pride and weakness around tax time, he confided that he made more money outside of work than he did at work. I remembered that for years before it finally sunk in.

I do not have "endless amounts of wealth," as you write. I can't speak for others. I do not think we have billionaires here. (Why would we?) I am not rich. With my spouse, I own one (3BR) home that we have lived in for decades. I drive a twelve-year-old car that is worth ~ $8K at trade-in -- or so the dealership keeps reminding me via monthly post-cards (!?). I work in the public sector. I bargain-shop. I sell our bigger-ticket cast-offs on eBay. We put three kids through college. We live below our means but very comfortably.

I wrote all those posts not because I am obsessed with money but because I am obsessed with people self-educating to the extent that they will not be ripped off by the predatory, amoral financial services industry.

 

[smitcompton]

Hi,

Is it any wonder that people are uncomfortable talking about money when they are accused of being greedy when it is discussed.? But, your financial goals are the most important consideration, not listening to people who look at life differently.
Nala, you have a pension coming and, if its anything like NY, you also have a 401K that is matched by the taxpayers. You have nice security to look ahead to. Thats great for you! Others have to fend for themselves. Yes, they want to maximize their wealth. This does not reflect the fact that because they pursue some retirement or wealth accumulation that they do not have other values and affections. They may even be quite happy and have fun.

I do think money is important in life. I think it deserves discussion.

Annette

 

[nala]

Hi,

Is it any wonder that people are uncomfortable talking about money when they are accused of being greedy when it is discussed.? But, your financial goals are the most important consideration, not listening to people who look at life differently.
Nala, you have a pension coming and, if its anything like NY, you also have a 401K that is matched by the taxpayers. You have nice security to look ahead to. Thats great for you! Others have to fend for themselves. Yes, they want to maximize their wealth. This does not reflect the fact that because they pursue some retirement or wealth accumulation that they do not have other values and affections. They may even be quite happy and have fun.

I do think money is important in life. I think it deserves discussion.

Annette

You seem to have taken my question to heart. You need to let it go. I’m a stranger. I made a comment. Move past it.

 

[MillieLou]

@nala
At the moment I have to work for a living in a stressful job. I would like to be able to retire early (very early) so I can relax, spend time caring for my family, and enjoy the simple pleasures of life.

Investing my money wisely to protect it against inflation and produce an income that will cover my simple living expenses, coupled with my pension, is the only route to doing this. Many, many people are in the same situation.

It's nothing to do with greed.