I have a son out on his own and with about 3-4 thousand to invest.
I got him setup at Scottrade last night.
But the problem for me is that he expects me to give him advice on where to put it.
He mistakenly believes I'm an investment genius because I retired early because of my stock trading. I'm in a different place now where my mindset is getting more conservative - I sometimes pick a stock and trade it in ranges (I don't want him to do as I do! at least not until he gets 10-30 yrs of experience ) and I'm frankly worried about the economy and the world in general (bird-flu, oil, conflicts, etc.) and its effect on the markets.
As always, when in doubt - I come to the forum.
He wants to make more than Money Market/CD/Treasury returns (Mostly where I'm at now) - What is your collective advice?
Of course, whatever you tell me I will pick the best advice and claim it as my own.
A Father has to do what he has to do to retain a certain level of respect from his kids.
DanTien
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A set and forget ETF== PRF (follows RAFI 1000)
A play on the future ETF== PHO (water)
Oil service ETF==PXJ
Tech stock==PWAV
Energy of the future?==DESC
Maybe a good time to also talk about timing.* Averages up a bunch last 90 days.* Who knows, today could be a short term high for awhile??
Then forget about it, except to add to it as often as possible.
Christ, man, you make me laugh so hard! And with things that are true and simply put... With just about every post, too.. and I have no idea how you keep up with all 300 threads you concurrently post in....
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 6,438
th, you using that proxy server again? :P
__________________ Have Funds, Will Retire "...but do feel free to assert your duly noted opinion on this subject again without benefit of reference or provision of additional information..."
He wants to make more than Money Market/CD/Treasury returns (Mostly where I'm at now) - What is your collective advice?
I'm the same age, and I can say that if he's like me then he should probably have fun at first and just buy stocks that interest him for whatever reason, to have fun and learn a little, but in the end it doesn't really matter since as CFB said it's just a matter of having a bunch of money lying around in things that grow, and letting it go for a few decades. Any of the things that others have suggested or that you could suggest would work about the same, index, ETF, (diversified) basket of stocks, etc.
Still, we all need a chance to be a power stock-jockey when we're young
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Losing my whump
Posts: 22,526
No sir. I even turned off my virus scanner this morning to live the wild life.
Cool Dood...wait until you get my bill.
I wont even go into all the stuff I got done so far today along with posting. It'd make you cry.
Al is eminently correct though...I should have asked for the purpose of the investment first. If he's going to use the money pretty soon, a high equity component might not be the best place. I just assumed long term retirement as a goal.
__________________
Many an optimist has become rich by buying out a pessimist
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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Posts: 10,537
Dan, you want suggestions that will teach him about investements, or just fire & forget type stuff? If the money is not earmarked for anything in the near future (5 years) and he understands that reaching for return also entails taking risk, I would suggest that he pick two or three individual stocks and research them thoroughly, but 1 or 2, and then follow them to see how his research turned out. I can offer up some ideas for that one if you like.
If its about where to put long term money for a yungun, CFB's suggestion isn't a bad idea.
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 6,438
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cute n Fuzzy Bun'ny
I live in the country.
And lets leave my hairy ass out of this
Your a$$ had to come into it sometime...
Always does!! :P
__________________ Have Funds, Will Retire "...but do feel free to assert your duly noted opinion on this subject again without benefit of reference or provision of additional information..."
If your son is interested in learning, I would consider starting him with a few books (Four Pillars is always a winner, among others) and let him make his own decisions from there. I would urge him to consider index funds or ETFs, but that's probably because it's what I'm most familiar with.
If we wants to play with stocks, fine, but it should be clear that doing that without educating yourself A LOT is about as risky as hitting the nearest casino. The good news is that it's not a ton of money. I would hope he sees this as a great learning experience for him though, and the start of a solid portfolio.
__________________ Persistence and determination are omnipotent.
If your son is interested in learning, I would consider starting him with a few books (Four Pillars is always a winner, among others) and let him make his own decisions from there. I would urge him to consider index funds or ETFs, but that's probably because it's what I'm most familiar with.
If we wants to play with stocks, fine, but it should be clear that doing that without educating yourself A LOT is about as risky as hitting the nearest casino. The good news is that it's not a ton of money. I would hope he sees this as a great learning experience for him though, and the start of a solid portfolio.
Thanks Sisyphus for getting us back - the Jennifers and their hormones are a force of nature
At this point he hasn't shown an interest in investment theory/research not a numbers detail guy. I'll be giving him The Pillars and Intelligent Investor for his birthday - see what comes of that...I want to ease him in, get his feet wet not encourage active trading.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jennifer 8
Target Retirement 2045.
Then forget about it, except to add to it as often as possible.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JPatrick
A set and forget ETF== PRF (follows RAFI 1000)
A play on the future ETF== PHO (water)
Oil service ETF==PXJ
Tech stock==PWAV
Energy of the future?==DESC
Maybe a good time to also talk about timing. Averages up a bunch last 90 days. Who knows, today could be a short term high for awhile??
Quote:
Originally Posted by brewer12345
Dan, you want suggestions that will teach him about investements, or just fire & forget type stuff? If the money is not earmarked for anything in the near future (5 years) and he understands that reaching for return also entails taking risk, I would suggest that he pick two or three individual stocks and research them thoroughly, but 1 or 2, and then follow them to see how his research turned out. I can offer up some ideas for that one if you like.
If its about where to put long term money for a yungun, CFB's suggestion isn't a bad idea.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TromboneAl
I'd go with CFB if the money is for retirement. But if it's for buying a house in 2 years or for starting a business, that's different.
Thank you guys.
I'm liking the idea of the target 2045 fund - think at this point a forget-about-it-spread-the-risk basket approach would be a good intro for him - but letting the money sit in the money market fund for awhile to see what this market/economy is doing.
If he's got a job with a 401(k) and can invest in an IRA (Roth preferably), I recommend the Financial Engines service.....will teach him about investment risk and probability of meeting his retirement goals and help him set up a plan.....you can buy a 3 month subscription for around $40 I think.....check it out:
For instance if his goal is to have a retirement income of say $50k/year (in today's dollars) starting at age 65 (or whatever) and he wants to have a 90% chance (he selects this) of meeting that goal, the service will tell him how much he should contribute to retirement accounts each year and will give advice on a portfolio of funds to meet the goal, depending on the short-term risk he is comfortable taking (i.e. how much his accounts could decline in the next 12 months).* Once you set up your accounts it's easy to play around with changing contribution and risk levels, retirement age, etc. and see how it affects the results.* I think it's a good tool, especially for someone just starting out.
) and I'm frankly worried about the economy and the world in general (bird-flu, oil, conflicts, etc.) and its effect on the markets.
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