Hi! New here from Colorado

[glock35ipsc]

Hello everyone. Well, my first post was a screw up already! I posted this in the wrong forum, so here it is again

I've been looking around this site for a week or so now, and I think I finally found a group that thinks the way I am trying to think.

First I found the Rich Dad site, but their methods and means are not the same as mine. I am not very interested in real estate, and that seems to be the largest push there. Nor does buy and hold investing seem to be popular there. Although I have learned alot, I think this place will be a better fit. I have read books like The Millionaire Next Door, The Millionaire Mind, Richest Man in Babylon....and they are more to my liking.

I am 36 y/o, have a fantastic wife of 12 years who is 30, and two wonderful children. We both hope to have enough to RE, although we have yet to define the "E". My wife contributes the maximum matching % to her 401(k), and started contributing to a 457 about a year ago. I contribute the max to my SIMPLE IRA at work, as well as an extra 3% to a Roth IRA.

We also hold 5 stocks that are DRIPs. As of late, we have been buying the minimum dollar amount allowed in the DRIP stocks. We do have some debt, and are trying to pay that down as quickly as we can.

I tried doing some trading with my Scottrade account, and found out that I am better off not trading. Grin I was able to find some good buys, but wound up being a pig and didn't sell when I should have and watched then go up......then down.

I hope we are on the right track to RE. I am convinced now more than ever that the best thing for us is to continue contributing the max to our retirement plans through work, working on reducing our debt, eventually maxing out the Roth IRA annually, and continue contributing to the DRIP stocks monthly along with trying to increase that monthly amount as we go.

At the rate we are going now, we should be debt free, other than the mortgage, in four years. I hope to be a frequent visitor here in the very near future!

Bob

[samclem]

Bob,
Welcome aboard. It sounds like you guys are doing well. If you and your wife are in agreement on savings and "living below your means" (LBYM), then you're well ahead of the game and success is just a matter of time. It also sounds like you've learned to spot some of the pitfalls of the investing world--congratulations.

[glock35ipsc]

Thanks for the welcome! Fortunately, my wife and I are on the EXACT same page when it comes to our finances and investing for our future. Actually, we are on the same page regarding finances, but she wants to learn just enough about investing to be able to understand what I am doing. Other than her 401(k) and 457, she leaves the rest up to me to manage.

Iwould like to explore real estate sometime in the future, but not right at the moment.

[Scrooge]

Quote:

Originally Posted by glock35ipsc I was able to find some good buys, but wound up being a pig and didn't sell when I should have

To use the famous Baruch quote, "Don't try to buy at the bottom and sell at the top. It can't be done except by liars". And welcome! *

[AltaRed]

Quote:

Originally Posted by glock35ipsc I tried doing some trading with my Scottrade account, and found out that I am better off not trading.* *Grin* *I was able to find some good buys, but wound up being a pig and didn't sell when I should have and watched then go up......then down.

A good learning experience. Some investors keep re-learning it too. I learned it during tech boom on a few funds... even though I'd been an investor for 10 years already.

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Welcome, Bob!

Glad you smelled the BS from Rich Dad.

Glad you are learning about the problems of trading, too. Now, learn how to get rich slow. Save 15% of your before-tax income (boy, I wish someone had told ME this!) and learn about investing, starting with these links:

Read The Coffeehouse Investor at:
http://www.coffeehouseinvestor.com/

Vanguard has an interview with Scott Adams who once wanted to be a financial advisor but could only come up with half a page of advice:
http://tinyurl.com/hcnyx

Check out Scott Burns' columns at:
http://www.dallasnews.com/business/scottburns/ or at
http://www.uexpress.com/scottburns/
especially the couch potato and margarita portfolios. It is hard to beat 'simple'.

Also
http://www.efficientfrontier.com/ef/index.shtml and
http://www.fundadvice.com/

and if you are comfortable with a lotta math:
http://www.gummy-stuff.org/
(look for slice-and-dice).

That should keep you out of trouble for a little while.

[macdaddy]

Hey glock, welcome to the board. If you are investing small dollar amounts, you may want to check out mbtrading.com. They are the cheapest reputable broker that I could find... something like a penny per share up to 500 shares. Scottrade probably has better customer service, though.

[glock35ipsc]

Ed The Gypsy -

Thank you very much for the links!! I have bookmarked them all, and will be checking out each one. I am definately finding this site more to my liking!

Thanks for all the welcomes too.

Bob