Stock Investment (1 Viewer)

[tessaesque]

I'm hoping this goes here.

If you were interested in investing, say, $2000 into the stock market, what steps would you take to get started? How would you go about planning for such an investment? What would you look for or where would you go?

 

[TurtleDude]

I'm hoping this goes here.

If you were interested in investing, say, $2000 into the stock market, what steps would you take to get started? How would you go about planning for such an investment? What would you look for or where would you go?

find someone you trust who knows this field. and fee based advisors are better than those who work on a commission

 

[tessaesque]

find someone you trust who knows this field. and fee based advisors are better than those who work on a commission

I've done some searching, but I'm absolutely lost. I sent an e-mail to my local Edward Jones rep, so maybe that'll be a good place to start. Do these places typically do free consultations?

 

[winston53660]

I've done some searching, but I'm absolutely lost. I sent an e-mail to my local Edward Jones rep, so maybe that'll be a good place to start. Do these places typically do free consultations?

You could always open your own brokerage account.

 

[tessaesque]

You could always open your own brokerage account.

like Etrade or Ameritrade?

 

[winston53660]

like Etrade or Ameritrade?

Yep.

...........

 

[TurtleDude]

You could always open your own brokerage account.

good point

sadly most consultants have stuff like

IF YOU HAVE 100K to invest stuff.

 

[mbig]

I'm hoping this goes here.

If you were interested in investing, say, $2000 into the stock market, what steps would you take to get started? How would you go about planning for such an investment? What would you look for or where would you go?

I like Fidelity vs the others for size and safety.
Just won best overall broker in Barron's annual.

$2000 isn't really enough for individual stock picking.

For your purposes though?
1. Fidelity Investments
2. Fidelity Investments

Or perhaps a similar Vanguard Fund.
3. https://personal.vanguard.com/us/funds/vanguard/TargetRetirementList
Vanguard known for their low cost/how little they charge to manage your money.

Of course also assuming this is all investable, not money you might need in an emergency next month.
You should have emergency money first in a demand account IMO.

 

[TurtleDude]

I liike Fidelity vs the others for size and safety.
Just won best overall broker in Barron's annual.

For your purposes though?
1. Fidelity Investments
2. Fidelity Investments

Or perhaps a similar Vanguard Fund.
3. https://personal.vanguard.com/us/funds/vanguard/TargetRetirementList

my nephew works for Fidelity in SF. They do a decent job

 

[Removable Mind]

good point

sadly most consultants have stuff like

IF YOU HAVE 100K to invest stuff.

TD, that's pocket change to you...

 

[mbig]

my nephew works for Fidelity in SF. They do a decent job

They do a very good job.
My broker.
Allow me to run accounts as well under an umbrella.
If you have a certain Balance (1 Mil) or do a certain amount of trades (200 I think) it's really like having a Private Banker with discount brokerage rates.

The people, especially for Premium Service groups are the Best of the Discount brokers.
When you walk in the Park Ave office- it's like you own the place... once they get your info that is.
There's also super-premium phone service/Active Trader groups for very experienced traders.

As an 'old' investor-- it's hard getting over how cheap it is to trade today.
$8 for as large a common stock trade as you like: a $1000 trade or a $500,000 trade.. $8.

and EDIT to my last:
Almost all brokers, Discount and otherwise have these self-managed/diversified-allocation funds.
I call em 'One' accounts.

 

[TurtleDude]

TD, that's pocket change to you...

true but I am not the topic here. ITs hard for people who are without a lot of jack to get good advice. That is why Mbig was correct. Places like Fidelity make good sense. My brother is a senior partner at a National Investment Counsel plus I have another guy at another national brokerage-investment house as well. But that is not the issue

 

[Ahlevah]

like Etrade or Ameritrade?

For a new investor, I think you'd be better off with something like Charles Schwab. It has a large number of bricks and mortar offices around the country that offer investing seminars and such, but without the high commissions. It also offers mutual funds from more than 400 firms without a fee, and it's expanding a line of commission-free exchange-traded funds. The company's online resources are excellent, also. The firm will provide as much or as little hand-holding as you want. Fidelity is also good.

 

[drz-400]

I've done some searching, but I'm absolutely lost. I sent an e-mail to my local Edward Jones rep, so maybe that'll be a good place to start. Do these places typically do free consultations?

If you want to buy a stock from edward jones they will charge you a brokerage fee when you buy the stock. It is free to open an account, all you have to do is go in and fill out a few forms and they will set up an account for you. When you decide on a stock to buy it is usually like $50 to buy however many you want. You just write them a check and they will buy the stocks + charge you the fee. You can tell them to buy at a certain price or just to pay whatever the market price is at the time. When you sell there will be another brokerage fee for $50. If you open an etrade account I think you can trade for a lot cheaper online, like $10 or $15. Basically when you have less money to save it is hard because the broker fees are a significant portion of your money. I have the same problem myself, but everyone has to start somewhere!

If you are looking at investing $2000 I would look at some funds such as vangaurd because they let you diversify your money, instead of putting all your eggs in one basket.

 

[drz-400]

I've done some searching, but I'm absolutely lost. I sent an e-mail to my local Edward Jones rep, so maybe that'll be a good place to start. Do these places typically do free consultations?

Oh ya, if you go to a place like edward jones have them tell you about a Roth IRA. Basically with a Roth you pay your income taxes on what you invest right now instead of when you take it out, so since you are investing small amounts I am guessing this would be a really good deal for you, since you will be rich and paying more taxes when you go to retire!

 

[Utility Man]

Scottrade is really easy to set up and use, seven dollars is the typical charge per trade. One thousand is the minimum opening balance IIRC.

Scottrade Locations | Branch Offices in Texas

Maybe look into purchasing dividend stocks to start out with, then reinvest those dividends. AGNC comes to mind as something to put a few dollars on.

 

[obvious Child]

find someone you trust who knows this field. and fee based advisors are better than those who work on a commission

Not necessarily. Fee based advisers who only get a fee on the growth of total assets should do better. Fee only doesn't create real incentive to perform.

 

[oldreliable67]

You might find this interesting:

RBC Ranks First in Investor Satisfaction, J.D. Power Study Says

 

[tessaesque]

Thanks for all the advice and tips, everybody!

 

[imagep]

I'm not a bigtime stock investor like these other folk, but I have seen some evidence that supports that your best guess (or even random guess) as to which investments to make is just as good as any professional advisor or fund. I think for $2,000, I'd just take my chances in one or two or four stocks that I think would be cool to own and forget about trying to out-smart the market.

**********************************

Look at your options:

Investing by yourself: the worse that could happen is you may loose most of your two grand, the best that could happen is you may hit it big and make a small fortune - either way you minimize your fees.

Investing under the guidance of a professional: the worse that could happen is you may loose most of your two grand, the best that could happen is you may hit it big and make a small fortune - either way you pay more in fees then if you just chanced it on your own. It's kind of like hiring someone to go and gamble your money at the casino. Sure, the guy may be an experianced gambler, but it's not nearly as fun as doing it yourself, but the gambler will not guarantee that he doesn't loose all of your money, and the fees you will pay to the professional gambler will on average exceed any winnings he may have.

********************************************

For two grand, I wouldn't even be worried about diversity. All diversity does is to minimize risk. Two grand isn't a lot to risk, so with limited risk, why not shoot for the moon and invest with less diversity and hope you strike it rich?

I know that it is a different take on things, but that's my 2¢. Bear in mind that advice is only worth what you pay for it, and I'll tell you up front that no one in their right mind would ever pay me for advice. Heck, I'm the guy who's primary retirement plan is the lottery.



http://www.theskilledinvestor.com/s...fessional-investment-manager-performance.html

http://seekingalpha.com/article/849...rs-that-can-beat-the-market-shrinking-rapidly

http://marketinggurusfinder.com/191/do-hedge-funds-beat-the-market-or-is-it-just-marketing/

http://marketinggurusfinder.com/191/do-hedge-funds-beat-the-market-or-is-it-just-marketing

http://www.the1000club.com/mutual_fund.php

http://www.investmentu.com/2005/September/20050929.html

http://story-stocks.com/why-mutual-funds-fail-to-beat-the-market/

The truth is, for the average joe on the street, his best investment is paying off his debt and saving the interest that is most likely far higher than any return he may have over time in the stock market.

 

[Real Korimyr #9]

I know that it is a different take on things, but that's my 2¢. Bear in mind that advice is only worth what you pay for it, and I'll tell you up front that no one in their right mind would ever pay me for advice. Heck, I'm the guy who's primary retirement plan is the lottery.

I like to call it the statistics tax. I used to buy a ticket every week when I can afford to, but I knew I was only paying for entertainment.

As for investing, I'm pathologically risk-averse even with monies I know I can afford to lose. One of the more interesting strategies I've seen involved investing your money into two separate funds, one extremely aggressive and the other extremely conservative. Once per every set interval of time, the two funds are balanced by selling some of whichever fund is larger and putting the proceeds into the smaller fund. This means that the conservative fund cushions your losses when the aggressive fund underperforms, while still allowing the aggressive fund the opportunity to take off occasionally. I've been playing with variations on that theme in my head for years now, but I am an amateur at best.

I will repeat imagep's advice of paying off your debt first thing.

 

[Ahlevah]

I think for $2,000, I'd just take my chances in one or two or four stocks that I think would be cool to own and forget about trying to out-smart the market.

Well, if you only buy one or two stocks you are trying to outsmart the market, are you not?

I think I'd by some ETF shares. The reasons: 1) diversification; 2) you could by them in small amounts, and it's possible to buy some of them with no commissions; and 3) low-cost fee structure. Also, for people who don't like paying taxes, they tend to be tax efficient, since they don't normally turn over the securities much in the index they're trying to replicate.

 

[Ahlevah]

I will repeat imagep's advice of paying off your debt first thing.

That, and make sure you have a "rainy day" or emergency fund. In fact, I'd probaby fund a minimal emergy fund first just so I could avoid assuming more debt if, for example, my car needed a major repair.

 

[tessaesque]

Question. If I want to invest in stock located on the TSX (Toronto Stock Exchange) can I do so via Etrade or Ameritrade? Anybody have an experience with the TSX?

 

[MaggieD]

I'm hoping this goes here.

If you were interested in investing, say, $2000 into the stock market, what steps would you take to get started? How would you go about planning for such an investment? What would you look for or where would you go?

I would invest the money into the Total Stock Market Index. Vanguard has a good one: VTSMX. It has an expense ratio of .18%

The fund employs a “passive management”—or indexing—investment approach designed to track the performance of the MSCI® US Broad Market Index, which represents 99.5% or more of the total market capitalization of all of the U.S. common stocks regularly traded on the New York and American Stock Exchanges, and the Nasdaq over-the-counter market. The fund typically holds the largest 1,200–1,300 stocks in its target index (covering nearly 95% of the index’s total market capitalization) and a representative sample of the remaining stocks

One year return: 17.47%. Ten year return: 4.44%. https://retirementplans.vanguard.com/pe/pdfs/FS85.pdf

The stock market is a gamble. Individual stocks are vulnerable based upon their individual risks and those of the sectors to which they belong. Owning a total market index fund is betting on capitalism.

Edit: I agree with those who say, "Pay off your debt first." Credit card debt, that is. Car loan/home mortgage no harm-no foul. There's no point at all to investing money at, let's say, a 10% annual return when you're paying 12-29% interest on a credit card. First things first.