How are your investments doing?

[Fuddyduddy1952]

Why not buy The Mustang Ranch in Sparks, Nevada?
(I'm joking...no offense)

 

[Highlandr]

I do remember some of those discussions. People got out of the market at the exact wrong time. You do not sell when stocks are down.

Worked with a guy that did that. He'd see a stock doing well, hem and haw around for a few weeks until it went up more and buy. Then it would take a dive and he would panic and sell. Everyone told him, "Yer doin' it wrong." To no avail. He had no business in stocks, but for who-knows-why he kept on.

Life insurance is important from about when you get married until your kids are on their own.

Had a no-cost-to-me policy thru work. Not much value so I took the add-on option and bumped the benefit up enough that the missus would be comfortable if I kicked off. Deleted the add-on about ten years ago as it was no longer needed.

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

How are investments doing?

Over the last year FANTASTIC up here in Canada.
- Main stock market (TSX) up 33%
- inflation relatively low at 2.2%
- wage rates increasing 3.9 to 5.5% annually depending on who measures
- housing prices declining 3.3 - 5% depending who is measuring is good for the kids (not so good for us older folks)
- downside?? last year unemployment up .3% and our "free" health care system needs to do a much better job but everyone knows this and seems they are trying to make changes at least.

which all means people on average are getting ahead financially.

the last year has been very good on average. better for some with others falling behind but if I was the government I would have to be pleased seeing these type of numbers.

I'm retired, well fed, roof over my head, and surrounded by a good family that's doing well so hard to believe life has not been very very good to me and mine.

 

[jyoutz]

Just had our annual lunch meeting with our investment guy.

We did fine versus our goals. We adjust a few things based on his advice. More going into ship building and some specialty AI/data center type corp (among other things).

Everyone has different goals and wildly different experience/understanding of investing. We are well past trying to maximize our income. The more we earn, the more DC takes. Our total living expenses are under $30k a year. We have drawn a bit more to 'invest' in upgrades to the farm or for something fun. Our investment income exceeds our needs already. In less than 2 years we will start trying to recoup the money we had stolen by SocSec. That's more than we draw now and we will stop drawing when that happens, so income should go up. Only a worldwide cataclysmic event will seriously disrupt our financial lives at this point.

Life insurance is important from about when you get married until your kids are on their own. I've had a small cash policy my folks started when I was a kid. It is more than enough to cover funeral expenses. If one of us dies unexpectedly, the other will be able to maintain our current lifestyle indefinitely.

Life insurance may not be necessary but I keep it as a tax free inheritance for my sons.

Edit: it’s also probate-free

 

[masseyrider]

Why not buy The Mustang Ranch in Sparks, Nevada?
(I'm joking...no offense)

Don't laugh.
People often don't have money for the basics but will buy and spend on the "frivolous."
A p_ssy magnet will draw the change out of more than one suckers change purse.

 

[MossRoad]

My parents had small life insurance policies on all of my older siblings and me. My siblings are all girls. They said they would bet that my folks had more life insurance on me than them because I'm a boy.... years go by, my mom passed away, 7 years later my dad passes away. We find the life insurance policies. They were all insured for $10K. I was only insured for $5K. They were kinda surprised. I told them that they made mom and dad broke by the time I came around and that's all they could afford.

Anyhow, it was a nice little gift from the folks and we all appreciated it.

 

[ultrarunner]

I do remember some of those discussions. People got out of the market at the exact wrong time. You do not sell when stocks are down. You hold until they go back up even if it takes years. I learned that lesson watching other peoples mistakes. And I had some good instructors on how to invest.

RSKY

I’ve owned a few stocks in my early 20’s and followed the hold theory all the through delisting and deemed worthless…

 

[RSKY]

I’ve owned a few stocks in my early 20’s and followed the hold theory all the through delisting and deemed worthless…

THAT is why I don't buy stocks. Only mutual funds, not the chance of making a killing but much safer.

RSKY

 

[MossRoad]

THAT is why I don't buy stocks. Only mutual funds, not the chance of making a killing but much safer.

RSKY

Define 'making a killing'.

 

[riptides]

Define 'making a killing'.

The stock market for the last six years.

 

[RSKY]

Define 'making a killing'.

Something like Nividia or Google when they first started. Say a stock that doubles in value its first year or so. Mutual Funds are more for the long haul. Though I have lost my a$$ on a mutual fund before.

As I posted earlier in this thread I watched my Fidelity Select Semiconductor Fund go from $37 down to $22 and didn't panic because I knew the industry was too vital and too profitable to stay down. It came back up and hit $47 before dropping to the low $40 range. Over the past fifteen years I have watched several mutual funds do that. If that had been one company's stock I would have been panicking.

RSKY

 

[RSKY]

Some time today I am going to start a new post on when to stop contributing to a 401K. This is advice I need to give a daughter to answer a question she has asked me. Please look for this post and give me some advice. We are supposed to babysit for a sick two year old today (either a virus or cutting teeth but running a temp) and I may have trouble getting time to post.

RSKY

 

[Torvy]

401k offers multiple levels of benefit.

Almost every company I worked for offer a 50% match on the 1st 6%. You'd be awfully silly not to contribute at least 6%.

Next, you get to defer the taxes. For us, that meant avoiding high tax rates during our prime earning years and paying taxes on it now when we have very low income. Currently, that means paying 12% or less versus over 30%. (Different rules for Roth)

In a pinch, you can borrow against your 401k and pay yourself back the 'interest'. (And it is still not income, because it's a loan).

Those 1st two guarantee I would not stop contributing. At most, I would consider reducing contributions to the max match rate (personally, I would invest as much as allowed, as long as I could still pay my living expenses).

There may be a few unique situations for high earners or those with a generous pension where the tax benefit is lessened. Even then, the matching is hard to throw away.

 

[MossRoad]

Some time today I am going to start a new post on when to stop contributing to a 401K. This is advice I need to give a daughter to answer a question she has asked me. Please look for this post and give me some advice. We are supposed to babysit for a sick two year old today (either a virus or cutting teeth but running a temp) and I may have trouble getting time to post.

RSKY

I remember when our kids were teething. We'd give them some kind of hard graham cracker-like teething biscuit and they'd slobber that thing up!

 

[Torvy]

I remember when our kids were teething. We'd give them some kind of hard graham cracker-like teething biscuit and they'd slobber that thing up!

Works better soaked in whiskey.

 

[MossRoad]

401k offers multiple levels of benefit.

Almost every company I worked for offer a 50% match on the 1st 6%. You'd be awfully silly not to contribute at least 6%.

Next, you get to defer the taxes. For us, that meant avoiding high tax rates during our prime earning years and paying taxes on it now when we have very low income. Currently, that means paying 12% or less versus over 30%. (Different rules for Roth)

In a pinch, you can borrow against your 401k and pay yourself back the 'interest'. (And it is still not income, because it's a loan).

Those 1st two guarantee I would not stop contributing. At most, I would consider reducing contributions to the max match rate (personally, I would invest as much as allowed, as long as I could still pay my living expenses).

There may be a few unique situations for high earners or those with a generous pension where the tax benefit is lessened. Even then, the matching is hard to throw away.

We always put in 15% of our income into the company 401Ks. Pretended we made less than we actually did. Company match was usually 50% match up to 6%. Sometimes it was 100%. Sometimes 25%. But it was still free money and we always put in 15%. 35 years of that in aggressive mutual funds is pretty amazing, considering our modest incomes. 16 months to go and we're both retired. Fingers crossed.

 

[MossRoad]

Works better soaked in whiskey.

My mother did that to her kids... hey.... wait a minute!

 

[DarkBlack]

Something like Nividia or Google when they first started. Say a stock that doubles in value its first year or so. Mutual Funds are more for the long haul. Though I have lost my a$$ on a mutual fund before.

As I posted earlier in this thread I watched my Fidelity Select Semiconductor Fund go from $37 down to $22 and didn't panic because I knew the industry was too vital and too profitable to stay down. It came back up and hit $47 before dropping to the low $40 range. Over the past fifteen years I have watched several mutual funds do that. If that had been one company's stock I would have been panicking.

RSKY

That fund does well. It’s the only mutual fund I own. Every other fund I keep, is an ETF. That Fidelity fund does better than your share prices you noted, because it disburses distributions, which lower the share price by the same amount. Last year $3.40. Back in December 2017, $13 in distributions, for examples

 

[ultrarunner]

We always put in 15% of our income into the company 401Ks. Pretended we made less than we actually did. Company match was usually 50% match up to 6%. Sometimes it was 100%. Sometimes 25%. But it was still free money and we always put in 15%. 35 years of that in aggressive mutual funds is pretty amazing, considering our modest incomes. 16 months to go and we're both retired. Fingers crossed.

I did that back in 91 and was all in but best laid plans don’t always work.

Same job but change of ownership left 80% of the match on the table… had the date of ownership change happened 10 days later I would have only left 60% on the table due to vesting rules at the time.

Congressman Pete Stark got involved and one result is vesting timeframes we’re later shortened.

My early experiences of stock to zero value and losing 80% of the match shaped my thinking.

 

[RSKY]

I remember when our kids were teething. We'd give them some kind of hard graham cracker-like teething biscuit and they'd slobber that thing up!

This one has a mouth full of teeth already. If it is a tooth it is a molar back in the jaw. I couldn't see anything yesterday so I really think it is a virus. There are several going around here.

I always take a chicken leg and pull all the meat and gristle off and give that to a little one cutting their first teeth. They chew and chew on the bone until they get all the flavor out of it. My mother did that with our first kid more than forty years ago and I have done it with both my children and all five of the grands. Wife had a picture show up on her 'memories' of this grand in a highchair with a leg bone in each hand.

RSKY