yourmove
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I am 17, and have saved a small amount of money that my dad, his broker and I have looked at different thing to apply it to. The sum is appox $2000, the broker says a mutual fund with the sign (ffalx) which has since i have tracked it gone up about 10 cents. My dad says he is probably going to want to sell me something that he will make a small profit off of. My dad begin talking no-load, and index's. He told me to get on the net and finds information on funds. I want this to be a retirement fund that i dont touch for a while but i can add money when ever it comes. I am not looking for short term by anymeans just looking for solid longterm. What do yall susgest. thanks
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Tue Jul 19, 2005 1:08 am |
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KathMorgan
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Fist off, congrats on being a very smart young person and pass on my congrats to your Dad for teaching you good money skills at such a young age and making you do your own research. Now, for the research, I agree with your Dad, no-loads and index/ETF's are a good deal. A good place to do comparison research is at www.morningstar.com or www.kiplinger.com. I would recommend a ROTH IRA is you have any earned income from a job. You can open one with a discount broker on line and do your own management as you learn. You are young enough to learn as you go and have plenty of time to make mistakes and learn from them. You may have to have your Dad sign for the account until you turn 18, but check it out. Good luck and keep us informed on how you are doing. I wish more people your age would do the same, then they wouldn't end up like most people my age.
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Tue Jul 19, 2005 10:34 am |
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MattL
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I also agree with your dad. Get into a no load diversified index fund. Check out www.vanguard.com. Instead of putting all in at once I would dollar cost average over 6 months. Set up an auto withdrawal from your bank account each month.
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Tue Jul 19, 2005 11:16 am |
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yourmove
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Well, my dad talked about dollar cost averging, he explained it as not mattter what the cost of the stock high or low for x period of time. Is this true. I am not sure how to look at no load or index's. i went on morning star and read articles but the more i read the more i get confused. Do i purchase no load through a broker or online. is there how-to things i can read on the net. Thanks
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Wed Jul 20, 2005 1:47 am |
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KathMorgan
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While I'm all for using the net to learn about things, sometimes there is no substitute to old fashioned book-in-hand learning. You can mark it up, keep it handy for reference while learning online and make lots of notes. While I know I will probably get slammed for this, I have freely admitted in the past I am a Suze Orman fan. So here goes, if I had to tell you 1 book to get that explains investing and money strategies in easy to learn language this would be it: The Road to Wealth. Here's a link to a review, it is available in most bookstores and at Amazon.
http://www.suzeorman.com/igsbase/igstemplate.cfm?SRC=MD002a&SRCN=catalogdetail&ProductID=1&StartRow=1&GnavID=10&SnavID=45&TnavID=
Don't take everything as gospel, continue to explore and form your own opinions, but as a basic primer, this is a good one. Some others may have other suggestions as well, but that's my 2 cents. Good luck!
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Wed Jul 20, 2005 7:32 am |
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MattL
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quote:
Originally posted by yourmove
Well, my dad talked about dollar cost averging, he explained it as not mattter what the cost of the stock high or low for x period of time. Is this true. I am not sure how to look at no load or index's. i went on morning star and read articles but the more i read the more i get confused. Do i purchase no load through a broker or online. is there how-to things i can read on the net. Thanks
There is no reason you need to buy a no load mutual fund through a broker, unless you want to help him buy his vacation home 
If you fill out the application on www.vanguard.com they will send you a kit that will guide you through the process step by step.
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Wed Jul 20, 2005 1:21 pm |
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MattL
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quote:
Originally posted by KathMorgan
While I'm all for using the net to learn about things, sometimes there is no substitute to old fashioned book-in-hand learning. You can mark it up, keep it handy for reference while learning online and make lots of notes. While I know I will probably get slammed for this, I have freely admitted in the past I am a Suze Orman fan. So here goes, if I had to tell you 1 book to get that explains investing and money strategies in easy to learn language this would be it: The Road to Wealth. Here's a link to a review, it is available in most bookstores and at Amazon.
http://www.suzeorman.com/igsbase/igstemplate.cfm?SRC=MD002a&SRCN=catalogdetail&ProductID=1&StartRow=1&GnavID=10&SnavID=45&TnavID=
Don't take everything as gospel, continue to explore and form your own opinions, but as a basic primer, this is a good one. Some others may have other suggestions as well, but that's my 2 cents. Good luck!
I can't say that I'm a fan of Suzi, but I think she's great for the average person that has very little investing knowledge.
I'm more of a Bob Brinker fan ( www.bobbrinker.com ). I have been listening to his show for years. It is geared toward more experienced people, but if you listen you can get up to speed pretty quickly since Bob has a few constant messages that are very good.
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Wed Jul 20, 2005 1:25 pm |
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yourmove
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This might really be a dumb a question but..... What is the symbol for S&P 500 index's. This sounds about what i am looking for. I have about 3 grand now and, if this was yalls money and wanted to get the most safely in 10 years from today how would yall do it.
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Wed Jul 20, 2005 10:47 pm |
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MattL
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Cash: $ 46.85
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quote:
Originally posted by yourmove
This might really be a dumb a question but..... What is the symbol for S&P 500 index's. This sounds about what i am looking for. I have about 3 grand now and, if this was yalls money and wanted to get the most safely in 10 years from today how would yall do it.
If you are looking for vanguard's it's VFINX
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Thu Jul 21, 2005 4:01 pm |
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yourmove
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are there any other tips or things to watch out for, what is the symbol for s&P 500
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Sat Jul 23, 2005 11:33 am |
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netman
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hi,
Yes never limit all your alternatives and always be wary of information that is biased to the provider of the services thats my 00.2 cents worth of advice
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Sun Jul 24, 2005 7:49 am |
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yourmove
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Ok, well Is vangard an online investment firm, what are my other options for online brokers, where do they make there money, or better yet how. When do they charge me, I looked at the index VFINX and liked what i saw, is there going to be much for in the future?..... just stuff to ponder, again is there a symbol for the S&P 500 index. What is the advantage of dollar cost avergings, vanguard index is at $113. somthing.
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Mon Jul 25, 2005 1:00 am |
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David Briggs
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You can buy VFINX directly from Vanguard without a commission.
Dollar cost averaging is good if the price of the fund shares declines after you make an initial purchase, because you can make another purchase which will bring down the average cost of all of the shares you hold.
The symbol for the S&P 500 Index is SPX.
The exchange traded fund which is authorized to use S&P's name is SPY.
~~David
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Mon Jul 25, 2005 7:30 pm |
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yourmove
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WoW, when i went to the Vanguard site to sign up/register.. I was blown away by how much i dont know. Is there a simple way of this. I want to disperse $3000 over the S&P 500 Index and Vanguard Mutal fund. I really dont know much after looking at that stuff.
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Fri Aug 05, 2005 12:05 am |
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EBuchanan3
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quote:
Originally posted by yourmove
WoW, when i went to the Vanguard site to sign up/register.. I was blown away by how much i dont know. Is there a simple way of this. I want to disperse $3000 over the S&P 500 Index and Vanguard Mutal fund. I really dont know much after looking at that stuff.
Congratulations on starting early. You will find out that the earlier you start the better off you will be in the future.
Seriously, the first thing you should do is IGNORE everyone in this thread who didn't direct you to go read a book. Starting investing in something without a good understanding of what you are doing is a good way to get into a bad situation.
My recommendation to you:
1. Go to the bank and buy a 6 month CD with all of the money you have. If you do not know what a CD is ask one of the bankers to explain it to you. Any money you get after you buy the CD can just go in your savings account until the 6 months is up.
2. Go to the library, bookstore, the web, etc... and start reading. Personal Finance for Dummies, Investing for Dummies, The Everything Investment Book, The Richest Man in Babylon. There are 1000s of books on the subject. READ READ READ, LEARN LEARN LEARN. Your dad had the sense to get you going so he probably can help you out if you have questions. If you put the time in, after 6 months you will have a better idea of what is ACTUALLY happening when you buy mutual funds or other investment vehicles.
If you want advice on what to invest in then, come back then and ask them. At that point you will have a much better idea of what people are talking about and will have a base knowledge to build off of.
E
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Fri Sep 02, 2005 4:55 pm |
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