Investments for Dummies

amother

Fri, Aug 21 2020, 11:30 am

we never did this before. married a bunch of years. we saved up money for down payment by leaving it in our bank account and at home cash in a safe. not the best way but it worked for us. bh we paid up all debts from buying a home and we now have extra to invest.

who did we talk to? how do I know if I can trust their advice?
are there any secure investments we can do on our own without someone?
what are good types of things to invest in?

please share basic information cuz I dont know where to start.

amother

Peach

Fri, Aug 21 2020, 11:46 am

There are plenty of books out there. Investing for Dummies types are totally fine for beginners.

Put money into an index fund that mimics the stock market as a whole, rather than in individual stocks. Vanguard and Fidelity have such funds, as do lots of other brokerage hiuses. I recommend vanguard for their low costs. Set up a regular monthly transfer into the account so that investing becomes one of your regular bills.

Keep enough cash to tide you over for six months.

amother

Fri, Aug 21 2020, 11:49 am

amother [ Peach ] wrote:

I don't want another bill, we have a lump sum to put into something.
whats the percentage of return on such a kind of investment?

Amarante

Sun, Aug 23 2020, 4:26 pm

You need to read a basic book on investing so that you understand the basics before you do anything.

What you do with your money depends on your economic circumstances including when you need the money and whether you have a six month (at least) emergency fund.

There are safe investments like a CD but the returns are almost nothing - probably less than nothing after inflation because interest rates are low. However, they are good to keep your emergency funds in since the principal won't diminish.

In the long run, the stock market is the best form of investment because historically it has gone up. However, if goes down and if you need the money when it is done, you are out of luck.

You shouldn't look upon regularly saving as a bill. The suggestion a previous poster made was that you should automatically save a certain amount from each paycheck and have it automatically put into whatever account you are using. Also this is an investment strategy because your investment theoretically evens out - instead of risking putting everything in when stocks are high, you are putting in a smaller amount on a regular basis and evening out the ups and downs of a volatile market.

If you have the ability to invest in the stock market, most people do best by investing in an index fund sold through Vanguard or Fidelity because it is low fees and so the return for most investors over the long haul will be better.

But the best thing you can do at this point is read a simple book on investment so that you will understand different alternatives and the theories behind them.

If you do want to spend money on investment advice, make sure that it is someone who does not SELL anything but makes their money by selling their time because that way you will get someone who is unbiased and not offering the stuff that is most profitable for them.