So if you had $50K to invest, where would you put it?

[Savageenterprise]

Be a private investor and provide funding. You'll get 10% + on your money and you can make the judgement on the people you're investing with which is always good.

[premier3is]

Originally Posted by Run Silent

I would put it here:

https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/IVOG/performance?p=IVOG

https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/VOO/performance?p=VOO

These are great ETFs and I've considered them, but don't you think we should anticipate a potential market slowdown coming soon? I mean it has been going up nonstop in the past few years at an incredible pace, so getting in now can be a bit risky.

But then again, sidelining some of my cash lately thinking it'll be risky has left me missing out on some major gains.

Hard to decide, market is just so unpredictable.

[Run Silent]

Originally Posted by premier3is

These are great ETFs and I've considered them, but don't you think we should anticipate a potential market slowdown coming soon? I mean it has been going up nonstop in the past few years at an incredible pace, so getting in now can be a bit risky.

But then again, sidelining some of my cash lately thinking it'll be risky has left me missing out on some major gains.

Hard to decide, market is just so unpredictable.

Never try to time the market. Period.

[corn18]

More money has been lost anticipating a market correction than in the corrections themselves.

[VisualEcho]

What is that old saying? "Time in the market, not timing the market."

[2000cs]

Originally Posted by VisualEcho

What is that old saying? "Time in the market, not timing the market."

Along with Bears make money, Bulls make money, but Hogs go broke.

[corn18]

Originally Posted by 2000cs

Along with Bears make money, Bulls make money, but Hogs go broke.

Hogs get slaughtered.

[G35POPPEDMYCHERRY]

the time to start investing is now. market will go up and down and sideways. the only chip you have is time.

[VisualEcho]

I guess the general consensus here is that I learn how to trade myself, instead of paying Edward Jones to do it for me because the percentage they take is almost all of the profits. Am I getting that right?

[2000cs]

Originally Posted by VisualEcho

I guess the general consensus here is that I learn how to trade myself, instead of paying Edward Jones to do it for me because the percentage they take is almost all of the profits. Am I getting that right?

I wouldn’t go that far. A managed account can be fine, but you’ll likely do as well with an index fund (or a few) and not have the fees. No need to trade, just buy and hold. You won’t need their advice if you buy and hold, so no need for a “full service/full fee” brokerage. An account at TD Ameritrade, Schwab or the like will do fine.

If you later decide you want to be more active (buying individual stocks, for example) you will have that flexibility.

[XutvJet]

Originally Posted by VisualEcho

I guess the general consensus here is that I learn how to trade myself, instead of paying Edward Jones to do it for me because the percentage they take is almost all of the profits. Am I getting that right?

For the typical investor (sub $2M in assets) absolutely. I'm telling ya, buy 90% in a low fee S&P 500 index fund like the ones from Vanguard and 10% in a bond fund. Simple as that. When the DOW is up 5% so are you. When it's down 5% so are you. There's nothing to manage. Over time, you will beat any managed account.

Using Vanguard is crazy easy and when it comes to tax time, your tax forms from Vanguard easily import into most any tax software.

Time in the market is key. Fire and forget. Just remember to add. Once you get to around $300-500k, you can start diversifying into other things like quality stocks. Until then, set a goal of $300k in investments and buy a home and pay that off as quickly as possible. Real estate is a solid asset in most cases.

[VisualEcho]

Originally Posted by XutvJet

For the typical investor (sub $2M in assets) absolutely. I'm telling ya, buy 90% in a low fee S&P 500 index fund like the ones from Vanguard and 10% in a bond fund. Simple as that. When the DOW is up 5% so are you. When it's down 5% so are you. There's nothing to manage. Over time, you will beat any managed account.

Using Vanguard is crazy easy and when it comes to tax time, your tax forms from Vanguard easily import into most any tax software.

Time in the market is key. Fire and forget. Just remember to add. Once you get to around $300-500k, you can start diversifying into other things like quality stocks. Until then, set a goal of $300k in investments and buy a home and pay that off as quickly as possible. Real estate is a solid asset in most cases.

Damn, sounds easy from your perspective, I just don't know the first thing about it, and that's the type of guy that loses his money and funds guys like you that know what to do.

Maybe I'll visit KC, buy you dinner and you can show me the ropes. haha

The photography will be free

[BayMoWe335]

Buy a cheap S&P 500 index fund, like VOO or similar consistently over time, reinvest dividends, never sell, and you’ll beat 99% of funds funds managed by those guys with blue shirts and white collars.

Don’t pay anyone to manage your finances. They are robbing you blind and it can be shown mathematically.

Yes, it’s this simple.

[bimmer456]

Originally Posted by BayMoWe335

Buy a cheap S&P 500 index fund, like VOO or similar consistently over time, reinvest dividends, never sell, and you’ll beat 99% of funds funds managed by those guys with blue shirts and white collars.

Don’t pay anyone to manage your finances. They are robbing you blind and it can be shown mathematically.

Yes, it’s this simple.

Yes all you need to do is a little research

[corn18]

It amazes me how much time people spend researching a car or telescope or camera purchase, but then know so little about investing. I was one of them. I used to put an equal percentage of my TSP and then 401k contributions into every fund they offered. I had no clue what I was doing. Then I spent just a little time researching and then found bogleheads.org and now I spend almost no time managing my retirement. I wish it took more work than it did because I like to tinker. But in reality, I spend about 8 hours a month on my investments. It could be 1 hour a year, but I like to peak.

[XutvJet]

Originally Posted by VisualEcho

Damn, sounds easy from your perspective, I just don't know the first thing about it, and that's the type of guy that loses his money and funds guys like you that know what to do.

Maybe I'll visit KC, buy you dinner and you can show me the ropes. haha

The photography will be free

Read this simple, though somewhat redundant book: "The Little Book of Common Sense Investing"

It will hammer into your brain why low fee (aka expense ratio) S&P 500 index funds are the best investment choice for a majority of investors and why financial advisers are a total waste for most us. Take it from me, don't trust anyone with investing your money but you. It's a pricey mistake I made and it cost me a lot of money in lost performance.

Go to https://apps.vanguard.com/web/cf/move-money/welcome and open an account. It's incredibly simple.

Transfer money (typically $3000 needed to open an account) from your linked bank account and buy 90% in:

Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO); or
Vanguard 500 Index Fund Investor Shares (VFINX); or
Vanguard 500 Index Fund Admiral Shares (VFIAX)

They have their minor differences, but their overall approach is the same. It's a very low cost mutual fund that has shares in all of the major S&P 500 players. The performance of the funds follow the performance DOW/S&P 500 to nearly tenths of a point.

Then take the remaining 10% and buy various low fee government bond funds.

Vanguard, and I'm sure the others like it, make it very easy to open:

- traditional IRAs
- Roth IRAs
- opening 529 college accounts for children
- transfer 401K accounts from previous employers

I've done all those things and the hardest part of it all was coordinating the transfers with my fired financial adviser and doing the correct paper work to avoid tax implications of all the transfers.

Like you, I knew very little and just let my adviser at Morgan Stanley handle it all for nearly 15 years (MISTAKE!). Then I read "The Little Book of Common Sense Investing" 7 years ago and shortly thereafter took total control.

My wife and I have the following at Vanguard:

- Brokerage account
- His and her Roth IRAs
- Traditional IRA from a previous employer 401K account
- Two 529 college plans for our kids
- Very well funded saving account "war chest" that has funds to cheap stocks during major market downturns

I spend less than 1 hour a month managing my accounts and most of it is simply checking up on performance for the month. I do very little buying and selling. All dividends are reinvested into their respective accounts and/or funneled into the war chest account.

Simple.

[2000cs]

Originally Posted by XutvJet

Read this simple, though somewhat redundant book: "The Little Book of Common Sense Investing"

It will hammer into your brain why low fee S&P 500 index funds are the best investment choice for a majority of investors and why financial advisers are a total waste for most us. Take it from me, don't trust anyone with investing your money but you. It's a pricey mistake I made and it cost me a lot of money in lost performance.

Go to https://apps.vanguard.com/web/cf/move-money/welcome and open an account. It's incredibly simple.

Transfer money (typically $3000 needed to open an account) from your linked bank account and buy 90% in:

Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO); or
Vanguard 500 Index Fund Investor Shares (VFINX); or
Vanguard 500 Index Fund Admiral Shares (VFIAX)

They have their minor differences, but their overall approach is the same. It's a very low cost mutual fund that has shares in all of the major S&P 500 players. The performance of the funds follow the performance DOW/S&P 500 to nearly tenths of a point.

Then take the remaining 10% and buy various low fee government bond funds.

Vanguard, and I'm sure the others like it, make it very easy to open:

- traditional IRAs
- Roth IRAs
- opening 529 college accounts for children
- transfer 401K accounts from previous employers

I've done all those things and the hardest part of it all was coordinating the transfers with my fired financial adviser and doing the correct paper work to avoid tax implications of all the transfers.

Like you, I knew very little and just let my adviser at Morgan Stanley handle it all for nearly 15 years (MISTAKE!). Then I read "The Little Book of Common Sense Investing" 7 years ago and shortly thereafter took total control.

My wife and I have the following at Vanguard:

- Brokerage account
- His and her Roth IRAs
- Traditional IRA from a previous employer 401K account
- Two 529 college plans for our kids
- Very well funded saving account "war chest" that has funds to cheap stocks during major market downturns

I spend less than 1 hour a month managing my accounts and most of it is simply checking up on performance for the month. I do very little buying and selling. All dividends are reinvested into their respective accounts and/or funneled into the war chest account.

Simple.

The only part of this excellent post I disagree with is the US Government Bond Fund. Historically these bonds underperform inflation, yielding a negative real return (this means the interest you earn on the bond is less than inflation, so at the end of each year your investment has lost purchasing power). Fed Chairman Powell, in the latest post-rate-cut press conference, said the real rate is negative given the 10-year yield is below the Fed’s 2% inflation target. This has been true for almost the entire period since WWII. What you get with government bonds is safety, but the price is high IMO.

I would go for a portfolio of Muni bonds if you have to have government bonds, or A-rated or higher corporate bonds if you have to have bonds. Personally I prefer dividend stocks to bonds, but both have their place.

[VisualEcho]

Originally Posted by corn18

It amazes me how much time people spend researching a car or telescope or camera purchase, but then know so little about investing.

Oh I'm worse than that. I worked for Edward Jones for a while, and have a Series 7, but the knowledge is a bit far back for me. I also think they make it much more involved than it really is.

"Let me make sense of investing for you, here, let me talk over your head so you'll just hand me the money."

[TrevorM3]

Originally Posted by n55blain

I would put a downpayment on a piece of property and rent it out. The numbers would need to cash flow.

surprised nobody mentioned this (only read first page)

although 50k, you need to mortgage some more for an actual property. very risky since if you blow your load

[XutvJet]

Originally Posted by VisualEcho

Oh I'm worse than that. I worked for Edward Jones for a while, and have a Series 7, but the knowledge is a bit far back for me. I also think they make it much more involved than it really is.

"Let me make sense of investing for you, here, let me talk over your head so you'll just hand me the money."

Pretty much. Investing isn't and doesn't have to be complex at all for the majority of us investors but financial advisors and "wealth managers" think otherwise. I put their skills, expertise, and level of effort put in vs their pay about as high as I do most realtors......which isn't saying much. It's a racket in most cases, IMO.

[bimmer456]

Originally Posted by VisualEcho

Oh I'm worse than that. I worked for Edward Jones for a while, and have a Series 7, but the knowledge is a bit far back for me. I also think they make it much more involved than it really is.

"Let me make sense of investing for you, here, let me talk over your head so you'll just hand me the money."

I would go online and compare apples to apples. Do your own research and common sense instead of listening to those yahoos.

[wdb]

Originally Posted by 2000cs

I would go for a portfolio of Muni bonds if you have to have government bonds, or A-rated or higher corporate bonds if you have to have bonds.

I'm by no means an expert on this topic! But I found a state-focused bond fund that allows me to avoid state taxes altogether on the proceeds. Might be worth looking into as an option for the bond portion of the portfolio.