i'm obv falling on the Verizon side of the "Verizon vs ATT" debate, with my biases in mind here's a good article for comparing android vs iphone market ... http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2010/07/12/so-you-want-to-be-an-android-developer/
i readily admit i have no idea what im talking about... ive owned vz for the last six months waiting for the iphone pop. the poster who mentioned wireless saturation is pretty spot on, but it seems like the market is reacting more from perception and emotion than fundamentals at this point. the perception that verizon will have won the iphone war with att will hopefully drive the price back up to 32+. in the meantime, ill take the 6% yield and keep my eye on the wire. i dont think verizon can lose in this situation: they are already leading the android pack and the crown jewel of the iphone should only add value. one of the real winners in apples rise is a company called skyworks solutions. they are (were) a boutique semiconductor manufacturer that now has chips in every wireless device under the sun. every time apple releases a product and engadget/gizmodo tears the thing apart, there are two or three swks components buried in the device. a lot of professionals see skyworks as a potential takeover target, but even if they stay solo they are sitting on a truckload of cash, their margins are rising year over year, and they are outperforming their sector and most major indexes since the bottom. q3 earnings are announced next week and the semiconductor industry notoriously reports good numbers for this quarter. im hoping for 20+ by then.
Question, I'm just out of college, doing an internship, but still not making a whole lot of money. Can I start investing smaller amounts like 50-100 a month just to get it started, then once I make some more money I will up it? I don't know a whole lot about investing money, but I would like to start putting some away
yea. Go to Edward Jones. I do $50/month. Been doing it for 3 or 4 years now. They're not publicly traded so they don't have to do anything drastic to try to meet their earnings target every quarter.
Anyone have a Vanguard 401(k)? Just started mine (think my first contribution will be on my paycheck on the 15th). I wasn't sure what exactly to go with, so I just picked the "Target 2050" Fund. I just wanted to get my money into something right away because I know I want to get it started. I was planning on sitting down and customizing it at some point, but my parents told me their Vanguard fund they have had been very good to them, so maybe that wasn't such a bad choice. My question is this...am I doing enough? Should I be looking at other stuff? I'm putting in 3% right now and my employer matches up to 6% dollar for dollar. I set up my percentage increase to go up by one percentage point every year, maxing at 15%. I did that because I'm on an entry level salary and I've got loans to pay off, so I need the cash flow. I'm 22...am I doing enough or is there other stuff I should be doing, or something smarter?
appreciate this insight. always good to get opinions from current investors. as i look over stuff i think i'm starting to believe what some have posted. the telecom sector is tapped and both companies only have so far to go. i guess my question no comes when comparing those companies to a company like GE. they all meet my "value" criteria, but does GE have a bit more upside growth wise than the other two?
ill just go right out and say it that i Vanguard. their overall approach is something i subscribe too: index mutual funds for long-term IRA investments. like i mentioned to a poster up above, unless you really know what's going on, broad index mutual funds can do good work for you. Vanguard Target Ret funds do just last, except that they re allocate towards to more conservative investments as you get closer to retirement. so for your initial 401k investment i think it's on the money ... in terms of outside stuff? tough to say. IMO you need to differentiate "savings" vs "investing." both are important but for different reasons. if you "invest" i think ideally it's with money you don't need (long-term). if you are "saving" it's money that you are putting away but maybe a couple years from now you'd like to have. id say that's the first debate you need to have ...
That's what I'm thinking with the Target fund. I really have no idea what I'm doing, so I figure that one is my best bet. I did read that it starts to go to more conservative as you near retirement, but isn't that what makes sense? Since at that point you would want a smaller return to avoid the risk of losing a big chunk? It makes sense to me, but I have an English degree, so... I do allocate a very small amount per check toward a very small savings account that I just started, I figure as I get more disposable income I'll up the amount I put into it. I don't really have any plans for it, but I figure it'll come in handy in the next 3-5 years as I start to make more major purchases.
i use vanguard for my 401k and personal mutual fund investments. it is a great place to invest due to low costs associated with most of their funds. the difference of .25% in expenses over the life of a retirement fund is pretty staggering at the end of the day. contribute 6% at the very least. by not grabbing all of the company match, you are essentially turning down free money. you wont miss 3% of your paycheck.
it's one theory towards investing but when thinking about 401ks/IRAs IMO it makes a lot of sense. i can tell you that i personally worked with a lot of near retirees in '08 that had waaaaaay too much money in stocks. they were about 55 years old but still about 100% in stock. if you could've gotten 30% of your portfolio more conservative it woulda made a big difference ... all the big companies, Fidelity, Vanguard, Schwab etc are coming out with Target Retirement funds these days ...
Whelp i just dumped 25k into Fannie Mae- gonna hold it for 18 months and see what happens- I figure it might double or even triple.... fuck it- I'm young and greedy
when you put it that way it makes a lot of sense...I might think about upping the contribution soon. I went with 3% because I didn't want to spend too much of my paycheck. part of that was because I was signing up for every benefit at the same time and the deductions from each check were starting to add up so I was freaked the fuck out and went with 3%.
Great thread. I start taking grad classes for the CFP next month. GFA definitely stick with the target funds. I understand money is tight but try budgeting that extra 3% . You are throwing away money. However you also need an emergency fund so its what ever you can afford. Back to your 401k, check to see when you are vested your companies match. If it takes three years to be vested, but you plan to leave in two the stash the extra cash into a savings account then Roth.
Your first mistake is investing in C shares. Over time you will lose thousands. Bite the bullet and pay 5.75%.
Yeah definitely put in all 6% if you are getting free money. Like Ralf said you will never miss what you never have. Even though you aren't maxing out at first, I would do as much as you can do and definitely the minimum 6% since your employer will match it dollar for dollar.
Employer matching is a 100% ror right off the bat. You've already doubled your money before it even hits the market. Max out your contribution. Plus your 401k is before tax dollars so it lowers your tax liability
haven't read full thread but props to you. I always kind of resented the kids that got everything from their parents and didn't appreciate it at all while the rest of us were accumulating a ton of debt just to get a degree. Props for realizing you're blessed and setting up for your future instead of blowing all your dough
I've been seeing the same thing. One article was saying prices are rising due to a cut in production.
yeah i still can't figure out what's so great about them. but beating their estimates seems like a hot topic today. maybe they are pretty much "the market" when it comes to aluminum?
I don't know too much about metals but they have an 11.23b market cap so I think that's the biggest in the industry but I could be wrong.
quick blurb from CNNMoney: sounds like if this rally can hold through the next quarter a stock like this could be a big play. metals would move cyclically, amirite? as the economy gets better so would this stock? was trading as high as $40 in 08, closed @ $11 today ...
Yea I'm pretty sure they do. More companies/people have money to invest into fixed assets i.e. buildings so it seems aluminum production would go on the rise. I thought production was falling but I guess I was wrong.
we're vested immediately. I'm planning to up the contribution as soon as I get around to it. I'm better off doing that instead of spending that extra 3% on mcdonalds or whatever dumbass thing I spend my money on.
talk about fixed income plox. Rabid Gopher we need you to start posting as well ... is there a particular junk bond fund out there you like? that's reasonably affordable? (invest $500-$1000)
Nice. Actually working on some bond stuff right now Was he the Minnesota post that use to work at a hedge fund or something of the sort.
I've got some awesome bonds for people in Texas. 7%, tax free, investment grade, and not subject to AMT. Holla at me if you in that lone star state
Yea man definitely. Im just starting so I'm studying for my 6 & 63 right now then 7 & 66 in November.
yeah he was an analyst on high-yield fixed income. would be nice to get insight on non-equities ITT passed the 7 last week
Without a doubt. I'm always up for getting insight from the guys who've been in the market longer. Congrats how hard was it?
7 was tough but the company gave us all 3 weeks to prep so we got through it pretty unscathed. i have some friends that took it but had to cram for it in about a week ... that sounds hard IYAM. really though as long as you can memorize shit you'll be straight. not like the LSAT or anything ...
I feel like such an idiot in this thread...I know what half of this shit is. Will someone ask me something about insurance so I feel smart
awesome, I appreciate the information you provided. If you were to go get one of these funds, where would you go? Not saying you would go, or I would go....just hypothetically speaking.
Ok cool. I interviewed with Farmers when I was thinking about going the P/C route. Really good company.
Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab, any big fund company has a version. you can probably find something where you currently invest.
yeah, great benefits and I love my coworkers so far a lot of work, but the day zips by when you're busy