Posted September 6, 2007 - 12:08 by Julie Rains
Personal Finance
You may have encountered some financial talk at cocktail parties or neighborhood cookouts. The discussions may have centered on low mortgage rates, debt consolidation deals, and skyrocketing stocks. Sorting through who really knows what they’re doing and who doesn’t can be tricky but, over time, if you watch the game enough, you’ll figure out who the experts are. Here's my take on the characteristics of the astute investor.
full story
Posted August 29, 2007 - 03:13 by Philip Brewer
Personal Finance
If you're one of the people whose investment goal is simply the maximum long-term investment return with the least effort on your part, then you're not going to find a better investment book than John C. Bogle's The Little Book of Common Sense Investing.
full story
Posted August 23, 2007 - 17:57 by Nora Dunn
Personal Finance
I don't care who you are. (Well, actually I do, otherwise I wouldn't be writing this).
What I mean, is I don't care about your background, education, financial prowess, or absolute lack thereof.
You need a Financial Planner!
Here are a few things to consider in your search for the perfect Financial Planner and why you even need one at all.
full story
Posted August 16, 2007 - 03:15 by Philip Brewer
Personal Finance
Along about the middle of the dot-com boom--when the market had already had two years of 20% annual gains--I read an article that suggested that individual investors had no need of a cash reserve, because they could use credit cards in an emergency.
As I explained in my article about the
credit squeeze , I think keeping a cash reserve is especially important right now, but I mention this article because I think it highlights a fundamental distinction in the way people think about investment returns.
full story
Posted July 23, 2007 - 08:08 by Philip Brewer
Career and Income, Investment
I read a lot of investment books. I read mainstream books, where the author assumes the future is going to be a lot like the recent past, but I also like the "economic disaster" books where the author warns that something (government debt, globalization, inflation, energy crisis, stock market crash, real estate debt, hedge funds, derivitives, etc.) will send the economy off the rails. Their portfolio recommendations are so different (stocks, bonds and money markets versus gold, silver, and stockpiled food) that it's hard to find the right path. There is one thing, though, that's always a good investment: Yourself.
full story
Posted July 19, 2007 - 16:35 by Julie Rains
Investment
Are you eager to get started in stock-market investing but want to take it slow and easy at first? A few of the simplest ways to get in are: open a DRIP (dividend reinvestment plan) account; open a ShareBuilder account; or open an account with an online discount brokerage firm.Note: I’ve intentionally left out mutual fund investing for now because I am focusing on investing in individual stocks for this post. Just to let you know, though, I moved from DRIPs to mutual-fund investing, and then to mutual fund/stock investing via a TD Waterhouse account (now TD Ameritrade). Later, I opened an account with ShareBuilder on behalf of my oldest son with the goal of teaching him about stock-market investing.
full story
My first-ever individual stock holding was a Duke Power (now Duke Energy) share that I acquired through its Dividend Reinvestment Plan or DRIP. I don’t recall every detail but at the time, Duke Power was my utility company, sent me a bill every month, and enclosed a notice about its DRIP, which was available to its customers.
Continue reading "Slow DRIP into investing"
Permalink | 1 comment
This guest post is by Leo from Zen Habits. If you like this post, check out his site or subscribe to his feed.
No matter how much you increase your income, you'll never increase your net worth if you spend it all on flatscreen TVs, double monitors, a swish home office, or a pimped-out ride. But the good news is that with a few minor adjustments to your lifestyle, you can set up your finances to get to $1 million (or more) without killing yourself or your pocketbook.
Continue reading "10 Frugalfying Ways to get to $1 Million"
Permalink | 34 comments
It might seem like something of a no-brainer to ask for professional investment advice, particularly about retirement. That said, there's still an astonishing number of people I know who don't. They either go it alone, wading through jargon that they don't understand and desperately trying to make numbers that don't mean anything to them mean something, or the guess and hope they get lucky, or they avoid the topic altogether.
Continue reading "Intimidated by Retirement Investing? Get Professional Help!"
Permalink | 2 comments
Last night's MegaMillions drawing was for $370 million dollars. They say that money doesn't buy happiness, but I've got enough happiness right now. So I could totally use $370 million for, say, shoes.
Did I say 'shoes'? I meant 'for smart investing'. In shoes.
Continue reading "MegaMillions - Mo' Money Mo' Problems?"
Permalink | 5 comments
Subscribe to all Wise Bread articles
Subscribe
All comments