Posted September 20, 2007 - 14:18 by Julie Rains
Investment
Can the concept of dollar-cost averaging (DCA) help prevent nervousness in investors? (I think so). But what is DCA and is it a viable investment strategy? If you are a seasoned investor with a large lump sum from a 401(k) rollover, property sale, inheritance, or other source, you are likely to think of DCA as second-rate or lower-performing strategy, which it in fact may be. But if you are a beginning or less experienced investor who has just a bit to invest each month ($25 to $100), then the DCA concept may help you feel comfortable in starting to invest and let you relax during market fluctuations.
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Posted September 17, 2007 - 19:44 by Nora Dunn
Investment
You (or somebody you know) can have your cake and eat it too utilizing the Insured Annuity concept. It's a way to provide a guaranteed tax-preferred lifetime income while guaranteeing all your capital too. Too good to be true? Read on....
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Posted September 13, 2007 - 09:59 by Julie Rains
Investment
529 plans for college expenses are very cool but extremely quirky. Cool federal-tax benefits, which were temporary and set to expire in just a few years, have been made permanent by The Pension Protection Act of 2006 (USA). The quirkiness and murkiness remains, however, but is made much clearer by the kind folks at Kiplinger.com, who have provided me (and anyone with an Internet connection) with some great resources, summarized here but waiting your perusal if you’d like.
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Posted September 8, 2007 - 20:41 by Nora Dunn
Investment
I know that Wise Bloggers are smart readers, so you might already know everything there is to know about mutual funds. However I have come across many very smart people who don't always have the full scoop on the mechanics of mutual funds. Hence: this refresher article.
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Posted September 2, 2007 - 03:32 by Philip Brewer
Investment
There are risks in any investment. The market might go down--or the market might go up, but your investment might go down anyway. The company that issued your stock or bond might go bankrupt. Even cash has the (virtually certain) risk that it'll be worth a bit less next month due to inflation. There are a couple of investments that eliminate almost all these risks: TIPS and I-Bonds.
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Posted August 15, 2007 - 03:21 by Philip Brewer
Investment
Your 401(k) is not an investment. Neither is your IRA. Those are
legal compartments for holding investments. Your investments are the mutual funds, stocks, bonds, and so on that you've bought. The compartments are where you keep your investments.
The distinction makes a difference. When you decide where to invest your money--what investments to buy--you should ignore the compartments. Deciding what compartment to use for each individual investment should come later.
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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.
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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.
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Posted July 17, 2007 - 18:08 by Philip Brewer
Investment
Let's say you've paid off any debt, except maybe a low-rate mortgage or student loan, and you've started saving the 3-6 month's spending money that all the books say you ought to have. So, where do you put that savings? An option with the maximum safety and considerable flexibility is treasury bills.
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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"
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