Not looking for investment advice. However interested to know how hackrs in here invest their money instead of purchasing a car or put cash as lease down payment.
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Interesting question… Would love to see some responses. If OP doesn’t mind, investment advice also welcome. 401k maxxed out, currently have extra cash building in a ~2% online bank. Any opinions on nria.net?
(sepidpooy, my apologies - not trying to derail your thread, if you want me to cease and desist, just say so…)
IRA is split between BSPAX and FSTVX
Roth IRA is FNCMX
We have a smallish account where the wife and I compete picking individual stocks. I don’t know if it’s really investing as much as semi-informed gambling. I just got out of EW (where I’m currently consulting) for GES. Wifey picked AMZN when it was in the 600’s so that’s hard to beat haha.
I feel that as an uneducated person (in terms of finance and investing) that index funds are really a good method. I can’t likely beat the market long-term so why not just buy a slice of the whole market with an S&P index with the lowest cost fund I can find?
I buy some silver, as much as a nerdy hobby as an investment. I think long-term metals are going to climb. I could be wrong.
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I currently have my 401k and max out the contributions to that as fast as I can. For my normal savings, as @sportsCar mentioned above, I use the Goldman Sachs high yield savings account for cash that i think i might want to use right away and have a brokerage through Chase/JPMorgan where I pick my own stocks.
Because you see a lot of options here and the return is 2% or more, the advice of finance gurus like Suze Orman never made sense, your cash could do more for you than going into a depreciating asset. Why ever pay cash?
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There is a lot of cash on the sideline. Some of these CD’s are paying 3%+
Some say the markets are overheated. Stay away from p2p lending such as lending club
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I contribute to get the full company match at work for the 401K. Which is like 6% for their max 3%. I also have a Roth thru Vanguard that i max out yearly. Note, 401K max as people often say is not a full max. Most people mean they contribute the minimum required to get the maximum offered by their employer. Maxing out your 401K truly means that you are contributing 18500USD which is the maximum IRS allows an individual to contribute to his/her 401K in a single year. Therefore, if you’re not contributing that amount, don’t say you’re maxing out your 401K.
These days, I’m saving in increments of 10K. Per research, returns are lousy for such a small amount especially if you’re looking at short term investing. For example, saving to buy a house in 2 years there’s barely anything worthwhile to invest in. CD’s are averaging 2% apy which is lousy. Such is my current predicament. Come December, I plan on opening a taxable account with my brokerage source but that’s long term investing. As far as the house savings go, the funds remains in my bank account but I might just throw it in an 18-month CD. Still contemplating if it’s worth the hassle. Also hesitant to invest all my cash due to the current unpredictable nature of the current administration. This whole trade war thing has me on the edge.
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No problem. I will enjoy reading more and learn from hackrs anyway.
Maxing out 401k doesn’t look good if you don’t invest it properly or your investment options are not so great based on the company that you work for it.
For example, My 401k YTD return is even less than a CD return. Mostly my fault to neglect it. The potential tax savings of Roth is the only benefit as far as I can tell since you can grab your money and invest it anywhere you like out side of 401k accounts. However, tax Saving of Roth is not determined and can vary person to person.
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Great question. I am curious to see what others say. I am looking into getting into multiple family real estate (4 units or less to qualify for a regular loan). However it would have to be done out of state as the market here is too pricey.
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My 401k return has been great, more than 7% annual return through wells Fargo via a retirement MF over a 4 year span. Recently did a back door Roth since I am no longer with the company. Next month i begin contributing at new employer where I will ensure that my money is being invested in the right funds.
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based on experience:
mid 20s: contribute 401k to matching company, paying bills, student loan, lease car @1%
30s: max 401k, open Roth IRA, saving 20% down for house. Financed car @36-48 mo term
mid-late30s: building 6mo emergency fund, save in high yield saving, open 529 plan for kids college, and joined leasehackr forum
Interesting article for reading…
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Diversify. I invest in 401k, ira, stocks, bonds, etf, and trade currency. And those who are really investors will realize what i am saying on the other thread when i mentioned about the 45% profit that everyone think i am crazy and risky. Risk is putting all your money in tsla and losing half of it. Or putting $10k in amd 3 years ago which will be worth $150k now. Couldnt take the heat back then when i invested $30k and sold when everyone is telling amd is going bankrupt. Should have trusted my my research about amd technology and financials.
Piece of advice, if your 401k didnt make at least 20% in the last year or so, you meed to rethink your portfolio. And i am talking about at least 50% of those 401k portfolio in bonds and not even growth or value funds.
Sounds like you are giving Buffett a run for his money.
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It’s good to have some bonds for proper diversification. A properly diversified 401k should have 10-20% in bonds in the early years and more in the 40s and 50s. Outside of the 401K it’s good to max your Roth IRA. Until you build a nice cushion most of your investments should be in low cost index funds. Over a 10 year period very few people can beat the S&P 500 low cost index fund. Just come up with a savings plan based on your income and deposit regularly a certain amount into the index fund. I also like to take advantage when banks offer free money to open certain accounts or deposit incremental funds. For example Capital One just offered me $500 to open a money market account. Combined with the 1.88% yield I am going to earn risk free more than 10% annualized which i really like. Some of the online brokers have incentives when you switch or deposit incremental funds so always check before you deposit. Earlier this year I got $300 from E*TRADE just for depositing some new money.
Certainly it’s good to save in almost any format, but Roth may not be the best choice for everyone. It really depends on what your tax situation is now versus what one predicts it will be in the future—and it’s not always so easy to predict, for sure.
That being said, again, I would never discourage saving in a Roth if it’s that or nothing at all.
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I dont have bonds in 401k. Good that someone knows what i am talking about. And i am not giving or soliciting advice here. I am just saying that sometimes everyone needs to look at their portfolio to maximize yheir profits. New investor gravitate to bonds because the old thinking is that bond is safe. But historically, just investing on the index gives you a 8-10% return including all the metldown and crisis
I didn’t have any bonds until last month but started building a position. I like to change my allocation ratios between cash/domestic and foreign stocks/bonds based on my current opinion of the markets and interest rates.
Havent switch to foreign/international investment yet and looking as well since those are low right now. . You know what Buffet say… "Be fearful when others are greedy and be greedy when others are fearful”.
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Some rich guy told all his money is in municipal bonds
Tha’s why all my extra money goes into CDs. Currently over 3% apr.
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