Looking for finacial and investment advice , can anyone give me a hand?

[StarKnightX]

So after completing my taxes a couple weeks ago I ended up signing up for mint.com , something that I'd been meaning to do for quite a while. Looking over things there really help get into my head that I need to start really doing something with my money and start investing it , but I really don't know where to start or what's a good idea. Despite all the articles of this nature that I've read online most of them seem to assume that you already have some minor investment experience.

Right now I have a decent amount of money saved up but it's all in general checking and savings accounts. At a glance I have:
Wachovia/Wells Fargo - 1 checking , 1 savings and 1 WaytoSave (advanced savings) accounts. These are my main accounts.
PEFCU - 1 checking and 1 savings account
2 credit cards , 1 rarely used , both payed off at end of every month
401k with my employer that I get matching investment with
Stocks with my company , both bought on my own and earned through working in the company

Right now the only thing I have in my mind is trying to decide what to do about my two sets of bank accounts. Don't know if I should keep both open (possibly keep just a certain amount in one , more in the other) or close one of the sets down. Other than that I've been thinking about CDs and buying other stocks , but again don't really know where to start.

 

[mtxbass1]

Congrats on wanting to improve your situation.

What are your goals? What do you want to do with your money? What are you looking for? Do you have an emergency fund? Are you in debt?

 

[Capitalizt]

Max out the 401k to the matching limit. You'll never beat that return. Apart from that you might consider dollar cost averaging into a Roth IRA, putting 5-10% of your paycheck in every payday. You can set up automatic direct deposit with Tiaa-Cref or Vanguard. I recommend broad index or value funds...nothing that is managed by a fund manager. Those have higher expenses and typically don't do as well as the index over the long haul.

 

[StarKnightX]

[quote name='mtxbass1']Congrats on wanting to improve your situation.

What are your goals? What do you want to do with your money? What are you looking for? Do you have an emergency fund? Are you in debt?[/QUOTE]

No debt. I'm pretty sure I have enough stored away to be considered an emergency fund , but opinions seem to vary on how much is enough. What I'm looking for is mainly just to get more out of my money , since I know that keeping it in checking/savings accounts is hardly the most productive use of it.

[quote name='Capitalizt']Max out the 401k to the matching limit. You'll never beat that return. Apart from that you might consider dollar cost averaging into a Roth IRA, putting 5-10% of your paycheck in every payday. You can set up automatic direct deposit with Tiaa-Cref or Vanguard. I recommend broad index or value funds...nothing that is managed by a fund manager. Those have higher expenses and typically don't do as well as the index over the long haul.[/QUOTE]

Already have the 401k matched. Did that right away when given the chance. Might look into the other stuff.

 

[mtxbass1]

[quote name='StarKnightX']No debt. I'm pretty sure I have enough stored away to be considered an emergency fund , but opinions seem to vary on how much is enough. What I'm looking for is mainly just to get more out of my money , since I know that keeping it in checking/savings accounts is hardly the most productive use of it.



Already have the 401k matched. Did that right away when given the chance. Might look into the other stuff.[/QUOTE]

If you have no debt (mortgage?), a large emergency fund, and are looking to get more out of your money then you do have options.

Capitalizt already mentioned index funds, etc. There is a world of investment opportunities available to you at this point in the game.

I invest with Fidelity, Vanguard, and e-trade. I prefer Fidelity between all of those, just due to ease of use and the idea that many of their funds have no (or very low) fees or cost of entry. Several of the targeted Fidelity funds only require a minimum investment, or a constant investment over time.

If you want to know more about investments and what terms mean, go over to Investopedia.com and read to your hearts content.

We had(have?) a stock market group on here under social groups, but it's not very active. You would have myself and a few others that regularly comment in there, but for the most part it's stagnant.

 

[Afflicted]

First off... after maxing out your 401K for company match. If you are saving for retirement you should max an IRA (traditional for tax saving now and if you think your tax bracket will be lower when you retire, or Roth for tax saving later or you think your tax bracket will be higher when you retire)

As far as how to invest and where, well there are a lot of factors that go into this. Your age, your goals, how much risk tolerance you have, etc... The important thing is to be able to sleep at night.

The most important lesson is to diversify, diversify, diversify. I've learned over the years there is no shame in keeping a portion of your portfolio in bank CD's. Now the rates are horrid but when they hit 5% lock in a bit for long term. Throw some other at the market... stocks, bonds, mutual funds. It's always nice when the bottom falls out to have those CD's still chugging along...

Also one thing you mentioned that concerns me...

'Stocks with my company , both bought on my own and earned through working in the company'

Be very careful investing heavily where you work. In a 401K, this is considered the highest risk you can take and it's very easy let your emotions get the best of you when it's the company you work for. Also if it goes bankrupt do you really want to lose both your job and your savings in one lump? *note* This is general advice since I have no idea where you work.

 

[StarKnightX]

[quote name='Afflicted']The most important lesson is to diversify, diversify, diversify. I've learned over the years there is no shame in keeping a portion of your portfolio in bank CD's. Now the rates are horrid but when they hit 5% lock in a bit for long term. Throw some other at the market... stocks, bonds, mutual funds. It's always nice when the bottom falls out to have those CD's still chugging along...

Also one thing you mentioned that concerns me...

'Stocks with my company , both bought on my own and earned through working in the company'

Be very careful investing heavily where you work. In a 401K, this is considered the highest risk you can take and it's very easy let your emotions get the best of you when it's the company you work for. Also if it goes bankrupt do you really want to lose both your job and your savings in one lump? *note* This is general advice since I have no idea where you work.[/QUOTE]

Is there any popular or recommended division of funds within a portfolio?

Given that I work at Publix , the biggest grocery chain in the south , I don't think I have to worry about the company going bankrupt (losing my job is a different story , but I'm not worried about that right now either). That in mind , most of my company stocks I earned just by working , very little was actually purchased with my own money.

 

[Afflicted]

[quote name='StarKnightX']Is there any popular or recommended division of funds within a portfolio?

Given that I work at Publix , the biggest grocery chain in the south , I don't think I have to worry about the company going bankrupt (losing my job is a different story , but I'm not worried about that right now either). That in mind , most of my company stocks I earned just by working , very little was actually purchased with my own money.[/QUOTE]

I think the division is mostly personal preference and how much you enjoy risk. Fidelity/Vanguard/TRowePrice/etc now have target funds that are based off when you wish to retire that change the holding based on time from retirement so those are ok places to start...

I once worked for Winn Dixie... So I'm not certain that I'd say the biggest grocery chain in the south can't go bankrupt.

edit: used the laughing smilie... then realized that it may be taken to be smartassed which was not my intent...

 

[dopa345]

First, you should diversify away from your own company's stock as Afflicted suggests, even if you work for a rock solid blue-chip company. I wouldn't purchase any extra stock outside of what you're getting as part of your regular employee compensation.

Second, if you are new in investing, I would suggest mutual funds rather that individual stocks, at least for now until you get more experience in the market. Index funds are always a good choice; low costs and guaranteed to match the market. Put the bulk in an S&P 500 index fund (around 50%) and some in small cap and an international stock funds (25% each). Vanguard is a excellent option; they have the lowest costs by far compared to other brokerages.

 

[mtxbass1]

[quote name='StarKnightX']Is there any popular or recommended division of funds within a portfolio?

Given that I work at Publix , the biggest grocery chain in the south , I don't think I have to worry about the company going bankrupt (losing my job is a different story , but I'm not worried about that right now either). That in mind , most of my company stocks I earned just by working , very little was actually purchased with my own money.[/QUOTE]

Publix is one of the best food retailers in the South and is growing. You're fine there.

There are some rules that some people swear by in regards to how much to invest and where, but it's really your own personal decision and what you feel comfortable with. I'm guessing you're pretty young, so I wouldn't be afraid of taking more risk right now.

 

[BillyBob29]

Definately some good advice in this thread.

Seeing how you are young, your investment portfolio should be more risk tolerant at this point. Basically, you have time to recover from losses should an investment go bad. As you age, you get more conservative and move funds away from riskier assets.

Now taking more risk as you are young DOES NOT mean blindly throwing money around at the latest hot investment idea you over-hear the paperboy talking about. It means taking educated risks.

Where you allocate your funds is obviously a personal choice but my opinion on where to put your extra funds is as follows:

20% - S&P index - relatively safe money. Should provide a roughly 8% return over the long term.
30% - Emerging markets funds focused on China, India and Brazil....I find Brazil to be the most attractive at this point.
30% - Tech fund but not Microsoft, Intel, Cisco tech.....stay away from the giants that haven't really made worthwhile progress in the past decade.
20% - Commodities - oil, gold silver, copper - China continues to buy them and the dollar continues its death spiral. Big time inflation could be just around the corner. This could be a good hedge.

At this point I'm not really investing in "America," I'm investing in American companies that have extensive overseas operations where economies are actually growing as a result of real world demand and population trends not the "growth" we are seeing here in the US which is basically just Fed manipulation.