long term investing
long term investing questions and answers
Learn about long term investing at the number one young investor website Teen Analyst.
Q: Long term stock investing for college student?
I am a college student and I was just getting into stocks. I was looking for what you people may think would be wise investments for me for long term. I currently own some MCD, and INTC because I can't really imagine either ever going away. They can probably be seen by most as a leader of their industries.
Anyway is there any suggestions that you people may have for long term college student that can handle more risk?
My next buy that I was looking into was GE
A: no load, low cost mutual funds with a brokerage
Q: Are we investors suckers for the mantra "long term investing"?
when every hedge fund and politician out there is causing these huge swings and ruining the markets? I have been in the markets for about 11 years and have barely made a dime by LONG TERM INVESTING. Everyone always says during meltdowns like this, DONT FEAR, or THIS IS A BUYING OPPORTUNITY...Give me a break....This isn't your fathers market...this is a uncontrolled casino playing us all like little puppets.....and now here we are THOSE THAT STAYED IN FOR LONG TERM stuck here again just like the the DOT COM CRASH....What is long term anymore? 20, 30, 50, 100 YEARS?
A: Long term is 60 years, give or take a few. I've been investing since I was in my early 20s and am now 55. I retired when I was 47 and never have to work again.
Long term investing worked VERY well for me.
What asset allocation do you hold? Do you have any emerging markets? (over the past 10 years my emerging markets went up 14.46%) Foreign? REITs? How much do you pay in fees? Are you re-balancing? What % do you have in bonds? Do you use a 'financial advisor'? If so, studies show that hurts your returns a lot because of the fees.
Go to www.saveyournestegg.com if you don't know the answers I asked above and you can also email me from there. I'll try to help you if I can.
Q: What are the best companies to start a portfolio with for 'safe' investing for long term?
Ashamed to say I'm 39 and just now thinking of this. I had some serious health issues that set me back big time. I'm single, ready to adopt and really need guidance with this.
A: You should invest in a diversified mix of stocks, bonds, and money market funds. You want to buy a diversified portfolio of stocks as individual stocks are too risky. Most folks have a dificult time buying a properly balanced portfoilio of stocks on their own. They will misbalance their portfolio by buying all small stocks or all growth stocks, or some other misbalanced assortment of stocks. Unless you know what you are doing, it is best to buy mutual funds. I like Vanguard.com, other people like Fidelity, TIAA-CREF, and DFA. Buy no-load, low cost funds. If you are like most people you will invest part of your money aggressively in stock funds, and part conservatively in money market funds and bond funds. Vanguard.com has an on-line questionnaire which will give you an idea of how to do "Asset Allocation," determining how much to put in each type of fund.
If your company offers a 401K plan at work, try to invest the most you can. The money grows tax free, and some companies will match your contribution. Investing in a mutual fund IRA is also a good idea.
I like index funds. Because of their broad diversification, you are less likely to have a dramatic drop in value. They also have the lowest expenses. For stock funds, I would suggest putting ~70-80% of your money in the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund. and ~20-30% in a foreign stock index fund. However, there are many different opinions out there on what the best mutual funds are. Read the links below and form your own opinion.
Buying a house instead of renting will save you a lot of money in the long run. You don't have to pay rent and you build equity in your house instead. Buying rental property can also be a good investment. However, being a landlord can be hard work, and many people are not good at it. If you don't know how to handle deadbeat renters, you can have trouble.
If you have high-interest debt, like credit cards, it is best to pay this off first before trying most of the investment ideas above. You should also have 3-6 months of salary saved up as an emergency fund in a bank or money market fund before trying more risky investments.
Believing advice you get on Yahoo answers can be risky, so read these websites for further information. If you find it too confusing, contact a professional financial advisor. They will charge you significant commissions, however.
Sources:
http://www.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/planningeducation
http://www.fool.com/school.htm
http://sec.gov/investor/pubs/assetallocation.htm
http://www.diehards.org/readsites.htm
http://finance.yahoo.com/education/begin_investing
http://finance.yahoo.com/funds/basics
Asset Allocation Calculators
(Determining how much to put in stocks and how much into bonds and money markets is a personal decision depending on your financial status. These Asset Allocation questionaires give you a rough idea how to do this. I like Vanguard best, but try some of the other sites as well.)
https://flagship.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/FundsInvQuestionnaire?cbdInitTransUrl=https%3A//flagship.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/planningeducation/education
https://ais2.tiaa-cref.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects.exe/DTAssetAlcEval
http://www.ifa.com/SurveyNET/index.aspx
Web forum: http://www.diehards.org/
(Many investment web forums are overrun by scam artists. This one seems the most legitimate site.)
Q: Long term, Investing in appartment is good ?
If one has to invest on real estate, Investing in appartment is good or a house (please answer this with India centric)
A: apartments are never the better investment. In an apartment your investing in a structure that depreciates and paying monthly maintenance fees. In a house your investing in land.
Q: Want to know if I buy Stocks on etrade can I keep the stocks For long term investing or will I have to trade?
them On a daily basis??
A: You can keep stock long term in your brokerage account BUT e-trade charges an account service fee (ASF) of $40.00 each quarter unless you qualify for exemption.
Q: Is investing in a long-term IRA (higher percent) a better investment than a short term one?
Does it make sense to get 2.8% for a 3 year IRA and risk losing much of the advantage due to inflation and or better rates in the near future? Or do shorter term plans make more sense in this economy?
A: we are talking an ira so this is your retirement which you will not need for a few years so go for the long term!!!
Q: If I'm investing long term, does it matter which big name stock I buy?
I'm thinking INTC, MSFT, Coke, or McD. 10-15 year investment.
donald, yes I do have a retirement fund that I will also be contributing to.
joe, i agree. I plan to be diversified enough, not planting all my money on one company. Not that I think Intel or IBM is going away anytime soon.
A: Look at Exchange Traded Securities. Here you are buying an index and don't need a lot of money so that you can be well diversified. Check out http://finance.yahoo.com/etf They are a low cost and efficient way for an individual to purchase a diversified portfolio,
Q: What’s better for long term investing B & C or A mutual funds?
I have two financial guys. One is saying that B & C’s are better, and the other guy is saying A’s are better. I can’t help wondering if the advice is fiscally motivated though. Which type is best?
A: Good guess; the broker gets paid the sales charge (up to 5%) whether he sells you A, B or C load funds. You pay the load with A immediately, with B & C when you sell (but the load may decline or be converted to A shares over time). Tell both financial guys you want to buy only no-load, low cost funds, or ETFs. Have a look at morningstar.com for more information on the loads and expense ratios of various funds, or google 'exchange traded funds' to learn why they have become so popular.
Q: whats the best bet for long term investing for a 22 yr old? im offered these:?
i already have a 401k with work thats doin awesome!!
so my credit union has investments id like to take advantage of, heres what they offer: what should i choose?
Search funds by: Name Type
Aggressive Growth Fund
Balanced Strategy Fund
Capital Growth Fund
Cornerstone Strategy Fund
Emerging Markets Fund
Extended Market Index Fund
First Start Growth Fund
GNMA Trust
Growth & Income Fund
Growth Fund
Growth and Tax Strategy Fund
High-Yield Opportunities Fund
Income Fund
Income Stock Fund
Intermediate-Term Bond Fund
International Fund
Money Market Fund
Nasdaq-100 Index Fund
Precious Metals and Minerals Fund
S&P 500 Index Fund Member Shares 1
Reward Shares automatic if you qualify.
Science & Technology Fund
Short-Term Bond Fund
Small Cap Stock Fund
Tax Exempt Intermediate-Term Fund
Tax Exempt Long-Term Fund
Tax Exempt Money Market Fund
Tax Exempt Short-Term Fund
Total Return Strategy Fund
Treasury Money Market Trust
Value Fund
World Growth Fund
and im fine with spreading it around in safe-aggressive.
A: Well, if you are interested in investing for retirement, then download my free book at http://www.invest-for-retirement.com and go straight to chapter 23. This goes over some basic guidelines for setting up your portfolio.
In general, I recommend first looking at the fund's costs to eliminate any poor choices. Stick to funds that have the following characteristics:
- No loads or deferred loads. Loads are for suckers.
- No 12b-1 fees. 12b-1 fees are for suckers.
- Annual expense ratio less than 1%
- Annual turnover ratio less than 40% for stock funds
To find info on mutual funds go to http://www.morningstar.com and type in the Fund's ticker symbol at the top left of the page to search for it. Then click through the various tabs to get all the info you need.
Just so you know, most banks and credit unions sell load funds with 12b-1 fees. In general, banks are not a good source for investing. Think about it. They have branches all over the place and have to staff them. Where do you think the money comes from to pay this? From customers. Don't pay their operating expenses. Go to an investment firm that has low-cost mutual funds and keep your investments out of the bank. Check these two firms out:
- http://www.vanguard.com
- http://www.fidelity.com
Q: Which websites would people recommend to understand the fundamentals of investing to achieve long term growth?
I have been lucky as property has been a good investment in the UK. I am now looking to diversify and would like to do some research to discover the best markets or products. Many thanks
A: www.motleyfool.com
Q: What key figures should you look at if you are INVESTING FOR THE LONG TERM?
Someone told me that one of the most important things too look at is leveraged free cash flow because it shows if the company has any cash if it paid all it's debts is that true?
A: i think P/E ratio is very important too look at!
Q: What are some good, reputed companies for long-term (20 years) investing?
Nothing is guaranteed, but I'm considering:
DIS
GE
JNJ
KO
LLY
MSFT
PG
TWX
UPS
WMT
A: You should be a buy & hold investor, not a buy and forget investor... I have no idea which company will be good for 20yrs, but I can tell you that you should keep common stocks to a minimum (less than 2-3% of your portfolio each), and rather invest in No Load mutual funds. They arn't nearly as exciting, but you will likely have better results.
Q: Why does Value Investing work in the long term?
More than following Buffett's strategy blindly, I think the core question is why does his strategy work? (in the long term)
A: Value= Buy low sell High
Momentum=Buy High Sell Higher
Both work. Value requires a high degree of diversification as some value plays will end up worthless (Delta, Worldcom, Enron) . . .Momentum strategies keep you invested in the best stocks dumping the losers.
For more on both try
http://www.fasttrack.net/Fidelity_Vanguard_ETF_pick_best_fund.asp
Q: Investing: Why do long term investors insist on answering all my short term questions?
It's really annoying.
A: To stop you from wasting your money