Online Investing

[timhollerbach]

Does anyone on here do online investing? If so, where do you do it, E*Trade, Scottrade, etc? Any pros/cons to them?

I'd like to hear some peronal experiences, if its the best thing you did, wish you never did it?

I'd like to do some online investing, I want to be responsible for my wealth/failure, I feel it might be the best route to go, but I don't know, I don't know anyone that has done it. My step dad has made millions on the stock market doing his own trading, I've talked to him and got some pointers, but he is not familiar with the online companies, as he does all his stuff the old fashion way.

[Aaron]

I'm no financial adviser...but it's probably best to just open an account with Merrill Lynch or Ed Jones, unless you're Gordon Gekko...

If you're looking for long-term, ultra-secure, low-yield securites you can try treasurydirect.gov, it's really easy and very secure since it's operated by the US Treasury.

[My_Two_Cents]

I "dabble" with some money in a Scottrade account, but it's for some specific stocks and ETF's I wanted to personally manage. My bro-in-law has been using a financial planner, who has really been good to him, and I think I'm going to give the guy a chunk of $$ to work his magic. I've learned over the years that I'm no financial genius, and I need someone who knows what they are doing. Essentially, I want someone who will take my $$ and grow it steadily through bulls and bears by moving it to the best places given the economy of the day/week/month/year. The days of simply putting your money in mutual funds and expecting a steady 6-10% annual return are long gone in today's financially volatile environment.

[timhollerbach]

thanks for the info guys, thats the type of information I'm lookin' for!!

I have a "financial guy"....he takes care of my retirements, and don't get me wrong, they are doing pretty good, even in this economy....but with his company, I'm limited to what I can invest in.....only if they "rep" that specific fund (for instance, there is only maybe 100 mutual funds to choose from, where I know there are 1000's of them out there).....or whatever they call it....I'll keep doing what I'm doing with him, but just looking for something else to "dabble" as you say......

Its a scary venture, because I'm not a financial guru or anything.....but I've done alright, and lookin' to "broaden my horizon"....I guess......

[jkwest]

the only online investing I do is called Amazon..

[My_Two_Cents]

I'm just glad I ignored Jkwest's advice back in (2009?) not to buy gold.

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by Ricshoe

I "dabble" with some money in a Scottrade account

And that's all you should really do with those type of things.... Heck, even my 18 year old Nephew has an account for online-trading, but it's really more of a situation where my brother wanted him to learn a bit (by becoming interested in doing research... it's no substitute for formal education!) and use it as a hobby...

Most people I know that "Day-trade" or whatever you want to call it, do it as a hobby, and not with ANY significant portion of their savings.... It's kind of like the people I know who play online poker.... none of them do it to try to get rich or because they think it's an "investment" (although Day-trading is much more "investment" related than playing poker, I'm just trying to make the analogy that it's a hobby to these people, and nothing more)

My wife and I have a Franklin-Templeton "Corefolio" account/portfolio/whatever you want to call it. Diversified a little, with the bulk being mutual funds (which is really a form of diversification in and of itself) Not doing so hot right now, but getting better.... we put a "Hunk" in about 4 years ago perhaps, and haven't touched it since..... Patience is the golden-rule of investing. We want something for 20 years from now (it's not our retirement fund however) not something to pull out for a vacation in a few years.

[jkwest]

Originally Posted by Ricshoe

I'm just glad I ignored Jkwest's advice back in (2009?) not to buy gold.

me too!!!

[Aaron]

Originally Posted by Ricshoe

I'm just glad I ignored Jkwest's advice back in (2009?) not to buy gold.

Lol I had a summer job in 8th grade (2005) and saved every dime I made. I had like $1500 when school started, and I BEGGED my mom to let me buy 4ozs of gold ($400/oz back then) to keep until I graduated high school so I would have extra cash when I started college. She refused to let me and said it was a waste of money, so I just bought a ton of expensive clothes. Gold was almost $1,000/oz when I graduated in 09....and now it's $1500. She's still on my hit list for that..

[My_Two_Cents]

Originally Posted by Aaron

Lol I had a summer job in 8th grade (2005) and saved every dime I made. I had like $1500 when school started, and I BEGGED my mom to let me buy 4ozs of gold ($400/oz back then) to keep until I graduated high school so I would have extra cash when I started college. She refused to let me and said it was a waste of money, so I just bought a ton of expensive clothes. Gold was almost $1,000/oz when I graduated in 09....and now it's $1500. She's still on my hit list for that..

When my Father died back in '95, I was helping my Mom go through things. Stuck in a cardboard box under his desk were 8-10 SLEEVES of solid gold coins he had purchased as a hedge/investment. I never totaled how much was there, but it was probably in the 10-15 pound range or more. I asked her last year what she ever did with the coins and she told me that she kept a little, but sold-off most and put the money into their investment account. For a brief second, I felt like doing this!

[timhollerbach]

Originally Posted by Beta Man

And that's all you should really do with those type of things.... Heck, even my 18 year old Nephew has an account for online-trading, but it's really more of a situation where my brother wanted him to learn a bit (by becoming interested in doing research... it's no substitute for formal education!) and use it as a hobby...

Most people I know that "Day-trade" or whatever you want to call it, do it as a hobby, and not with ANY significant portion of their savings.... It's kind of like the people I know who play online poker.... none of them do it to try to get rich or because they think it's an "investment" (although Day-trading is much more "investment" related than playing poker, I'm just trying to make the analogy that it's a hobby to these people, and nothing more)

My wife and I have a Franklin-Templeton "Corefolio" account/portfolio/whatever you want to call it. Diversified a little, with the bulk being mutual funds (which is really a form of diversification in and of itself) Not doing so hot right now, but getting better.... we put a "Hunk" in about 4 years ago perhaps, and haven't touched it since..... Patience is the golden-rule of investing. We want something for 20 years from now (it's not our retirement fund however) not something to pull out for a vacation in a few years.

Thats great info......doing it as a "hobby" is a great way to put it.....thats what I'm looking to do, nothing to "retire" on or anything like that, I'm gonna be realistic....but I dont' want to loose what I put in....I'd like to at least make more than if it was sitting in my savings or a CD.....=).....I like your analogy with being like online poker players...=)