Do you Invest?

[Karried]

I had some bad times when the tech stocks crashed but good luck in other mutual funds.. slow and steady growth.

Do any of you invest in the stock market or have mutual fund accounts?

One of the best pieces of advice I have ever heard was to pay yourself first, right off the top, automatically have 10% of your income go straight (electronic deposits) into diversified mutual funds.

But, now I need to open a new fund because I took mine out but that is a goal for me - to open a new account and have auto deposits.

It seems that you will never find that extra money to invest - but you will! If you even put a small amount away starting now and add to it over the years, you will be wealthy... it is suggested even if you have debt.. try to pay off your highest interest rates first but still add to an emergency fund ( mutual funds - you can take those out when you need to, unlike retirement funds - which you should be adding to as well).

I did that and before I knew it I had a lot of money saved and I never even missed it on a daily basis!

What are your ideas & tips for investing? ( I know, I know... buy low, sell high!)

*This is not investment advice, always consult a financial professional before investing*

[Midtowner]

Mutual funds are a decent low-risk, low reward type of investment. They make up part of a good portfolio. Personally, I'm looking into buying tax liens. Those seem to be a slightly higher risk, but extremely high reward type of investment with very minimal initial outlay.

Anyone have any experience in buying tax liens?

[MadMonk]

I have a 401(k) through my employer (contributing at 6%) and an IRA mutual fund that I've dumped previous 401(k)s into when I changed employers. It can be tough to find the money to invest, but if I can I try to get into the 401(k) at a new employer right from the start so that I never miss the money. Outside of those things, I don't currently invest in anything. I am busy trying to become debt-free though.

So, what's the deal with tax liens Midtowner? How does that work?

[Midtowner]

MM -- as best as I can tell, and I'm still in my initial research steps, you can obtain a list of properties where there is some sort of tax lien against the property usually for unpaid taxes or cleanup fees. You can then inquire on the title (which I would do by going to the county clerk's office and doing a title search) to see what sort of mortgages were on the property, etc. You then go through whatever procedure there is and pay the tax lien.

At that point, you have to furnish some sort of notice (and I'm sure there's a very specific procedure) to the landowner.

The landowner then has (I think) 2 years to pay you the money with interest. If they do not pay you, you take the land. You'll want to do a title search because there is going to likely be a mortgage on it, but not all of the time.

You can then turn around and auction the land, sell it, whatever..

In most cases, I'm assuming the landowner pays, but where they just don't care, don't have the money, etc., you take the land for a song.

Of course, I am in the VERY INITITAL STAGES of looking into this, so I could be completely off base here

[escan]

I looked into it too, Midtowner. I decided that it's an aweful lot of work for a payoff that may (or may not ) come. Instead, we're just focused on purchasing properties at a good price and either renting them out (so we'll own them when we decide to retire) or renovating and selling.

[Midtowner]

escan, I think you're guaranteed at least 8% interest on the liens. That's not really that bad a return, and it's 100% safe.

But yes, it is quite a bit of work. I imagine that if you could do a little volume with that sort of business, you could make some decent money.

[escan]

True....I do like the guaranteed 8%, but think, like you, that one would have to do some pretty good volume to make any substantial earnings. (unless you lucked out and actually got the property)

[Midtowner]

Every once in awhile, you'll find an owner who doesn't care about the property.

[Patrick]

Anyone have any suggestions what Mutual funds to invest with. We pretty much have our money equally diversified right now between large corps, small business, International, Balanced, etc. I'm thinking about diverting more to international stocks...they seem to be growing really well right now, plus we're young, so it's probably worth the risk.

[shotoond]

Learn to take risks. Without ever taking risks in life, you'll never succeed. Period.

[rxis]

This post is for the novice investors.
It's not difficult to invest stocks on your own if you have a keen for business. Although it takes some time and effort the rewards are much sweeter. I wouldn't just start buying stock if you have never choosen your own stock picks before. I'd take some time to get a feel for it and then take the dive. That way you will know when to buy and sell w/o relying solely on fundamentals. But hey its just my own opinion.

I wouldn't get married to diversification but I do think its a good idea. It's just a matter(variables) of your own self. What I do may not work for you and what you do may not work for me.

btw, I don't own stocks anymore but I've been investing for about 8 years. My funds are invested in a business now. It's the kind of risk you shouldn't take unless your willing to take the heat.

[Karried]

Check out Motley Fool.com it used to be free and some parts of it are still, but they offer membership for some of the features - this is some of the best financial information I've ever seen and it's a pleasant experience.

[CMSturgeon]

I currently own one share of stock in Apple Inc. I bought my husband it for our 1st Anniversary, I thought it was a great idea since its the 'paper' anniversary. I know we won't profit off of it, but it's neat. It's a great company. Oh, and our 1st anniversary is actually tomorrow, March 7th. Woohoo.

[mranderson]

Yes. Very heavily. Numerous oil royalties, two rental properties, numerous stocks and bonds including Ford, Microsoft, UAL, and Clear Channel.

[dismayed]

Anyone have any suggestions what Mutual funds to invest with. We pretty much have our money equally diversified right now between large corps, small business, International, Balanced, etc. I'm thinking about diverting more to international stocks...they seem to be growing really well right now, plus we're young, so it's probably worth the risk.

Patrick, look into Morningstar rated mutuals, and pick one that they have highly rated.

[dismayed]

Learn to take risks. Without ever taking risks in life, you'll never succeed. Period.

It really depends on your situation, where you are at in life and what you are comfortable with.

If you're in your 50s or 60s, then you don't have as much time to recover from a stock crash and shouldn't invest in high-risk items. If you're in your 20s or 30s then you can probably take more risks....

[dismayed]

So do any of the rest of you listen to David Ramsey?

[Karried]

I have heard him before.. I like how he encourages people to be debt free.

The one thing I have taken from all investment advice personally is to invest consistently.

Don't try to time the market.. day trading is like gambling... it's risky. Have automatic withdrawals deposited into mutual funds every month - utilize the power of compounding interest. Pay yourself first - ten percent..

You'll have peace of mind and be able to retire comfortably if you start young.

[NE Oasis]

Ultra simple strategy-
1. Regular (small) savings deposit every payday.
2. 401(K) through work (percentage of gross pay) that I intentionally ignore.
3. A four year CD that has been rolling for the past 12.