from Soundmind's and dB's comments... retirement?

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The Eternal Student
Member Since: Oct 08, 2005

So, I'm 23 years old and still in college, but at some point I'd like to retire in... 40-50 years or so. So if it's not too personal, what have yall done to prepare for retirement, if anything?

401k? IRA's? Selling your current business? Planning on your kids supporting you? heh. And when did you start investing into your retirement?

Don't want/need any numbers, I don't want this to be a brag-fest..lol. I'm just curious to see what route yall have taken/will be taking.

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Administrator
Since: Apr 03, 2002


Jan 30, 2006 09:34 am

So you would be OK with retiring at 73?!?! Jeezuz, I want to retire much sooner than that...but then, I don't look at retirement as not working at all, just working when it's more hobby work...

I started at about 25 with stock investing and such with my IRA accounts, which have been pretty beat to hell the last couple years...more of my concentration is on getting to be debt free than invested in retirement accounts. My wife and I debate the merits debt free vs. invested all the time.

My youngest daughter will be in full time school in a year and a half or so, then my wife goes back to work...out plan is to take pretty much 100% of her earnings and throw it into retirement planning, 1/2 off debts and 1/2 into retirement accounts. If one can get their house payed off rapidly a big part of the battle is won right there...

it's different for everybody and nobody ever thinks about it...you are never too young to drop a few bucks a week into some managed IRA fund...

That said, I am not expert, and hardly have hundreds of thousands of dollars put away yet...

I can't spell.
Member
Since: Nov 10, 2005


Jan 30, 2006 09:34 am

Right now, I'm a few years younger than you, and statistically if I invest $240 a month into my IRA by the time I am 50 I'll have a million in there. I've been putting money away each week for about a year now and plan to do so until I'm fifty. My best advice would be to visit www.fool.com it is a great personal investment website with a lot of information written on a level for people who didn't major in personal finances. Basically though the best you can do is put money away consistantly for a long period of time. Hope you find what's right for you.

SM7b the Chuck Noris of Mic's
Contributor
Since: Jun 20, 2002


Jan 30, 2006 10:27 am

My stance on retirment is a little different. I plan to retire at 39 . I've been putting a little away into an account for military members along with when i retire from the air force and that's in about 12 years. It's not a means to an end of work, because i still plan on working after i retire. I'm just oging to do what i love to do and that's record full time at that point .

Prince CZAR-ming
Member
Since: Apr 08, 2004


Jan 30, 2006 10:53 am

Hey, thanks for the link, there Ryan.

?cixelsid I mA
Member
Since: Jul 30, 2005


Jan 30, 2006 09:29 pm

The key is to put something away every month, before you see it. Mutual fund, stock, bonds, etc. There is risk, as the market go up and down. Read some articles on investing in business mags. There is a book, I think its called "The Wealthy Barber" that tells about investing a little every payday and leaving it alone. Don't invest in only one stock, but diversify...mutual funds will do this automatically.

The key is to save something every month, no matter how little it may seem to be and invest it. I am fortunate enough to have a 401k with my company, and they match my contributions up to 6% at a minimum of 50% and up to 100%. Believe it or not, some employees don't use it...dumb as dirt.

If that's not available, look into a Roth IRA...just invest in something if at all possible...definitely before buying toys that are not essential to your profession.

The Eternal Student
Member
Since: Oct 08, 2005


Jan 31, 2006 10:11 am

Sounds like good advice. Now I guess I'll check out my options. I wonder if it'd be wise to go with something a little higher risk at this point?

Administrator
Since: Apr 03, 2002


Jan 31, 2006 10:14 am

if you are young, higher risk is a good idea, cuz you have time to make it up...as you age lower risk is better

in my opinion...

Eat Spam before it eats YOU!!!
Member
Since: May 11, 2002


Jan 31, 2006 10:48 am

I finally started getting back into the stockmarket two weeks ago... so I only have $1k in the account and only spent $500. I'm fairly aggressive in stocks and used to average 100% every two months...until I lost 100% in three :)

The hard part with stocks is dealing with all the BS the companies put out. I'm still very aggressive but right now my standards are:

1. Increased workforce (failing companies don't add workers usually)
2. Insider purchases (not accumulations)
3. Large insider investment (not just institutions)
4. and right now ... not tech. :)

<stock pump>
So far I've only found a company called Force Protection, making EOD trucks for DoD...small company but they fill a badly needed niche and have a good product reputation...and will compete on the new hummer design in 2007. I plan to sell at $2 a share.... but will kick myself if they somehow manage to win the design contest :)
</stock pump>

The Eternal Student
Member
Since: Oct 08, 2005


Jan 31, 2006 05:33 pm

Zek, do you do online trading?

Administrator
Since: Apr 03, 2002


Jan 31, 2006 05:39 pm

I am, I am in ADZR at around .06 a share, look that one up today :-)

The Eternal Student
Member
Since: Oct 08, 2005


Jan 31, 2006 05:45 pm

holy balls...

yeah, i think i'm going to have to do a little research and make some investments rather than the moola sitting in the bank keeping some teller employed.

Administrator
Since: Apr 03, 2002


Jan 31, 2006 05:50 pm

I have played ADZR a few times...buy in under .10, sit around for a bit and it goes up...made many thousands off that stock only to piss it away on other little losers.

ADZR is into online advertising technology, or, that is where they started but now have technology in homeland security and online predator profiling that will be their BIG bucks, it's gonna make me rich someday...

POMGF is another that within a couple years will be huge as they have mining rights to some huge precious metals deposits...

I have just starting trading options as well in a group with some friends, hopefully that will go good as well...

If you get into stocks tho, don't think it's going to be overnight riches, cuz it's not it's lots of research, patience, loosing a few winning a few...it's hard...

Eat Spam before it eats YOU!!!
Member
Since: May 11, 2002


Jan 31, 2006 06:00 pm

yeah, I use Scottrade.

The _very_ first time I invested I went through a real brokerage on OREX I think... made medical waste treatment "things" ...$40 a trade commission thats $80 for in and out!... I later had to get out to pay for college... and the broker asked if I still thought it was a good stock... I said yeah I just needed the funds... turned out they sent a purchase order in right before they placed my purchase order :0

... I started investing again and went back to OREX a bit later on Quick&Reilly ...put $100 in... got $300 out , went to RURL (Rural Metro Ambulance) did another 100% in short order and then went to a wireless modem maker and watched the stock go to .0000000000001 ...then I stopped watching :) I think that was in 2001 or 02. It was me being dumb and actually "trusting" what CEO's say about their financial outlook.

So it's been a few years since I've invested and I look at everything very cynically now. :)

Eat Spam before it eats YOU!!!
Member
Since: May 11, 2002


Jan 31, 2006 06:09 pm

just looked at ADZR... umm you could have told us about it _yesterday_ ? :)

?cixelsid I mA
Member
Since: Jul 30, 2005


Jan 31, 2006 06:57 pm

The longer you have till retirement, the riskier your investments can be, but don't put all your eggs in one basket. Right now I have funds in large corporations, small corporations, Europe and Asia, and several other accounts. About 30% is in the company I work for. It stays relatively flat, but has increased dividends every year, at least for the past 20 years. I think the markets average around 10% annual growth if you look at the last 50-60 years. Just remember, that isn't guaranteed, it's just what has happened.

Eat Spam before it eats YOU!!!
Member
Since: May 11, 2002


Jan 31, 2006 07:26 pm

Yeah, to start out I split my money into two $500 "funds" ...I'm going to wait till one hits $2k before going long in a nice dividend stock... the ones in my price range now ..well.. it's a bad sign when they post dividends because it's the insiders trying to bleed it dry before it goes belly up... so long stocks have to be atleast $10 for me and I buy in blocks of atleast 200 shares.

Member
Since: Jan 18, 2003


Feb 01, 2006 01:56 pm

wow i didnt know you guys knew about stocks and investing. two quick questions

one, is there a program i can use to 'play' around with investing? a virtual investor type thing. you know, itd be like a program where you use 'fake digital money,' but itd be synced to real market results, so youd have to pay attention and research and all.

two who can recommend a really good book about the market? are those motley fool books good? finance-speak makes me a bit dizzy if its very dry.

three just out of curiosity, who here has day traded


Administrator
Since: Apr 03, 2002


Feb 01, 2006 02:22 pm

Playing around, try www.optionsxpress.com, they have a virtual trading thing, not sure how much info they need to let you use it tho, it's where I am trading some options at, I haven't used it tho...

As far as books goes, eh, there are lots of 'em, but I might suggest a "for Dummies" type book first just to learn the basics, the lingo and such, cuz there is lots of it...especially if you get into margins and options and stuff.

Eat Spam before it eats YOU!!!
Member
Since: May 11, 2002


Feb 01, 2006 04:33 pm

I learned the old fashioned way with newspapers :) Right now I just primarially use scottrades screener, yahoo finance, and google.

technically I'm not a day trader because I can't do the volume necessary to make fractional increases worth while... So I usually say "I like this stock, I think it'll go up 50% within threemonths so I'll sell it as soon as I hit that target or if it falls below $# (usually $1 because thats the minimun price before it can be delisted)

Member
Since: Jan 18, 2003


Feb 01, 2006 07:05 pm

in day trading, is it true that you want to actually pick stocks that few other people are looking at? you want to go for stocks that slip under the radar and advance by fractions of a point, right? and you can also make money on point losses if you do something. this is what i heard, that day trading tactics are completely different than regs.


Eat Spam before it eats YOU!!!
Member
Since: May 11, 2002


Feb 01, 2006 07:50 pm

Its my understanding that day traders wait for a stock to go down and then buy assuming that it will go back up... in a large volume...so if they do 10,000 shares and it goes up a penny then they just made $100...then they wait for it to go back down.... of course if it keeps going down then they sell and try again.

Prince CZAR-ming
Member
Since: Apr 08, 2004


Feb 01, 2006 08:22 pm

The yahoo finance pages have info on the different investment angles. May be of help.

Member
Since: Nov 23, 2005


Feb 01, 2006 10:23 pm

I've made some bumbling mistakes trading stock online through Ameritrade throughout the last 4-5 years. Mostly cause I had to leave for work and missed my target price. Had I accepted that being a PIG and trying to totally maximize ALL trades is a bogus method... I'd be rich rather than in the hole right now. Scottrade is probably the way to go with $7 trades although I'm still on AMTD. You'll want to set up a margin account, NOT a cash account. You apply for a margin account like a creditcard. Usually, when approved, the broker will match your trade account deposit so you are able to leverage better action. Margin trading allows you to make 3 "round trip" (or buy and sell) trades per day. I use limit orders religiously rather than market orders. (I got burnt on crappy market orders before I knew what I was doing) Ideally, you'll want to build portfolio consisting of 5 to 10 stocks diversly spread through a wide sector array. I believe that about $3500 to $6500 is a good starting amt. to build your portfolio with. Lately, Ive watched Jim Cramer on T.V. then started going to this site: madmoneyrecap.com/madmoney_dailysummary_index.htm?gclid=CJ6pu8X9s4ICFSS7SAodvSTNBg

Often, he'll recommend a stock that is inflating while he is telling you about it at night. So buying the next day may make 4-10% on a quick day trade, but often dives down to where it was before he gave it the thumbs up. My new, no-brainer method is, finds stocks on Cramer's site that he reccommended about 1 to 2 weeks previously, learn the company thuroughly, buy as low as possible, then wait for a 5% to 25% gain and sell...then do it all overagain. In reference to dbMaster's post
"I have played ADZR a few times...buy in under .10, sit around for a bit and it goes up...made many thousands off that stock only to piss it away on other little losers.
ADZR is into online advertising technology, or, that is where they started but now have technology in homeland security and online predator profiling that will be their BIG bucks, it's gonna make me rich someday..."

I will be buying this one under .10 . There is nothing like making good $$$ on a penny stock. Sometimes you wait a while, but the pay-off is like 70% or more sometimes. Once again, watch Jim Cramer, he's a smart man, right roughly 80% of the time. Remember, a TRADE is transaction series consisting of a buy-then-sell anywhere from 2 min. to 10 months after the purchase...Anything held over a year is an INVESTMENT, not a trade. Make sure you've come to terms with your financial plan of attack and STICK TO THEM! Don't buy or sell emotionally. You'll feel like a casino addict.Not good, and never forget, there is always risk of loosing it.
Good Luck

Eat Spam before it eats YOU!!!
Member
Since: May 11, 2002


Feb 03, 2006 11:24 am

well FRPT.OB (force protection) hit my $2 target sooner than I expected. That was an easy $150 :) Actually I really had to fight the urge to try to eek out a few more cents... but a sale at $2 is better than no sale at $2.05 :/

Though now I'm drawing a complete blank on what to buy. I still havn't spent the second $500...

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