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Investing, The Stock Market/Favorite Stocks & Retirement


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I don't have the time or skill for stocks. When I tried, I mistimed the market or just bought duds.

 

So, now I just do an automatic transfer of $X per month from my bank account into a few vanguard large cap index funds. Low expense rate; nothing fancy. I think we have been doing this for like 5 years and have made a 30% return.

Timing the market is nearly impossible. The greats all agree that its not even worth trying. Take our current situation. I think most agree that the market in general is over valued, fueled by cheap money and low interest rates. But when will it crash? Might be next month or might be 3 years from now. Thats not exactly actionable info.

 

Here is my one and only macro thought that I am researching right now.

 

One of my friends is pretty high up exec at an insurance company. Their long term strategic plans contain plans on replacing car insurance premiums with other streams of income as self driving electric/hybrid carsbecome the norm by 2025

 

I am just now starting to investigate technologies that will enable that to happen....gogta believe will be a ton of money in that for some companies that become that "the standard"

I'm looking at Lumber Liquidators which is getting killed after 60 Minutes exposed possible violations in the amount of formaldehyde in their products. Blood in the streets means there might be an attractive buying opportunity if I can figure out how much of their product line is effected by Chinese suppliers and assess the risk of lawsuits and bringing their products into compliance.

 

I looked at HABT recently. I think its still a bit hot since going public recently, but I'd buy at around $20 if it gets there.

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Timing the market is nearly impossible. The greats all agree that its not even worth trying. Take our current situation. I think most agree that the market in general is over valued, fueled by cheap money and low interest rates. But when will it crash? Might be next month or might be 3 years from now. Thats not exactly actionable info.

 

 

I met someone who went to cash in 2009 (nearly $1million) and is still in cash today. He's afraid to get back in because he "knows" as soon as he does the market will correct and correct hard. He even said the longer he waits to get back in the worse it will be for him. He's even afraid to dollar cost average back in. Epitome of a dumbass if you ask me. I wished him luck and moved on.

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Timing the market is nearly impossible. The greats all agree that its not even worth trying. Take our current situation. I think most agree that the market in general is over valued, fueled by cheap money and low interest rates. But when will it crash? Might be next month or might be 3 years from now. Thats not exactly actionable info.

 

I'm looking at Lumber Liquidators which is getting killed after 60 Minutes exposed possible violations in the amount of formaldehyde in their products. Blood in the streets means there might be an attractive buying opportunity if I can figure out how much of their product line is effected by Chinese suppliers and assess the risk of lawsuits and bringing their products into compliance.

 

I looked at HABT recently. I think its still a bit hot since going public recently, but I'd buy at around $20 if it gets there.

It would be helpful if you'd provide a link to the Google finance summary for this stock....or do you really want to make me work.

 

Timing the market is impossible. Buy a little bit at a time and things generally even out (though you guys know more about this stuff than me). I put a limit order in on Huntsman Chemical yesterday..it hovered at 21.20 for awhile so my limit was 21.15...never hit the mark. I may try again today.

 

I met someone who went to cash in 2009 (nearly $1million) and is still in cash today. He's afraid to get back in because he "knows" as soon as he does the market will correct and correct hard. He even said the longer he waits to get back in the worse it will be for him. He's even afraid to dollar cost average back in. Epitome of a dumbass if you ask me. I wished him luck and moved on.

This is the only way to do it...unless you're foolish like me and try to analyze a stock that has been beaten up with the thought that The Street may want to get back into it.

 

Re. dollar cost averaging, I max out my weekly contributions to my SIMPLE IRA and it has been nice to see it grow over the past 7 years. My last statement says I have a 10.40% annualized return. That means each year it is making 10% on average or over the course of the past 7 years it has made a total of 10%? I think it's the former.

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Portfolio allocation is for pussies. You say diversification, I say dilution of awesomeness. Grow some balls and go all in!!!

 

Jauronimo's Guide to Power Investing

 

  1. Fall in love with it. You looked at the chart, read an article or two, and even took a peek at that balance sheet. Time to commit.

  2. For every negative article you read, find 5 more which support your gut instinct.

  3. Find someone who knows just as little as you do but has done even less research and bounce your ideas off them. Build consensus. You’re the smartest people you know. What’re the chances that you’re both wrong?

  4. Buzzwords and multiples. Back up your specious investment thesis with as many positive indicating multiples and acronyms as you can. P/E, ROE, free cash yield, price to book, net asset value.

  5. Overcoming objections. Your friends and family are jealous of your great ideas. They will try to tell you things like cash burn, trending poorly, deteriorating fundamentals, over valued. bull ****!! Do you even invest, bro?

  6. One liners. After you put the naysayers in their place follow it up with a dismissive one liner and an arrogant laugh. Something from Wolf of Wall Street or a version of "thats what they're saying in 2008" or "have fun with your S&P tracking ETF, Buffet!"

 

:lol::beer:

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It would be helpful if you'd provide a link to the Google finance summary for this stock....or do you really want to make me work.

 

Timing the market is impossible. Buy a little bit at a time and things generally even out (though you guys know more about this stuff than me). I put a limit order in on Huntsman Chemical yesterday..it hovered at 21.20 for awhile so my limit was 21.15...never hit the mark. I may try again today.

This is the only way to do it...unless you're foolish like me and try to analyze a stock that has been beaten up with the thought that The Street may want to get back into it.

 

Re. dollar cost averaging, I max out my weekly contributions to my SIMPLE IRA and it has been nice to see it grow over the past 7 years. My last statement says I have a 10.40% annualized return. That means each year it is making 10% on average or over the course of the past 7 years it has made a total of 10%? I think it's the former.

 

Yes annualized means you've averaged that return per year. Question. Why a SIMPLE vs a 401k?

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Yes annualized means you've averaged that return per year. Question. Why a SIMPLE vs a 401k?

Solo practitioner with only 2 employees...I know there is a 401(k) out there for small businesses, but I think the SIMPLE limits my contributions to the employees' accounts (either match or 3% of salary) so it has always been manageable that way. Quite honestly, it is such a complex area I never sought further input on it...just kept going with the SIMPLE.

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Solo practitioner with only 2 employees...I know there is a 401(k) out there for small businesses, but I think the SIMPLE limits my contributions to the employees' accounts (either match or 3% of salary) so it has always been manageable that way. Quite honestly, it is such a complex area I never sought further input on it...just kept going with the SIMPLE.

 

You don't have to match with a 401k and your contribution limits are higher which allows you to sock away a lot more money as well as add some profit sharing. Just a thought.

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You don't have to match with a 401k and your contribution limits are higher which allows you to sock away a lot more money as well as add some profit sharing. Just a thought.

Really great thought Jim. Thanks for that. I'll take a look.

 

How do you do it in your business/office? 401k?

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Really great thought Jim. Thanks for that. I'll take a look.

 

How do you do it in your business/office? 401k?

 

Well we're a pretty good sized firm with over 200 employees. However I'm W-2'ed and 1099'ed so I have both a 401k and a SEP.

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I have been contributing to my 401K since the early 80's, we are now over 50 years old and max out every year with the extra 5K per year. Because my wife and I have been at different jobs, we have five what I call "Abandoned" 401Ks which have no new cash going into them, but are part of our nest egg. One of my wifes' former employers deprecated their pension plan and she received a lump sum which we rolled over into one of these "abandoned" 401k's.( I was hoping that pension would have stayed since it would have been around 1200 per month for her.) My biggest failure is that between the 5 abandoned and our two current 401Ks, each one was set up with a strategy that made sense at the time it was opened, but neither one is appropriate for our current goals. I wish there was a way to consolidate them without losing the diversity that they offer across multiple firms.

 

I have also have a modest trading account that I use for trying out different stocks that get my interest. I have Jetblue since we like the company, Ford, since I believe in the product (and they offer a dividend), GE, INTC and CSCO for the dividends. Some other stocks that I go in and out with in this account are things like TASR since they came up with a great body camera solution in the wake of the Ferguson mess, as well as some small biotech stocks that show promise and tech stocks.

 

 

I assume my wife's 403Bs and my former 401ks cannot be folded into the same IRA? So at best I would fold the 5 orphan accounts to 2, one in each of our names?

 

Couple factoids that don't get a lot of publicity:

 

1. Most people know that the 10% early withdrawal penalty (on top of regular income tax) goes away for IRA withdrawals made when you are over 59.5 years old. But if a person separates from an employer's service after age 55, he or she can take early withdrawals from that employer's 401(k) or 403(b) plan without paying the 10% penalty - - even if he or she isn't yet 59.5 years old. So if you think you might want or need to use some of the tax-deferred money after age 55 and before 59.5, you might want to investigate rolling over some of your old 401(k) money into your current employer's 401(k) plan, and/or rolling over some of your wife's 403(b) money into her current employer's 403(b) plan. This is only a benefit if you or your wife will separate from a then current employer's service after age 55 and before age 59.5. If you roll 401(k) plan or 403(b) money into an IRA, you lose the ability to take the money out before 59.5 without penalty. Actually, there is still a way to avoid the penalty before 59.5, but it must be done over a period of years and is much more complicated and beyond the scope of this post.

 

2. If your wife currently contributes to a 403(b) plan, she can DOUBLE the amount of her allowable annual tax deferred contributions if her employer also offers a 457 plan. The 403(b) plan and the 457 plan each have the same individual annual contribution limits, but you can max out allowable contributions to both plans without penalty. I was very skeptical of this when I first read about it, but it's true. I mention it because a lot of people in your "over 50" age bracket are trying to max out their contributions, and this tax wrinkle rarely gets mentioned. Apparently it may also be possible for an employer to offer a 401(k) and a 457 plan per this link, but I am certain about the 403(b)/457 combo:

 

http://money.cnn.com/retirement/guide/401k_457plans.moneymag/index2.htm

Edited by ICanSleepWhenI'mDead
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So mead...GE offers some kind of 401k or retirement package right? or do they just give you shares of GE on your Anniversary every year?

I have a pension plan. We put money into what is called saving and securities. They you put in 7% and they give you 3.

 

New employes can not get in the pension plan. They give them 600 a year in a 401k.

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Couple factoids that don't get a lot of publicity:

 

1. Most people know that the 10% early withdrawal penalty (on top of regular income tax) goes away for IRA withdrawals made when you are over 59.5 years old. But if a person separates from an employer's service after age 55, he or she can take early withdrawals from that employer's 401(k) or 403(b) plan without paying the 10% penalty - - even if he or she isn't yet 59.5 years old. So if you think you might want or need to use some of the tax-deferred money after age 55 and before 59.5, you might want to investigate rolling over some of your old 401(k) money into your current employer's 401(k) plan, and/or rolling over some of your wife's 403(b) money into her current employer's 403(b) plan. This is only a benefit if you or your wife will separate from a then current employer's service after age 55 and before age 59.5. If you roll 401(k) plan or 403(b) money into an IRA, you lose the ability to take the money out before 59.5 without penalty. Actually, there is still a way to avoid the penalty before 59.5, but it must be done over a period of years and is much more complicated and beyond the scope of this post.

 

2. If your wife currently contributes to a 403(b) plan, she can DOUBLE the amount of her allowable annual tax deferred contributions if her employer also offers a 457 plan. The 403(b) plan and the 457 plan each have the same individual annual contribution limits, but you can max out allowable contributions to both plans without penalty. I was very skeptical of this when I first read about it, but it's true. I mention it because a lot of people in your "over 50" age bracket are trying to max out their contributions, and this tax wrinkle rarely gets mentioned. Apparently it may also be possible for an employer to offer a 401(k) and a 457 plan per this link, but I am certain about the 403(b)/457 combo:

 

http://money.cnn.com/retirement/guide/401k_457plans.moneymag/index2.htm

Awesome. My wife is a teacher and has been contributing to a 403b for years. I'll tell her this. Thanks brother.

I have a pension plan. We put money into what is called saving and securities. They you put in 7% and they give you 3.

 

New employes can not get in the pension plan. They give them 600 a year in a 401k.

That's great mead. GE is a strong company...no worries.
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