Investing megathread extravaganza

[DaFace]

A place to talk about investing stuff.

[Demonpenz]

i will be back later to show what i bought in vanguard should I move that to another etf.

[Demonpenz]

Originally Posted by kepp

Not sure I understand.

it feels great to have it paid off but you could invest money monthly to have a better overall profit. Like I have 0 interest in my car. Would love to pay it off but using my money now to pay off the car instead of using money to make money isn't a good play.

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by kepp

Not sure I understand.

If your interest rate on your mortgage is particularly good (say, less than 5%, and especially if you're below 4%), you could likely come out more positive by just paying the minimums on your mortgage and investing the money elsewhere. This is particularly true since mortgage interest is deductible, so your effective interest rate is probably even a little lower.

So as an example, if you've got a 4.0% APR on your mortgage, your effective interest rate is probably closer to 3.0% (assuming you're in the 25% tax bracket). Compare that with the rule-of-thumb rate of 7% that you could get in a typical set of investments, and you're actually leaving money on the table by paying off your mortgage early.

That said, there are benefits to knocking out a payment to give you more flexibility too. All personal finance is a bunch of rules that just depend on your situation and priorities.

[Unsmooth-Moment]

I have been using the betterment app on my android and I put about $125 a week into it. I'm happy with how it has been doing. I'm basically using that instead of a savings account at my bank.

[ndws]

Originally Posted by kepp

That's what I'm doing. I started with $100 a few months ago and now have....uh, $27

But it isn't money I'm worried about...just learning.

Yeah, I'm only looking at maybe doing 100 or 200 just to get a feel for it. Heck a coworker of my wife's paid off her house doing this. Not that I even expect to break even dabbling around with it, but its fun to daydream about the success stories.

[lewdog]

Originally Posted by DaFace

If your interest rate on your mortgage is particularly good (say, less than 5%, and especially if you're below 4%), you could likely come out more positive by just paying the minimums on your mortgage and investing the money elsewhere. This is particularly true since mortgage interest is deductible, so your effective interest rate is probably even a little lower.

So as an example, if you've got a 4.0% APR on your mortgage, your effective interest rate is probably closer to 3.2% (assuming you're in the 25% tax bracket). Compare that with the rule-of-thumb rate of 7% that you could get in a typical set of investments, and you're actually leaving money on the table by paying off your mortgage early.

That said, there are benefits to knocking out a payment to give you more flexibility too. All personal finance is a bunch of rules that just depend on your situation and priorities.

Agreed and I'll add too it. They say in order to make more in investment returns compared to saving on mortgage interest payments, your stocks need to generally average 2-3% more growth than your mortgage interest rate.

We refinanced last year into a 3.6% rate. I need to roughly have my investments gain 6% to come out ahead for putting more money towards investing, rather than paying off the mortgage early. So far, we are definitely coming about ahead by paying the minimum mortgage payment and dumping extra cash into investments.

[lewdog]

Originally Posted by ndws

Yeah, I'm only looking at maybe doing 100 or 200 just to get a feel for it. Heck a coworker of my wife's paid off her house doing this. Not that I even expect to break even dabbling around with it, but its fun to daydream about the success stories.

I'd love to know what her investment was that allowed that?

I find many individuals stock buyers are similar to fisherman in their stories and successes.

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by Unsmooth-Moment

I have been using the betterment app on my android and I put about $125 a week into it. I'm happy with how it has been doing. I'm basically using that instead of a savings account at my bank.

Just be careful not to go TOO far with that. Betterment is doing well right now because the stock market is doing well. It's not out of the question that you could lose half of what you've got in there if the shit hits the fan.

So just make sure you keep some back for an emergency fund in cash.

[ndws]

Originally Posted by lewdog

I'd love to know what her investment was that allowed that?

I find many individuals stock buyers are similar to fisherman in their stories and successes.

I couldn't tell you. I'll have my wife ask her about it. She's one of those insanely high IQ people, so of the people that would claim it, she would be one of the few that I would believe.

I know my old man dabbled in day trading for a few years not long ago. It worked well for him, he bought things he ordinarily wouldn't have and then rerolled the rest into additional savings plans that helped him retire early.

[Unsmooth-Moment]

Originally Posted by DaFace

Just be careful not to go TOO far with that. Betterment is doing well right now because the stock market is doing well. It's not out of the question that you could lose half of what you've got in there if the shit hits the fan.

So just make sure you keep some back for an emergency fund in cash.

I should have worded that better. It's more of a savings/investment account that will not be needed for several years. If an emergency came up tomorrow it would not be the first account I tapped into. it does let you set your portfolio preference on stock to bond % based on your risk level.

[lewdog]

Welp, I had a limit order that's been sitting there for a few weeks fill today.

Canopy Growth Corp. TWMJF. No available Marijuana ETFs and I wanted some skin in the Green Game. Hit at $7. This is a total risky move and I know it, but this was my take some money to the casino and let it ride type of move.

[Pepe Silvia]

I was the pixie dust spreader on the tilt a whirl, I saved a couple hundred.

[Cornstock]

Originally Posted by lewdog

I definitely agree, although it's not inherently bad to have a small percentage of your income in individual stocks if you feel so compelled. This should only be after you've got something like 10%+ percentage of your income going to retirement investment vehicles (401k/IRAs).

I bought my first individual stocks earlier this year as well. That's after 5 years of ramping my 401k/Roth IRA contributions up to 15%. The money I then invested in individual stocks is IN addition this amount, not in place of those investments. It's currently 6% of my total portfolio and I don't really plan to ever have individuals stocks be more than 10% of my total portfolio.

I really like this approach. You've built a really solid core portfolio at this point, and with some disposable income you've deemed it appropriate to take on some manageable risk in exchange for some higher returns.

The pitfall I see others falling into is investing too heavily into stocks and penny stocks before they've built a portfolio when their real goal should be to build a baseline of wealth. It can be frustrating to lose on some penny stocks early and be compelled to stay with that strategy to try to make it all back. Similar to a gamblers mentality.

You feel much less obliged to take unnecessary risk when your percentage of investments as a whole are making satisfactory returns.

[Cornstock]

Originally Posted by ndws

Yep, I'm on the boring bandwagon already. I just looked at the math on my last pay stub, and between my retirement (pension), 401k, and personal Roth (with company matching totaled in) i'm putting right at 28% of my income into retirement. So unless there is a massive market correction in the handful of years before I retire (I'm 39 now, and my rule 85 doesn't go into effect until I'm 57 at the earliest, I should be ok without needing to rely on any day trading/penny stock nonsense I may try to do on my own.

You're in a good position. The luxury you have as you near retirement is being able to move to a more defensive position to mitigate the risks of a downturn. A cash and fixed income portfolio, or variable/indexed annuity may be good choices in this situation.

I know annuities catch a lot of flack because the sellers usually do take a fairly large upfront commission, but they offer guarantees that can make them well worth the cost.

I heard it put well once "The car you drove up in, that has heated seats and blind spot detection right? Why did you pay extra for those things? Because you perceived value in them. You don't need them to go from point a to point B, but they still have worth. The death benefit and guaranteed returns of annuities are the exact same. There is value there, but that value has a cost."

[Cornstock]

Originally Posted by Demonpenz

it feels great to have it paid off but you could invest money monthly to have a better overall profit. Like I have 0 interest in my car. Would love to pay it off but using my money now to pay off the car instead of using money to make money isn't a good play.

Demonpenz's financial IQ is literally skyrocketing before our very eyes.