The official lounge stock market & investment advice thread

[jaded]

As for for you example, yes real estate is a great investment, and your lucky in canada not to pay capital gains taxes on it,, in America you are not so lucky.. But yes I totally agree that real estate is just as good of an investment if not better than stocks. Trouble is for most people,stocks are much cheaper than buying real estate.. How many people can pay 250k at one time.

I did mention real estate funds in a previous post as an alternative. Also...You don't need $250K all at once I'm sure you know. 5% ($12,500.) down gets you a mortgage here and the difference between your rent and your mortgage payments is really your only investment plus the down-payment since you would have had to pay rent otherwise. Many places have basement suites which cover a good part of the mortgage.

[Sugar Adam Ali]

I did mention real estate funds in a previous post as an alternative. Also...You don't need $250K all at once I'm sure you know. 5% ($12,500.) down gets you a mortgage here and the difference between your rent and your mortgage payments is really your only investment plus the down-payment since you would have had to pay rent otherwise. Many places have basement suites which cover a good part of the mortgage.

Valid points.. Banks though, are much stiffer in US since the crash in 08-09.. So they make you you pay a higher down payment more in the 10-25%. But right now is a great time to be a buyer since interest rates are still pretty slow.. And you really have to show credit worthiness.. Very tough to get house mortgages today than it was 10 years ago, at least in the US..

But if you have the cash flow,it's a great time to scoop up rental houses, I know 2 people that have bought a bunch over the past few years.. Rentals are a huge market now

[Butler]

sugar, i put $25k here last night..

https://personal.vanguard.com/us/fun...tExt=INT#tab=0

i want to move it here.. i can easily move it once my deposit goes thru..

https://personal.vanguard.com/us/fun...FundIntExt=INT



the 1st one is 60% stock and 2nd one is 100% stock.. i'm thinking if index fund uses the market then i should invest in 100% stock to maximize my gains.. what do you think?

also what are the things i should be aware that indicates market is going to crash.. of course it will be in the news but i want to be ahead and withdraw my money right away before it happens..

btw "stop loss" is not available for mutual funds/index fund..

[Sugar Adam Ali]

sugar, i put $25k here last night..

https://personal.vanguard.com/us/fun...tExt=INT#tab=0

i want to move it here.. i can easily move it once my deposit goes thru..

https://personal.vanguard.com/us/fun...FundIntExt=INT



the 1st one is 60% stock and 2nd one is 100% stock.. i'm thinking if index fund uses the market then i should invest in 100% stock to maximize my gains.. what do you think?

also what are the things i should be aware that indicates market is going to crash.. of course it will be in the news but i want to be ahead and withdraw my money right away before it happens..

btw "stop loss" is not available for mutual funds/index fund..

I will check it out after the nba draft,,

And yes, sorry, stop loss is only for individual stocks, I forgot they most often not allowed on funds

[jaded]

Valid points.. Banks though, are much stiffer in US since the crash in 08-09.. So they make you you pay a higher down payment more in the 10-25%. But right now is a great time to be a buyer since interest rates are still pretty slow.. And you really have to show credit worthiness.. Very tough to get house mortgages today than it was 10 years ago, at least in the US..

But if you have the cash flow,it's a great time to scoop up rental houses, I know 2 people that have bought a bunch over the past few years.. Rentals are a huge market now

There really are great opportunities to buy in the US. Vancouver has become incredibly expensive. Last night I was looking on Craigslist at homes in Bellingham Washington which is 35 miles south of Vancouver. For many people here in our southern most suburbs it's really only a few miles away so it's practically a Vancouver suburb itself. But once you cross that border the price of a home drops unbelievably. Here it is impossible to find anything under 1/2 a million (you'd really have to be lucky to even find one)...average price is close to $900,000. You literally can buy a cottage in Bellingham for $50,000. and a house that would cost close to a million here for about $275,000. The gas/cars/utilities/food/clothing/insurance/cable/internet all are significantly cheaper. It really is starting to make me think. I love it here and it's really beautiful but life chokes you a little more everyday.

BTW..you make some good points...I don't mean to trash your thread...i just have become leery about the stock market.

[Sugar Adam Ali]

There really are great opportunities to buy in the US. Vancouver has become incredibly expensive. Last night I was looking on Craigslist at homes in Bellingham Washington which is 35 miles south of Vancouver. For many people here in our southern most suburbs it's really only a few miles away so it's practically a Vancouver suburb itself. But once you cross that border the price of a home drops unbelievably. Here it is impossible to find anything under 1/2 a million (you'd really have to be lucky to even find one)...average price is close to $900,000. You literally can buy a cottage in Bellingham for $50,000. and a house that would cost close to a million here for about $275,000. The gas/cars/utilities/food/clothing/insurance/cable/internet all are significantly cheaper. It really is starting to make me think. I love it here and it's really beautiful but life chokes you a little more everyday.

BTW..you make some good points...I don't mean to trash your thread...i just have become leery about the stock market.

Don't worry about trashing the thread, you made good points and I'm always done for a good discussion. I got no problem with any of your posts. And I understand about being leery in the stock market.. There is a ton of cheats and crap that ruin it.

Cost of living is one of the most impactful factors in our lives. Eventually my goal is to move out into the rural area for that exact reason..

[Sugar Adam Ali]

sugar, i put $25k here last night..

https://personal.vanguard.com/us/fun...tExt=INT#tab=0

i want to move it here.. i can easily move it once my deposit goes thru..

https://personal.vanguard.com/us/fun...FundIntExt=INT



the 1st one is 60% stock and 2nd one is 100% stock.. i'm thinking if index fund uses the market then i should invest in 100% stock to maximize my gains.. what do you think?

also what are the things i should be aware that indicates market is going to crash.. of course it will be in the news but i want to be ahead and withdraw my money right away before it happens..

btw "stop loss" is not available for mutual funds/index fund..

I like this new fund a lot more. The expensive ratio is so cheap at .05, that is probably the cheapest I have ever seen it and well below what I pay at .08.

It seems to be well built and keeps in line with the market year after year..
My personal opinion it is a great fund to invest in for years and years and it will go up and down especially in the short term, and since we are at all time highs, I'm alittle weary of investing at the moment as the market could go on a slide since it's gotten so high,mso I suggest using dollar cost averaging. Which means don't invest everything at one time.. If your gonna invest 25k, do the initial investment of 10k to get into the fund and then every month I would invest 500-1k until i maxed out the 25k..

In all honestly both funds you showed me were pretty solid..

I would take the 25k and do 10k in the stock index and 5k in the bond one.. And then make monthly payments into each out of the 10k left over, and see how it goes.. If the market burns you, then you still have the 10k on the sideline which you can use to buy more when it goes down in value on a slide..

I think if you kept at it for 20-25 years, you will have some sizable gains when it's all said and done..

Good luck

[Butler]

I like this new fund a lot more. The expensive ratio is so cheap at .05, that is probably the cheapest I have ever seen it and well below what I pay at .08.

It seems to be well built and keeps in line with the market year after year..
My personal opinion it is a great fund to invest in for years and years and it will go up and down especially in the short term, and since we are at all time highs, I'm alittle weary of investing at the moment as the market could go on a slide since it's gotten so high,mso I suggest using dollar cost averaging. Which means don't invest everything at one time.. If your gonna invest 25k, do the initial investment of 10k to get into the fund and then every month I would invest 500-1k until i maxed out the 25k..

In all honestly both funds you showed me were pretty solid..

I would take the 25k and do 10k in the stock index and 5k in the bond one.. And then make monthly payments into each out of the 10k left over, and see how it goes.. If the market burns you, then you still have the 10k on the sideline which you can use to buy more when it goes down in value on a slide..

I think if you kept at it for 20-25 years, you will have some sizable gains when it's all said and done..

Good luck

I've been reading about bonds. I still don't understand mutual funds in bonds. I do know they're affected by interest rate. But there are government and corporate bonds I don't know where will mutual fund manager invest.

How will I know if interest rate is going up or down or crashing for corporate and government bonds?

Can you enlighten me more when it make sense to invest in bond mutual fund

[Sugar Adam Ali]

I've been reading about bonds. I still don't understand mutual funds in bonds. I do know they're affected by interest rate. But there are government and corporate bonds I don't know where will mutual fund manager invest.

How will I know if interest rate is going up or down or crashing for corporate and government bonds?

Can you enlighten me more when it make sense to invest in bond mutual fund

Bonds work inversely to interest rates.. So when interest rates are low, the bond value goes up, and when interest rates rise, bond value goes down..

That's why your bond fund has been doing so good the past few years, but as I mentioned in an earlier post, as the stock market recovers from the crash, and interest rates slowly move back to normal levels, bonds will lose value..

So right now, you have probably missed the boat in the bond market, as it already had it's big push over the past few years..

Bonds are a good solid investment, but I prefer stocks as bonds have a capped gain for the most part..
I honestly feel your better off just buying single bonds.. Say a 10 yr AAA corporate bond from ford or Microsoft that pays a nice 6% coupon every year.. Once the bond matures, you get your money back plus the 6% coupon every year..

Bonds are like loans.. When interest rates are high, say 6 or 7 percent, it can be cheaper for companies to issue bonds instead of taking out a loan.. A bond with 5% coupon is better than having a loan with 6.5% interest..

At the moment, interest rates are slowly climbing back to historical norms instead of historical lows where they have been for the past few years.. This will hurt bond market, ie buying and selling bonds

Cost of capital.. Raising capital costs money, so if it's cheaper to raise it by bonds then that's what where the money will go, if it's cheaper to get a low interest loan, then money goes there...

It's a ying and yang type situation between bonds and interest rates.

[Sugar Adam Ali]

Bonds work inversely to interest rates.. So when interest rates are low, the bond value goes up, and when interest rates rise, bond value goes down..

That's why your bond fund has been doing so good the past few years, but as I mentioned in an earlier post, as the stock market recovers from the crash, and interest rates slowly move back to normal levels, bonds will lose value..

So right now, you have probably missed the boat in the bond market, as it already had it's big push over the past few years..

Bonds are a good solid investment, but I prefer stocks as bonds have a capped gain for the most part..
I honestly feel your better off just buying single bonds.. Say a 10 yr AAA corporate bond from ford or Microsoft that pays a nice 6% coupon every year.. Once the bond matures, you get your money back plus the 6% coupon every year..

Bonds are like loans.. When interest rates are high, say 6 or 7 percent, it can be cheaper for companies to issue bonds instead of taking out a loan.. A bond with 5% coupon is better than having a loan with 6.5% interest..

At the moment, interest rates are slowly climbing back to historical norms instead of historical lows where they have been for the past few years.. This will hurt bond market, ie buying and selling bonds

Cost of capital.. Raising capital costs money, so if it's cheaper to raise it by bonds then that's what where the money will go, if it's cheaper to get a low interest loan, then money goes there...

It's a ying and yang type situation between bonds and interest rates.

Also, if you don't understand how mutual funds make money off bonds, then I wouldn't invest in it.. If I can't understand something I never invest in it.. I don't understand the company Cisco and IBM so I steer clear of them.. I'm sure people who do understand think their great investments, but for me, if I don't understand it, I don't invest..

Feel free to keep doing your research, but until you have a firm grasp on it, I wouldn't invest in it.. Check out some of the pimpco funds,, they are the leaders in bond funds.. Reading their info might give you a better understanding..