Tell me if this all makes sense..

I'm putting a total of $1400 a month into savings, broken down as such:

700$ into a RothIRA (once i hit $3000 I'll buy my first mutual fund at Vanguard)
-this savings allotment will obviously stop once it hits $5000
- I aim to have 3 mutual funds, and am currently researching which ones i'll buy

$450 into a mini emergency fund, I feel I only need around $5000 to keep in this savings account since I have no worries about job security,housing,medical,etc

$250 into a splurge account where I can use for entertainment purposes

and once my RothIRA payments stop for the year I'll put $680 into an Ally Savings account for any big future plans (house)

I have $10K in a mutual fund and $20K sitting in an HSBC online savings account. I have about $10K in a 403b. I would like to invest $10K of the $20K sitting in the HSBC account.

* Country you live in: USA -- CA
* Income: about $50K/yr before taxes
* Risk Tolerance: medium
* Timeframe for investment: 3 years or more
* Debt: none
* Any other information you might have that would help us:
I'm 28 years old. I'm not planning any major moves right now, but there is some possibility that i make some major life changes in the next five years (changing career/job, moving, new car, go back to school, etc). Cuz of that, I don't feel I can make a commitment of putting a down-payment on a condo or cheap house.

I have no debt. I live in the USA. Poker is my job so idk what my annual income is. Ive never done any investing before. I just set up an etrade account...i dont know if thats good for anything lol. I want to do some short term investments, but im not against keeping them in for longer if thats working out. a few months to a few years i guess. I kind of just want to get my feet wet. Medium to high risk i guess. Nothing too wild but id like some excitment. I have like 5 -15k that im willing to invest. Please give me a step by step or keep it as simple as possible. thanks.

* Country you live in- USA

* Income - $60k - $100K+/yr depending on how im running (EXPENSES are ~$40k/year including car payment, rent, food, entertainment, etc)

* Risk Tolerance- on the lower side

* Timeframe for investment- any length

* Debt - Car loan (8-10k left? 10% interest). . .should i just pay this off?

have $50k just sitting around seperate from my roll and other money for living expenses. . . From what ive read so far i should be putting a certain % into a simple ING savings and the rest into some sort of index funds w/ vangaurd. ..? suggestions on how i should split up the $50k? I was looking into foreign government bonds, since i keep being told how unstable the US government is and how much worse its going to get, but those are a huge hastle to obtain unless you have like $1mil. . .

OK so I want to invest long term but some conspiracy theory sounding people have me scared of hyperinflation killing my investments and then me having to spend the next 10-20 years just getting back to even. What should I do? Is putting all my money into gold completely idiotic for short term? Or should I just go long long long and forget about it?

I think your plan is sound. It'll be even better if you can "auto-pilot" it and not have to think about it much.

It would also benefit if you think about your emergency fund more seriously - its called emergency because you never expect to lose your job or have surgery. You need to be serious about how much 6 months living expenses are - and then figure out 6 months lifestyle expenses vs 6 months living expenses and decide which is more important and doable.

For your three Vanguard funds I would recommend VFWIX or VGTSX @40%, VTSMX @45% and VBMFX @15%

If there is a good chance the $10k would need to be pulled out of the market in the 3-5 year span, it should be invested more conservatively to preserve value more then generate higher returns and the risk that runs with that.

I would consider something like $2k in a Treasury Inflation Protected fund (TIP), $2k in a bond fund (BND) and the remainder in some total stock market funds - maybe $3k in VTI and $3k in VT or VEU (VT has more risk with emerging market exposure)

This thread leans towards long term investment decisions and tends to not risk making "exciting" or "wild" decisions as you're not going to find things "exciting" unless you look for individual stocks and you will not find that here, or at least from me.

However, if you're looking for potential higher gains, "excitement", you may want to consider throwing a good chunk into an Emerging Market fund like Vanguards Emerging Market - VWO. I'd of course temper it with a Total US Stock (VTI) or Total World Stock (VT) so if things go sour, its not a total bust.

ahhhh, if you can pay off a high interest loan do it!

While the US may experience inflation and the devaluation of the US dollar - there runs a higher risk that a foreign government would actually default first. The US is free to print money. Greece and Spain and other EU countries are not.

Since you've given your inclination to the rest of the world over the US and inflation, I would consider the following Vanguard makeup:

$22.5k VTSMX (VTI) - Vanguard Total US Stock Market
$17.5k VFWIX (VEU) - Vanguard All World FTSE ex-US
$5k VEIEX (VWO) - Vanguard Emerging Markets
$5k VIPSX (TIP) - Vanguard Treasury Inflation Protected (iShares TIPs)

How old are you?

Some people say you should be happy to be a 20-30 year old and experience a 10 year long side ways/downish market, you can pile a whole lot more in for cheap and when the engine starts back up, you'll be way ahead of the game.

Gold should never be your only holding for long term investment, but as a portion, less then 5-10%, it holds its weight. Should things go wildly out of control, that 5-10% allocation could turn easily into 20-30% - but unless you actually sell it, you'll never reap the benefits except on paper. Then when you sell, you better hope you sold at the top. Stocks will always throw off dividends unless the world goes to pot.

Damn nuke500! You're not even getting trailer fees, are you? I didn't read everything ITT, but from what I've read, some pretty solid advice for non-investors.

Everyone else, pay down your debt and be careful buying Canada RE. Esp Vancouver, or Toronto. If you're taking a 5/35 (5 down/35 year am) mortgage you're not buying, you're renting from the Banks! I don't think we've learned anything from what happened in the US.

nuclear,
thanks for the specific advise, much appreciated. . .i'll be reading up on all those and get things rolling

Mastertop,

Not sure if anyone has replied to your post but here goes.

Firstly, you have a timeframe of 5+ years. While this gives the advisor you use an idea that they can help you to invest in products with more risk, you need to determine a more exact timeframe and an approximate amount that you need when you get there.

ex. retire at 60 years old, X amount of years until then, need x amount for large capital purchases (boat, cabin, etc), and x amount per month living expense

Once you have this you can start to create a plan to get there.

The products you mentioned (ETFs) are great but when you buy an passive index fund they create a small problem in that you own a larger amount of your investments that in theory are overpriced. An example is that you buy the TSX60, if TD Bank soars it will be included in the 60 at a higher percentage than it was when it was cheaper. A company such as RIM (make the Blackberry) may have missed earnings and dropped in price, it will not make up a lower percentage of your holdings and may be undervalued and a good buy.

If you have $40k to invest you can buy a few products and my suggestion would be to own some of these passive index funds but also to buy some managed funds as well. You mentioned the banks charge MER fees on the investments. While that is tough to swallow the extra diversification of owning both managed and passive invesments can actually help to lower volitility and potentially help to increase returns in the long run.

Lastly, I would discuss your investments ideas with a full service advisor. Not sure where you are at in Canada but find an Edward Jones, Raymond James, or even an Investors Group advisor that you feel you can work with and have them help you reach your goals. They will help to make sure your PLAN is on track and will rebalance when necessary (every six months to annually).

Hope this helps.

I don't believe you can "sell" a government settlement here in Canada. If you had an option for a lump sum it should have been provided at the beginning.

As far as your investments are concerned you first you need determine a more defined timeframe. 5-40 years does not give a timeframe for anyone to work with in confidence.

If you are going to invest the $400 monthly I would find 4 mutual funds you like and invest into them regularly. I am going to assume that you have a lot of time to work with and as such would suggest equity funds across the board as they should outperform other funds.

There are 1000's to choose from but to keep it simple make sure the funds are geographically diversified and you will be fine for now. Find someone to work with and don't be shy to "interview" a couple of different advisors in your area.

If you are looking to buy a house in couple of years you fist should look into the RRSP home buyers' plan and see if it is right for you. Basically, if you have never purchase a home before you can take a "loan" from your RRSP without penalty. Because of the tax breaks we get with investing in an RSP account this is a great option for a lot of people. Look into it first though and find out if it's right for you.

Secondly, you already mentioned that stocks aren't right for the short term and you're certainly correct. If you are not 100% dependent on this money for your down payment then go ahead and own them. If you absolutely need this money in 2 years then don't roll the dice. The difference in the gain you will make over owning stocks or something safe such as bonds or GICs will not be life changing over that small amount of time. Not being able to own your home can be!

I would look into those funds in detail and make sure that you don't buy them with a back end load. You will be upset when you want to sell in 2 years and find out you owe the fund company 5%.

Take that money out of ING right away! 1.2% is terrible, inflation alone turns that into a negative net investment.

As far as buying a bond fund, I personally don't like them. You can find a reputable bond dealer and purchase individual bonds without the fees and actually know what you are earning. Buy quality bonds if that is where your interest lies - nothing less than a BBB rating (your dealer can help you with this). One issue with bonds right now is that we are in a period of low interest rates and when those rates go up your bond is going to decrease in value so be sure to buy bonds that you intend to hold for the entire duration.

You may also wish to look into good, dividend paying securities if you are willing to take on a bit more risk. There will be more fluctuation in price but good companies are more likely to increase in value over a 5 year time frame (more likely, but not guaranteed). A quick list of companies you may wish to look into:
Enbridge
TransCanadaPipeline
Fortis
BCE
Manitoba Telecom
RBC
BNS
TD

There are others as well but this a quick list of quality banks and utilities in the country that all provide steady dividends that should outpace bonds alone (not including potential stock price appreciation).

One quick note on RSP vs TFSA - put your most aggressive investments into the TFSA account. You get the tax benefit on an RSP immediately but pay taxes on the income when you start to draw on it. The TFSA gives no tax break immediately but you also pay zero tax on any dividends or capital gains. Your most aggresive options should outpace others over the long run and as such you will not pay taxes on an amount that should have the largest gain.

Lol @ Fortis...

Care to elaborate?

You realize that the Fortis that's publicly traded is a tiny fraction of what it was before? They sold almost all their banking and insurance assets because they had several tens of billions of euro's in losses in 2008. What they have left is a tiny Asian insurance operation and a whole bunch of derivatives.

EDIT: Oh wait, you're talking about the utility company. I thought you were talking about the banking/insurance giant who almost went under in 2008. I'm sorry.

* Country you live in - USA
* Income - i have ~100k to play w/ atm
* Risk Tolerance - i'm young and willing to throw the dice a bit
* Timeframe for investment - i like quick money but longer term investment ideas welcome
* Debt - none

thanks in advance.

No problems, just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something...

can poker players put money in traditional or roth ira? If yes to both, which one is better for a 21 year old? I am going to be filing taxes as an amateur.

Thanks for the advice, I'm 22

Hello everyone,

Country you live in: USA
* Income: $10k / month
* Risk Tolerance: Very High
* Timeframe for investment: 50% ~5 years 50% 30+ years
* Debt: none
* Any other information you might have that would help us:

I have a 401k through work which I can contribute up to 16k (no vanguard style low fee funds available...through nationwide). I am fresh out of college so really not planning on withdrawing anytime soon (other than possibly for a condo in about 5 years). I am not looking to put more than 2 hrs a month into this. Note income listed is amount I would like to invest per month.

From: US
Income: $150-200k / yr
Risk Tolerance: Moderate-high
Timeframe: Can be anything
Debt: 25k student loans, 5k cc debt (LOL... I know)


I made alot at poker last yr, but dont have much of it left, I have a mortgage, prolly pay 2k-2500 / month in expenses easily for me and my wife. Car is paid in cash.

Im trying to learn something new, i'm obv looking at all the std. things poker players look at, REI, Trading, etc., I really would love (yes I know, as we all would) to set up some passive income. I have no problem putting in time at the start of something, studying, etc., but I dont want it to require a ton of time long term, an example of this may be like... a start up business or something, where I would invest alot of time over 3-12 months to get it off it's feet and running, but then dont want to be tied down to it afterwards too much.

Anyways, I know this all prolly seems like it's in dream-land atm, but I am researching / reading books / forums / online / talking to people I know involved with it, on trading every day now, and plan to start w/REI too, so I know im going to have to learn alot, but what im wondering, is it worth it right now, if say within 6 months I could have 50k to use. Is this even enough, or should I just invest my $ for long-term things atm and stick to poker while I collect more capital?

Thanks