Whats wrong with this bank? How the hell can they give such rates that are so much higher than anywhere else for term deposits? I really dont get that.

Country: USA
Age: 26
Income: Currently no job, play a 10/20 (50% of the time 10/20/40) game live once a week for 7 hours, I estimate I probably make like 150ish / hr at that, possibly a bit more.
Risk Tolerance: Moderate
Timeframe for investment: Longterm
Debt: 0
Additional Info: Have 650k that I got from stars, 300k on Tilt, which I obviously haven't gotten back yet (if ever), and 70k already set aside for school. I will owe 45%ish tax on the poker money coming this April, so although given my age and the amount I have, I would be expected to be aggressive, I do need to make sure I can take care of this liability. Plan to invest for the long term as my only expenses are pretty low: living and graduate school. I don't need most of this money but do plan to try to keep it around for if/when online poker gets legalized so I have a decent bankroll to work with. I will not be getting a job right away, probably in a year from now. I have read quite a few books, and am currently enrolled in graduate finance related courses, but I have never actually invested before outside of the fund for school that I have.

Vanguard Tax Managed Balanced Fund

https://personal.vanguard.com/us/Fun...T#hist=tab%3A0

I'm from Central Europe and have some money aside which I don't need for at least 5 years. Do you think buying DAX certificates is a decent choice for me?

Just want to share an experience a friend of mine had.

He frequently visits bankruptcy estates when the collectors are selling inventory. He recently did this at a restaurant/bar he knew had a very exclusive collection of special wines & champagnes. Luckily for him the guy didn't know much about alcohol, so when my friend jokingly said "ill take it all for 7,000$" he said DEAL!

Upon further inspection they found everything from "low-end" 30$ bottles all the way to Vintage Champagnes worth more than 10k/bottle.

Anyways, that's a somewhat ortodox investment that really paid off - with a bit of luck of course

Just wanted to share the story

*learns how to invest in wines*

Country you live in - USA
Risk Tolerance - Very High
Timeframe for investment - Short
Debt - None

I have 20k that I would like to invest in an ETF. I was doing some research on http://www.direxionfunds.com/index.html. I know these ETFs are extremely volatile, but i'm okay with that. If anyone has an experience trading these I would appreciate any input.

How long of a timeframe is 'short' for you?

I wouldn't mind actively trading on a day to day basis. But I would be looking for results in the first month or so.

Country: U.S
Tolerance: High
Time frame: Long Term
Debt: None

The situation: I am currently enlisted in the US Navy with 6 months left on my contract and I am separating when the time comes so I can start full time college. I am on deployment right now (it's almost over, thank god) I managed to get rid of all my debt and build u a 3 month emergency fund. While I go to school I will receive $1100 a month from military benefits. I have my 401k through the military that I will continue to put money into after I roll it over somewhere else, but I have a 5k chunk of cash that I would like to put into some serious growth areas, I don't care about steady income from this money at all, and if I lose it it's not the end of the world, so I'd like to take a shot with it since I have my other basis covered to an extent. I would do more research myself before posting this normally, but internet is god awful slow on this ship and to register for the online trading sites requires a physical signature that I obviously cannot give online, so any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

Is there a thread of free checking account reviews around here (or ones that waive fees for deposits)? Apparently you can get free money for doing direct deposits, etc. I just started working and want one that'll give me free stuff, and won't charge me anything.

Charles Schwab refunds all ATM fees at the end of every month and has a fairly high interest rate compared to other checking accounts. Customer service is great, too.

Hello, what do you think about bitcoins now?

Grunch:

What would you tell a recreational player that said the same thing about $400NL?

Hey guys, I'm really hoping you can help me out here. I thought I was taking a good route planning for my retirement but now I'm not so sure. Anyhow here's my situation.

I'm Canadian, 35 and married, my annual gross income is ~$65 my wife pretty much matches it exactly. Our jobs are both very secure (government).

We have a car loan we pay, I think it's $450 a month on, it's at 0.9% interest and goes for another 3.5 years.

We have a house we owe about ~$380k on, right now it's on a 34 year mortgage and is at a fixed interest rate of 2.9% for the next 2 years then it becomes variable again.

Other than that we have no outstanding debts.

We have a savings account of around ~$10k, through work I have a pension that is now around ~$90k my wife's would be a bit less, probably around $85k.

I have another RRSP on the side with a balance of $30k that I contribute around $350 a month to. My wife contributes $150 a month to hers and I think it's around $17k.

Now my problem is what to do with the money in my RRSP, back when I opened it I was reading Motley Fool's website and they always pushed the no load index funds so that is by far what the bulk of my RRSP is.

The fund is called US Index CN (through Royal Bank). I have about 3,800 units the average cost was $7.7 and the current value is $6.8.

On a whim I also bought into the Global Precious Metals fund offered through the bank because I saw it was a top performer on some list and I have 64 units of that. I paid an average of $40 for them and it's worth about $60 each now.

So I have about $30k in total in that RRSP, I need to know if I should try and ride it out on that index fund or cut my losses and move into something else. My RRSP is obviously for my retirement so it's going to be a long haul investment, I'd say I have medium risk tolerance.

Right now my monthly contributions are automatically being added into the index fund, from reading this thread it seems everyone keeps their portfolios significantly more diversified than I do so I'm hoping someone could recommend some funds and percentage allocations that I could start shifting my portfolio to.

Canadian
Long Term (10 yrs)
Aggressive
$100,000

What is a smart way to invest for a decent return (5-10%) over 10yrs?

@everyone

if you want to invest in any e-business (for example through Flippa.com) I will happily give you free advise on any potential investment.

(I have been buying/selling for the past few years, and my ROI is over 5000%)

I am not looking to sell you anything - you can simply just ask me for my thoughts on any site you might consider buying.

just found out about the Dimension Fund Advisors in a finance class. Are there any similar funds available to the public?

it seems like they should be more readily available as the logic behind enhanced indexing looks pretty solid.

gold gold gold, get out of europe

twitch:
the mortgage loan might get complicated, but i'm not that familiar with canadian loans, so I'll defer anything on that.
for your RSP:
RBC's US Index has an expense ratio of 0.7. For index funds, that is pretty high, and you can find managed funds for less than that. If your goal is low expenses, look at your options other than royal bank. Do you whether their redemption fee is for the life of the holdings or if it is for only year 1, like a normal C-share?
nothing wrong with adding a little [different asset class] in the mix. I would also recommend a small amount in a conservative bond fund (1-4% of your portfolio), since your in index funds and they will forgo modern portfolio theory (CAPM) in order to perfectly mimic the index.
I would advise against "cutting your losses" and transferring, imo, because ideally you want the prices to continue to drop while you're putting more money in. Your method of fixed investing is advantageous when the market is falling, not rising.

If you are "medium-risk", as you say, then add a little more bonds to the mix, which will typically smooth the volatility.

mecha: current age? pm if u don't want it public :P

absolutely! how much $$$, age and timeframe?

about $50k - $100k for 30+ years.

twitch:
the market thing i said at the end, what I meant was that it's advantageous for you if the market trends like a "v", where it goes down then rebounds, as opposed to "/" or "^". doesn't protect you from "\", obv.
if you've found you don't like the swings, bring your asset allocation to maybe 70% equity 30% bond, Maybe throw 5% into the metal fund as well. Make the change gradual, though, because when you retire in 25 years, most likely you'll look back and be glad you had a lot of equity exposure in 2011. (if history is any indication).

sapporo - you were given the best advice, just one little caveat; you might qualify for a tax credit with either roth or traditional IRA contributions. it depends on your income level. feel free to pm me or seek an accountant (or turbotax) and they'll let you know what the dealio is yo

Highest expense ratio you're willing to accept?