Investment help ! ?
 

In trouble. The more $ I have at the bank, the less $ I got. Savings, Money Markets etc. don't even stay with inflation, so I got to invest in somethings.
I don't need income dividents, looking for long term growth 5 + years. No clue about the stock market, so any ideas where to dump some $?
Buy some Euros? Gold bars? coins? Diamonds? annuities? or whatever? CD's are pretty worthless, so I need some investement ideas. Investement locations? IE: Asian belt?

Thx
P

stock growth mutual fund,,,:drink:

I recommend you look into a reputable mutual fund company. I hold a securities license and one company I recommend to my clients is American Funds. They have been around since 1931. They have been known to have lower than average expenses and a respectable history of return on investment.

I recently attended a training session at the American Funds campus in Irvine, CA. Without going into great detail, one point brought up was what had happened in the market the 5 years past a downturn in the market. Some of the downturns mentioned were the great depression (1929), Bear Market (1973), Black Monday (1987), dot-com bubble (2000). The upturn in the markets just the first 5 years after these 'crashes' was staggering. What's more interesting is that consumers have been very reactionary and most took their investments out of the market 'after' the downturn, had it converted to cash, gold, bonds, etc. and did not take advantage of fantastic years of market growth.

If you would like some more info. I would be happy to send to you. There are many options, obviously, but this is one perspective to answer your question.

More info. on American Funds can be found at there website: www.americanfunds.com

Best of luck and let me know if I can assist,

Devin Wozencraft

american funds +1,,,and no load too

You can get a managed brokerage account at a place like Raymond James. They will either make you a fortune or lose a bundle. Lots of it depends on when / what you buy, so never let a good crisis go to waste.

OK. Checked into the American funds. No go. not doing as well as some others. Prudential have a few good stuff and Grubb & Ellis real estate funds. BUT. every "financial Consultant" I talk to pushing their prefered items. Not really whats actually good. There are "index" CD's with 2.5% guarranty, capping at +10% based on the market, S&P, blue chip 500, etc. but I am sure there is more stuff out there.
I need some gold coins, or something.

Paradox, no offense but it sounds like you have no idea what is best for you. You would be doing yourself a big favor to find an advisor you can trust and can help steer you in the right direction.

There is much more to planning than finding a fund that is performing better than another. Whatever fund you find today, there will always be a "better" one tomorrow. If you decide to go the DIY route, I'd say stick with basic no risk stuff or you could end up in a much worse situation than you are now. Also, this weezel guy seems very sketchy. His previous thread was deleted. Just my .02

I got your PM and will get back to you.
I didn't even see the weezel deleted thread, but thanks.
And you are right, I have no idea what's best, if I would know, I wouldn't be asking.
I been talking to "advisors" for weeks. I'm not looking for ONE fund. I'm looking to distribute funds from money market accounts to somethng that makes better sence, and deversify. I got half a doz 401 K's and misc. mutual funds with Templeton, ING. Oppenhiemer, DWS. Kemper. but i'm looking for some "not so typical" avenues that are not necessarily common knowledge but gets me better returns. That's about in the nutshell.

Your welcome on the weezel guy. I get where you are coming from. I'm just saying asking something like this on a public forum you are going to get opinions all over the place. I tell people all the time, "Who do you listen to? The guy on the radio, the girl on tv, or your buddy at work?" I'm not saying their opinions are either good or bad, I'm just saying there is no way to know because there is so much more to it. Your situation is different than anyone elses.

I think it's great you are looking into something that will perform better than money markets because they aren't doing much right now. However, what's up with a half a dozen 401ks? A no brainer would be to transfer over any 401ks from previous employers you are not currently with into IRAs. By keeping your money in those plans you are limited to only the investment choices they offer, you are paying whatever their fees are (which usually aren't transparent - could be as high as 2%), and the account is in the company's name and not yours. An IRA can address all of those points.

As far as "not so typical" avenues, that could be a lot of things. Your age, health, family circumstances, risk tolerance, objectives of when you need the money and what for, and on and on and on all play a part in finding the right avenues. Also, better returns is not only subjective, but just focusing on returns misses the big picture. I can show you an easy example of how you could get 25% return but have no actual gain.

The best thing for you to do is to get all of your statements together: 401ks/iras, mutual funds, brokerage accounts, list of real property & assets, insurance policies, debts/loans, etc. and find an advisor that can and is willing to sit down and simplify everything on paper (down to a single sheet) to what you have now. Then help you to figure out where you want to go from there and what might stop you from getting there. Then you can find some avenues that might work. If you try to take a shortcut, you could very well be missing the boat. :lolhit:

If you went to the doctor and told him you were sick and he said, "Well we better operate." without him checking you out first, you probably wouldn't go for it. Same thing here. The more the advisor knows the better job they can do for you (assuming they are a good advisor).

If you've been talking to "advisors" for weeks, I'm assuming it's either because you haven't found one you like or trust. If that's the case and you need a recommendation for a good advisor in your area, one that would be able to piece everything together for you, just PM me.

WTF??

RBGPF 951.59+900.84 +1,775.06%
Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc

That's the % I like. :)

How are you coming up with that %? Look at their chart - http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=R...urce=undefined

by clicking the link. Then hit the "Max" button underneath and you'll see that it really hasn't performed (unless you bought at the absolute low in late 08 early 09). However, if that was the case, you could have put your money pretty much anywhere (not anywhere, but lots of places) and it would have went up over that time frame.

I just copied and pasted from this morning. Didn't make much sense, could be just a glitch on the MSN webpage, but it was interesting to see that percentage. Even if it was a fluke.

In my opinion, if you are looking to buy into something right now, the stock market is not the place. We are near a peak again, and the fundamentals just dont support it. All it would take for a downward correction is something to happen, like the current surge in oil prices. I have learned the hard way about getting talked into buying into a bull market. The best advice I have heard is Buffet's "walk when everyone is running and run when everyone is walking". The other big thing I can advise is to educate yourself as to the workings of the market and research any stock or product yourself before you buy. A good broker you trust can be a great help but always remember they get their % on the sale and dont take a personal loss along with yours. Again, educate yourself, and when you "get it" then you can do some on your own and save a ton of money if you use on online broker. I am no expert by any means but have learned some of these lessons the hard way so like to pass them along. And always remember to trust your own feelings, if you aren't comfortable get out, no matter what someone tells you. Oh, and dont look at "could have beens" a gain is a gain no matter what the % If you come up with something good let me know, I have been waiting for something to get back into for a while.

the first thing you did to do is determine how much risk you can tolerate. you should learn how to manage your investments. you will be the best guardian of your money. unless you have a mil in your account it will be difficult to find someone with experiance to run your money. start slow dont dump all your money in the first idea you come across. i first started investing in stock thru company drips. i know you said your not interested in dividends but i would reconsider that there are some stocks that are fairly safe that pay 4-6% yearly interest.
invest with both eyes open

Good points Dave and 66, but I really don't feel like, want to or have the know how to play the market. I rather invest some mutual funds, or long term growth, where I don't have to watch it. Some of my 401K's and old investements I haven't even openned the statements for a decade. I want to dump in a few hundred K's in different areas and leave it alone for a nother decade, but I need it to grow.

the cheapest broker for mutual funds is vanguard they have the lowest fees. there is a website called bank rate they will show you the highest rates for cds i think you can find a 5 yr cd in the 2.75% range. if you decide a mutual fund is where you want to be vanguard has a fund that mimics the sp 500
very easy to follow.

Sounds like many of the "Madoff" investors looking for that secret investment with astronomical returns.......did you see where that landed them in the long run?

That is a crazy strategy...........dump a few 100K's, leave it alone and "not open the statements for a decade."

You at the least are going to have tax consequences that you will have to address annually (provided the investments are not in a qualified plan).

Paradox,
"no offense but it sounds like you have no idea what is best for you. You would be doing yourself a big favor to find an advisor you can trust and can help steer you in the right direction"

You shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket. I'm sure somebody has already mentioned it but you really need to diversify your holdings. I would look for strong companies that pay a nice dividend. A few examples would be Chevron, GE, CAT, etc. etc. You never put all your eggs in pne basket. Once you sit with a finacial advisor you will access your RISK tolerance. Depending on how much fruit you have to throw at the project you can discuss how much gets allocated to different areas. It's not always about %%%%. You may look at at taxable earnings, before tax contributions, etc. etc. One segment of a well diversified portfolio will compliment another. So for example if you decided to buy GOV'T INSURED tax free muni bonds at $25-$50K face below par or even at par paying 4-5% return, you would then set up a interest earning savings/slush account for the interest earned on the bonds. You get a couple mil. worth of tax free muni bonds and you'll be knocking down 100k+ in tax free earnings per year. You only have to pay income tax on the interest earned from the slush account. It's Worth the money to sit with a advisor...maybe somebody from Morgan Stanly or JP Morgan. Good Luck.

Peter, take half out and go buy some real estate.If I had the liquidity I would be king right now. Ask anyone who's been in the game they are making all there money right now while the suffering continues for the rest.I just brushed myself off and have just broke ground on a 1.3 million spec home.Am I nervous hell yeah but im very optomistic this house will be sold quickly.My buddy bought a 2 bedroom condo in ft myers with a boat slip on the callosahatchee for 100k 6 yrs ago he paid 300k.

good luck.

PC
I suspect real estate is a case by case basis, I wouldn't spec build anything in FL right now due to high inventories at every level (from mansions to starter homes). In many cases the current values are less than the cost to build new or even what they sold for 10 years ago.

Case in point is a story on Scottie Pippen's Lauderdale mansion. Asking 16MM, county says it is worth 4MM.
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/busi...ttie_pi_1.html

Value should be somewhere in between the 4 and 16 numbers (probably closer to the 4 though :eek:). But from looking at the size of the house it is cheaper to buy this one than build one like it.

Thanks for the info guys. I have been talking to financial advisers. I DO plan to diversify. And everyone is right. I have no clue what is the best for me, thus the inquery. I am researching, learning and getting some ideas.
Real Estate is great in the right area. I been looking, but Florida is DONE. More people moving out then in and it is cheaper to buy then to build. I can build somethng cheaper then just about anyone since I have CGC license, but I can actually buy cheaper then even I can build. The problem is WHERE? FT. Myers, Cape Coral. etc. are dieing. The only relatively safe place is in Orlando. For investment it's ok. I know that apartments are being built again and 4-5 years later they will be condos. It's a 5 year recapture rate. Thanks for the input, keep them coming. I already did some things and will do some more.

I have a lot of $$ (for me anyways) in 3 Vangaurd funds (Vangaurd Inst Index VINIX, Vangaurd Mid Cap Index VMCIX, and Vangaurd Small Cap Index VSCIX) and agree they have some of the lowest fees aroung and the returns have been really good in the past year (up 20-30% in some cases). But I also look at my investments on a daily basis and make changes accordingly. My one piece of advice is to stay proactive. Don't think just because it is making money today that it will make you money tomorrow.

where?? got to start looking and florida definately has buy's. villas on HHI are going from 50k to 100k. My friend just bought a three bedroom 2nd row ocean for 825k 50% 0ff from 2006 hes going to flip at 1.1mil asap.

The "flip" side to that argument could be your buddy is going to flip the 825K property for 600K asap. Prices are still falling in most areas and there is no crystal ball dictating that they will return to the uber high of 2005-06. Last time real estate dipped in S. FL it took 10 years to get back to the prior levels (late 80's thru late 90's). Of course it was no where near the fall we had this time and there wasn't millions of foreclosures to help bring down the market further.

Some areas the prices have reset to 2000-2002 levels wiping out the boom (middle of the decade) and some prior value.

Look at core value of property, does it have something irreplaceable? If not, pass.

A good analogy would be dot com stocks AFTER the bubble burst.....you could buy a lot of cheap stocks but no guarantee they would return to previous levels. Real estate could be the same especially if the buyers were planning on selling stuff "up north" for a big profit to come to Florida. If the "up north" stuff is sitting/not selling for a profit then the Florida stuff will suffer also.

Paradox,

I would be happy to help you or refer you to a qualified advisor in your area. I have been in this business for 25 years.

Dean Howard
Morgan Stanley

Couple examples of Real Estate stuff.
New Yersey. My sister brought an old but nice home about 5-6 years ago for half a mil. Now its about 200-300K.
Rockford, near Chicago. My parents huse.. worth about half what was 6-7 years ago.
My house, north of Tampa. Bought it ok 4 years ago, now less then half of what it was.
My sold house in Boca, (FLA) Sold it ok in 2004 now worth 1/3rd less.
There is $ to be made buying Real Estate, homes and Commercial props as well, but now more then ever, location is the key. Cities are not growing, schools are loosing students, older 55-65 years people are staying in their existing homes. There is an actual code in FLA, upgrading existing homes, Called "stay in place". I took the seminar. OK idea, makes sense. I am looking around in Orlando. The least amount of migration out of FLA. Cape Coral, Ft. Myers, Punta Gorda... empty.
Investing in RE is ok, but it will take a decade to get a reasonable recapture amount. I would really like to buy some dirt, put up some apartment units, rent, (it will rent) and sell or convert to condos 5 +- years later. Any partners wanna bees? :) I can't do it alone, nor would I want to. I want some one to keep an eye on me when I do something stupid, and be frank and honest.

Give me a call, later this PM.
561 504-3635

Thx

Peter