Community Chat

[hckynut]

Where do you go for investment advice?

My best resource has always been the thing sitting atop my shoulders. I know many in the investment field and I don't see any of them in the top 1%, including my nephew who is on Wall Street in Manhattan.

I do ok with my own resources when it comes to these things, but I am a long way from buying and selling from my fellow city member Mr. Buffett when it comes to trading $$$$.

[Financialgrl]

I was in budgeting and finance and I still waited forever to invest. I'm very very cynical and I don't like blindly following anyone without educating myself first. So, before I entered the world of investing, I began watching CNBC, reading finance books from the library (Suze Orman, David Bach, Dave Ramsey, Ric Edelman, etc). When you do that you find that there are many things finance that they all agree. Also attended a few of those "free" seminars locally. I'd go listen and walk out afterward because they are free for a reason - they usually offer a free consult afterward to try to gain you as a client.

I selected a "fee based" planner based on his philosophies. I had to fill out a questionnaire before my initial meeting (which lasted 2 hours) where we discussed my personal situation and my tolerance for risk. Firm I use buys no load funds and ETF's because they are cheaper.

My suggestion to you - put the money in something very conservative (a money market or CD perhaps) until you do your own due diligence. Read up, ask others for recommendations and lastly, the one thing my planner learned about me - ask a lot of questions.

You definitely need to address risk/tolerance based on the sentence in your post about fear due to the market drop 6 years ago. Two things - your money isn't an all or nothing proposal - you can dip your toe into the market until you see how it works and feel more comfortable with investing. Regarding risk/tolerance back in 2008 when the market plummeted, my planner told me to hold steady, do nothing or I'd be buying high, selling low. The market that was in the 6000s at the time, today is 17,000. Could have gone either way I suppose but instead it worked out well. It's about your tolerance and when you need the money. I let my money ride in 2008 and it's more than recovered. How you would handle that type situation is important and will help determine your risk/tolerance for volatility.

Good luck.

[esmeraldagooch]

You may want to keep it in a money market account until you need it. The stock market can't continue the way it's going and you don't want it in there when it goes down. Have you seen the death cross?