Interesting 401-k Info

Started by supsalemgr, February 09, 2013, 12:48:49 PM

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Solar

Quote from: JTA on March 16, 2013, 03:16:08 PM
Thanks!

I'm not too worried if the 2k I've stashed away in my 401k thus far takes a hit :).

What are some other options to consider for saving for retirement?
Myself, I got out of the Mkt decades ago and started buying things cheap that I knew I could sell later, but one thing you might consider is trends and the latest technology.
Look at where mkts are trending and find a strong company that is focusing on what you consider to be the next big thing.
If I was younger, I'd buy a small fleet of remote controlled drones and approach some of the larger real estate agencies and offer aerial views of their properties for potential customers to view.
For under a grand you could start tomorrow, just give some kids the addresses, a few drones and let them play, pay them nothing since it was a challenge (something kids love) as to who could get the best pics, and give the winner $20.00.
You're in business.
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JTA

Quote from: Solar on March 16, 2013, 03:24:43 PM
Myself, I got out of the Mkt decades ago and started buying things cheap that I knew I could sell later, but one thing you might consider is trends and the latest technology.
Look at where mkts are trending and find a strong company that is focusing on what you consider to be the next big thing.
If I was younger, I'd buy a small fleet of remote controlled drones and approach some of the larger real estate agencies and offer aerial views of their properties for potential customers to view.
For under a grand you could start tomorrow, just give some kids the addresses, a few drones and let them play, pay them nothing since it was a challenge (something kids love) as to who could get the best pics, and give the winner $20.00.
You're in business.

Man if only I had the time!

I've been wanting to stick a little bit of money in the stock market to see what I can do. I've played around with stock simulators and did decent, probably mostly luck though. I need to bust out some books for a refresher.

What's a good strategy for choosing stocks? Last time I played around with the stock simulators I "invested" in stocks I narrowed down with Google finance based on a few parameters I decided were important. The stocks did pretty good over a year period.

supsalemgr

My personal view is that one should place the % necessary to attain the company match as that is "free" money. After that amount I am of the school to pay off debt, especially student loans and credit cards. Then one must decide between a traditional and and a Roth IRA. Each person and their circumstances are different. I personally believe one should find an adviser that understands your goals and not just churning trades.
"If you can't run with the big dawgs, stay on the porch!"

JTA

Quote from: supsalemgr on March 17, 2013, 06:09:02 AM
My personal view is that one should place the % necessary to attain the company match as that is "free" money. After that amount I am of the school to pay off debt, especially student loans and credit cards. Then one must decide between a traditional and and a Roth IRA. Each person and their circumstances are different. I personally believe one should find an adviser that understands your goals and not just churning trades.

Yeah good point. I think that's the route I'm going to take. I can have all my debts paid off  (aside from house payments) within the next year and a half if I go that route. Thanks.

Solar

Quote from: JTA on March 16, 2013, 07:23:15 PM
Man if only I had the time!

I've been wanting to stick a little bit of money in the stock market to see what I can do. I've played around with stock simulators and did decent, probably mostly luck though. I need to bust out some books for a refresher.

What's a good strategy for choosing stocks? Last time I played around with the stock simulators I "invested" in stocks I narrowed down with Google finance based on a few parameters I decided were important. The stocks did pretty good over a year period.
Granted, this mkt is different than the one before the bailout, it is also riskier and even less of a chance of making any real profit.
Check this out.

After 100 contests, the results were in. From Investor Home's great description of the contest:

    On October 7, 1998 the Journal presented the results of the 100th dartboard contest. So who won the most contests and by how much? The pros won 61 of the 100 contests versus the darts. That's better than the 50% that would be expected in an efficient market. On the other hand, the pros losing 39% of the time to a bunch of darts certainly could be viewed as somewhat of an embarrassment for the pros. Additionally, the performance of the pros versus the Dow Jones Industrial Average was less impressive. The pros barely edged the DJIA by a margin of 51 to 49 contests. In other words, simply investing passively in the Dow, an investor would have beaten the picks of the pros in roughly half the contests (that is, without even considering transactions costs or taxes for taxable investors).

    The pro's picks look more impressive when the actual returns of their stocks are compared with the dartboard and DJIA returns. The pros average gain was 10.8% versus 4.5% for the darts and 6.8% for the DJIA.

So isn't this a victory for professional stock experts? Malkiel says no. He and a number of other commentators point to a number of factors affecting the results, including:

    The Announcement Effect: by announcing the stocks to the entire audience of the WSJ, it will artificially inflate the returns (in fact, abnormal gains for the first 2 days after publication scaled back between 15 and 25 days later).
    Pros picked riskier stocks: Case Western Reserve University professor Bing Liang says that, adjusted for risk, the pros' would have lost 3.8% on the market over the six-month period.
    The Dartboard stocks continued to do well: After the contest ended, the dart stocks continued to perform, while the pros' picks fell from their initial highs after publication.
http://www.investorhome.com/darts.htm
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