Alright, I'm not talking I have less than a hundred to invest, just I use whatever the county uses for pretax, but I'm wanting to get more investing. What is a good way? I'm not looking to drop a big amount either, namely maybe 100 a month. Or is that better served just saving in the credit union? I know ya'll have more experience, so I want the brain trust.

School me on it. Learn me. No I havent read whats your deal.

What is your age?

Do you have a decent cash 'emergency fund' on-hand?

Does your work have a 401(k) type plan that you can participate in? That can be a good way.

Do you have an Individual Retirement Account established yet?

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Sig209 asks great questions. Your answers will help us steer you in the right direction.

"Investing" is a crap shoot. I wouldn't consider investing unless you have money you don't worry about losing.

How about more particulars? You could start with age, job situation, family particulars, and a few other things.

For most, the 401k type savings is the 1st place to look. The next may be a Roth IRA.

There’s always the mix of the rest, based on individual situation.

I’ve come to like Vanguard, for retirement savings.

quote:

Originally posted by sourdough44:


I’ve come to like Vanguard, for retirement savings.

I agree. But if you only have $50 in a checking account I wouldn't invest my next $50 in the stock market.

As you mention - hopefully he can provide a little more info so we can give better advice.

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The best investment you can make right now, which will pay off bigly the rest of your life, is in education.

I have recommended “The Little Book of Value Investing” by Christopher Browne for starters. Get that behind your eyelids and go for “The Intelligent Investor” by Ben Graham. Warren Buffett read this book in 1949, and it changed his life. More recent editions have commentary by Jason Zweig.

Continue by reading articles about business. Don’t get lured by come ons like “How I Made $50,000 in My Spare Time Trading [fill in the blank] and So Can You.” Also don’t get enticed by weekend or dinner seminars, etc. They are all sales pitches for whatever miracle scheme the promoters think will lure customers. There is a TV commercial on now by some retired airline pilot making $50,000 a month trading his scheme. So, why is he selling his secrets? It’s nonsense.

Open an account at a reputable broker. I use Schwab, some like Fidelity, or TDAmeritrade. Start with some very low cost index fund while you build your assets.

The most important thing is knowing what you are doing, so you are not at the mercy of anyone else. You’ll make enough mistakes; no point in letting others make them for you, paying them to do so!

JALLEN, as usual, has good advice. It takes time to learn investing. Do not risk more than you can afford to lose.

Not knowing your debt situation but pay these off first as the interest you retire is generally much greater than the return you would get.
At least it is for relatively secure investments like bonds or cds, securities may or may not be greater but are substantially riskier.
Make retiring your debts a priority.
YMMV

Another thing.....

I would take the time to watch a couple of dozen episodes of “American Greed” to see how pitiful it can be when one is sucked in by smooth talking seemingly extraordinarily successful people, promising outsized returns.

Watch how these crooks work, how they ply their trade. They are found in stocks, real estate, wines, art, etc., wherever people with money can be found. They rely on ignorance, and greed. Even very sophisticated wealthy folks can be mesmerized..... look at Bernie Madof’s victims. They relied on someone else to make the money, more money than they felt they could make for themselves in most cases.

Nothing beats knowing what you are doing!

Well, I'm under 25, I work in the same business as Rogue, and I got a kid. I thought of the 401k, but I use the 457 the county provides, and thats about it. I couldnt decide if using the stock market or a company would be worth it, since I'm not looking at putting 10,000 in it every year. Maybe a spare 100 a month or so. I feel I waste the money on poitnless shit, and I know when I have is securedly stored, it stays safer.

I'm not saying I'm waiting great returns, but atleast something that when I retire I'm not looking at just like 50,000 grand.

If you like to learn you might start here https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/index.php

You can "invest" for retirement and not be able to touch the money until then without a penalty, or you can "save" for the future and use the money when you want.

If you're talking $100 a month and investing for retirement, I would put it in the 457 until you reach the maximum allowable contribution.

If the 457 is maxed out, just save it in the bank while you learn about the options.

"Investing" $100 a month, as in buying stocks or funds, is not practical because you pay a trading fee every time you want to buy the stock or fund. So, if you "invested" $100 a month, you would actually only invest about $93 because of the trading fee. That means each month or each time you invested $100 you would "lose" 7% of your original $100 right off the bat.

Based on your limited info I would recommend a stock index fund from Vanguard. There are several good ones to choose from. Establish it as a Roth IRA and you are contributing 'after tax' money. But you will be able to withdraw money after age 59.5 'tax free' (under current law).

Some info here: https://www.fool.com/retiremen...d-to-know-about.aspx

Quick math - with a $1,000 initial contribution earning 6% annually contributing $100 per month - your investment would be ~$145,000 at age 60. No guarantee the market would perform 6%. Some years higher, some lower.

Great comments about knocking down debt but I - personally - wouldn't recommend NOT investing until your debt was 100% gone. Work towards retiring it? Absolutely. But the beauty of your age is the time component to compounding.

I think setting aside $100 in a Roth IRA is an excellent start. You can increase the monthly amount in the future as you get raises / promotions. But the key is to get started and stick with it. As JALLEN mentions you will learn a lot as you go. I have been investing for over 25 years and still read the Wall Street Journal daily and try to stay abreast of personal finance issues.

Lastly - please save up a decent cash cushion in a savings account. Shoot for three months worth of expenses if you have a 'stable' employment situation... More if you are on thin ice career-wise. This is important in case life comes along and kicks you in the ass. Job loss. Health issue. Car needs major repair. I have a 'child' your age and she has been hit with this a couple of times.

Good luck -

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quote:

Originally posted by mikeyspizza:
You can "invest" for retirement and not be able to touch the money until then without a penalty, or you can "save" for the future and use the money when you want.

If you're talking $100 a month and investing for retirement, I would put it in the 457 until you reach the maximum allowable contribution.

If the 457 is maxed out, just save it in the bank while you learn about the options.

"Investing" $100 a month, as in buying stocks or funds, is not practical because you pay a trading fee every time you want to buy the stock or fund. So, if you "invested" $100 a month, you would actually only invest about $93 because of the trading fee. That means each month or each time you invested $100 you would "lose" 7% of your original $100 right off the bat.

I don’t think that’s so. I believe Schwab, for one, has commission fee ETFs available. Not sure of the details, since I don’t use them (ETFs).

Link

One thing to keep in mind, Vanguard or ‘mutual fund’ doesn’t necessarily mean the stock market, though that’s often the case.

There are a whole range of investment types.

Depending on income, that $100(or $1000) isn’t really that face amount out of your take home pay. Part of that would be going to taxes anyway. The $100 you put in may only cost you $75.

quote:

Originally posted by JALLEN:

quote:

Originally posted by mikeyspizza:
You can "invest" for retirement and not be able to touch the money until then without a penalty, or you can "save" for the future and use the money when you want.

If you're talking $100 a month and investing for retirement, I would put it in the 457 until you reach the maximum allowable contribution.

If the 457 is maxed out, just save it in the bank while you learn about the options.

"Investing" $100 a month, as in buying stocks or funds, is not practical because you pay a trading fee every time you want to buy the stock or fund. So, if you "invested" $100 a month, you would actually only invest about $93 because of the trading fee. That means each month or each time you invested $100 you would "lose" 7% of your original $100 right off the bat.

I don’t think that’s so. I believe Schwab, for one, has commission fee ETFs available. Not sure of the details, since I don’t use them (ETFs).

Link

Yes, some brokerages offer free ETF trades, but there are strings attached. Schwab, for example, requires a $1,000 minimum deposit or an incoming monthly transfer of at least $100, neither of which the OP seems to be in a condition to meet.

You don't really need a brokerage to get started. There are plenty of good quality no load mutual funds to choose from. A good growth stock mutual fund would be a great start. I'd agree with others in suggesting fully funded Roth IRAs in a good index fund.

Another option is opening an etrade or Fidelity account that allows you to contribute to a savings account that has debit card and check writing privileges. From there, you can purchase individual stocks at your leisure. For example, you can dollar cost average and buy a few shares every month. That way you aren't putting a lump sum into the market all at once. I always tell people, if they can afford a cable TV bill, they can afford to invest and the younger they are when they start, the better.

I highly recommend paying off debt in accordance with Dave Ramsey's suggestions as well.

See if your local library has copies of "Personal Finances for Dummies," and "Investing for Dummies." Both books will help you understand the basics of these topics, so you can make informed choices, and avoid scams.

That is not meant as joke, but is serious advice, and the same advice I give to friends and family who ask about these topics. I always tell them to read those books, and then we can have a good informed discussion about it.

Open a Vanguard account. Put the money in a Roth IRA. Add to it as you can. Keep track of it. Learn as you go. Not rocket science.

If you're investing long-term, then get into DRIPs, which stands for Dividend Reinvestment Programs. Google it, you'll find lots and lots of info. There are LOTS of companies that offer these programs through their stock transfer agents.

It boils down to this:

1. Pick a good dividend-paying company (examples: CAT, LMT, XOM, KO, DOW, HOG, etc.)

2. Buy one share (here's an example of one of several places that will help you do that without a broker charging you an arm and a leg: LINK ) There are others, too, including clubs in which the members, as a condition of membership, agree to help each other out by transferring single shares at current market value (no added fees) to other members who request them. To find these, Google is your friend.

3. Make periodic cash contributions over a long period, like 30 or 40 years. These contributions are NOT mandatory, and they can be small, as little as $10/mo. I put $100/month into my DRIPS. You can do this by mailing the stock transfer agent a check, or do it automatically with an allotment from your pay if your employer has that kind of program (that's how I do it, so there's zero cost).

4. Every time the company pays a dividend it's automatically reinvested in to your DRIP account to buy more shares. When the dividend amount paid out doesn't exactly equal a whole number of shares (which is almost always the case), the program buys a fractional share for you and adds it to your account. Every time you send another cash amount, it also buys more shares.

5. It adds up over time. You get the benefit of dollar cost averaging as the market fluctuates.

6. You escape brokerage fees; my DRIP investment costs average around 0.75%. Even if you invest tens of thousands of dollars at a time, you'll never get your costs down that low using a broker.

7. When the time comes to cash out, choose an up period -- think of a decade-long window. For example, 2008 would've been a bad time to cash out, but now, 2018, is an EXCELLENT time to cash out. Stating it another way: Your DRIPs are not sources of emergency cash. Don't plan on a date certain to cash out, rather, plan on a decade long window during which you will choose an up market period to cash out.

DRIPS are not a get rich quick scheme. They're a stable, safe, long-term, low investment cost way to accumulate wealth. They've worked remarkably well for me, so I recommend them to you without reservation.

Hope that's helpful.