Investing

This isn't really answering your question but I'll throw it out there anyway.  I know its not exactly mainstream these days but I would do a few things before investing. 

1. Pay off all debts, except a mortgage.  I can't wait until I pay my truck off this year.  No car payment will be a wonderful thing.
2. Have a 3-6 month emergency fund.
3. Look into mutual funds with at least a 5 year history instead of individual stocks.

1. Don't have a mortgage anymore, but my car is brand new. Don't really want to sink in a lot to it since I'm ok with the note. Might not be the smartest decision, but I'm ok with it now and want to prepare for long term.
2. I will leave enough for an emergency/cushion.
3. Thanks for the tip.

I am not going to take the advice of these posts and run with it. I'm not completely ignorant about investments and have done and will do more of my own research.

Most subjects posted here are to get ideas and see what other people are doing. This is no different. This is just the beginning, information gathering, step. The rest will not be done on then forum.

Awww...c'mon. Iraqi dinars are the shizznit! 

BUt if it were me, I'd probably go to Vegas and invest in hookers and blackjack... 

Jim, you are way off base and your recommendations a juvenile and haphazard, not to mention insulting.  Craps is the way to go!  :>

Maybe if you're betting iraqi dinars. 

Since opinions here are supposed to go from one extreme to another, I'll disagree with a few things.  Putting money in mutual funds, especially for a young person, is usually the wrong way to go about things.  The vast majority of MF's UNDERperform the market, and you're actually paying some fund manager to do that.  Hell, you could pick stocks at random and probably do better than most MF's.  If you put your money in an index fund, you're historically going to outperform 80% of MF's over time.

More confused yet?

I seriously thought about it a year or so ago. I mean, just think you could by a few million dinars for a relatively small amount of money. If it never went anywhere, you wouldn';t be out much, but if democracy really prevails like the POTUS says it will (I don't believe it, but that's a subject for another thread), you'd make a killing. 

I'm not man enough to handle that much dong. 

Uh, index funds ARE mutual funds, just not "managed" mutual funds. But I do agree with the supposition that no-load index funds can be better than managed, loaded mutual funds.

Haley, the key, as you may be seeing (and doing) here, is to educate yourself. Of course a person that does this for a living is going to recommend that you use a professional. Regardless, educating yourself will allow you to make the wise choices.

Ahhh! Excellent idea! You could sponsor your favorite BTer!

And ya know, JeepFleeb can run a long way, and carrying the flag and all, which is really cool. But I have that 4:45 HIM...think of what I could do training full time...

I'm just sayin'... 

JeepFleeb - 2005-12-16 9:25 AM If you want to think long-term and can put your money away without touching it (think several decades here), then go the Roth IRA route. I believe contributions are up to $4,000 for '06. If you have anything left over after that; buy me a set of race wheels. I'll share the prize money with you when I start winning races.