Investing (Page 2)

Thats what I was thinking...something shorter term until I get stuff figured out.

However, I can still have a big cushion and have some to invest too.

Ha funny, I was in the Middle Easst a few weeks ago and I did my investment, I bought "old" iraqui Dinnars, the ones with Saddam Hussein on them... I am counting they are going to be very, very valuable say.... 50 or 60 years down the road...

I also know that Chipotle is going public... maybe buying stocks from the burrito joint might not be a bad idea 

HELL YEAH!

Haven't done any research at all on this, but I did hear they expect an IPO price equal to 88 times earnings, which is roughly four times the market valuation. Seems like that would leave a whole lot of room for downward movement in the price.

Of course, maybe stockholders get privileges, like free guac or extra meat.

I am not a finanicial advisor, but I use one, and I would recommend it to anyone. It sounds like you might have a significant amount to work with here, so it might be worth it to you.  The other reason I use one is because I have enough to deal with with, I do not have room in my head or any interest in research different fund families, etc. I tell my advisor my goals, my short and long term plans and he makes a variety or low and high risk recommendations. As a result, I have a variety of investments. I can also tell him sign me up or shove it with no ill effects. He works within my goals, my lifestyle. He doesn't tell me how to spend or invest my money. Just offers options to help me reach my goals.

 The CDs may not be a bad way to go, just why you figure life out, but if you do see an advisor, they can recommend you to another person when  you move. CDs from a bank will have a pretty low interest rate... but better than a savings acct.

Good luck!

Thanks for all the feedback. I have some ideas to work with thanks.

I couldn't agree more.  Having someone who is on your side with the expertise to guide your decisions is critical.  We've had a lot of success with our financial planner for several reasons:

1 - He's extremely trustworthy

2 - He's in a similar position in life so we often end up asking "what would you do".

3 - He has the expertise that we simply do not have nor do we have the time to learn.  I'm thoroughly convinced that its a full time job to have the knowledge necessary to make smart decisions on our personal finances.  I used to be a financial planner and in the few years since, the necessary knowledge has totally passed me by. 

Best of luck to you and may the market be kind to all of us.

Tom

Thanks Chucky. I have some great ideas to work with now. My main goal is to be safe and save and have a little fun with it on the side too while I have the opportunity (young, carefree with few responsibilities )  

Depends entirely on your definition of mutual fund, but you know what I'm talking about obviously. 

Couple of great resources out there that I didn't mention before.

www.fool.com (don't let the name disuade you)
Any of the Motley Fool (same folks as above) books

Ah, the Clintonian Dodge. How do you define the word "is"?

Nothing depends on "my" or "your" definition, but rather on the accepted definition. Here's how YOUR reference (fool.com) defines index funds:

Index Fund
A passively managed mutual fund that seeks to match the performance of a particular market index. Partially due to lower expenses, index funds outperform the majority of actively managed mutual funds.

Nothing dodgey about it at all.  If we're going to go by literal definitions, then it is a mutual fund.  If we're speaking to people who aren't that familiar with investing terminology, the term "mutual fund" has a specific connotation to them and that is of the managed fund.  It's just semantics and a simplification for the sake of explaining the differences.

Crotchety old fart, aren't ya? 

What other kind of definitions are there, besides literal ones? And how do you know what connotations a term has to other people? And shouldn't someone knowledgeable (supposedly you) be using the terms correctly in advice to the unknowledgeable? How does using terms wrongly simplify an explanation?

An index fund is a type of mutual fund. Seems like if you tell someone not to use mutual funds, but to use index funds instead, it's only going to serve to confuse them.

Yes, I'm crotchety. It's cold and raining outside, I'm bored, and the football game is only marginally exciting.

Not if I'm allowed to make a distinction between the two without somebody arguing semantics.

But you didn't. The less confusing recommendation would have been, "Don't use managed mutual funds, use index funds." Rather than recomending one that is merely a subset of the one you recommended against.

I get the feeling you're arguing because you're bored.  I'll go ahead and let the person to whom the post was directed decide whether or not she was confused and not assume things.

And I'll go file this thread under "What exactly are we arguing about again?" as I'm done with it.