General Thoughts
  • Get started NOW!
    • Practice by starting to watch different markets.
      Mark prices and dates pretending to have purchased.
      • Use "Investment tools" below to help
    • Start saving in a piggy bank or a separate banking account (savings).
    • Types of investments
      • Stocks
      • Bonds
      • Cash
      • Mutual Funds
      • Index Funds
      • Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)
      • Annuities
      • Derivatives
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Precious metals
      • Real Estate
      • Collectibles
        • Artwork
        • Trading cards
        • Wine
        • Comic books
        • Classic cars
        • Historical artifacts & antiques
        • Figurines & toys
        • Sneakers
        • Etc
      • Your own company
    • Some investments need a minimum amount.
    • All investments are time sensitive...when and how much you pay
    • Most brokers have free trades for individual stocks, ETFs, etc
    • ETFs, mutual funds, etc have fees built in
    • Investments that have a low initial investment minimums are cryptocurrencies, CDs and stocks.
    • High interest loans/credit cards should be payed off first.
      It is a sure liability generally higher than any sure asset.
  • Find the right account(s) and/or advisor(s)
    • Do your homework, investments and advisors are not all the same.
      Once chosen, test to make sure they are what you expected.
      Do not settle for ones you do not like or aren't doing a good job.
    • Online brokers have the lowest fees for self mangaged and advisor managed investments
    • Multiple accounts may be needed for different types of investments.
    • Many types of investments can be done/managed by you. (individual stocks, ETFs, index funds, mutual funds, cryptocurrency, etc)
  • Put safe guards on account(s)
    • Always choose a very strong password.
      And of course do not share this password with anyone!
      Use two-factor authentication.
    • Put limits on ALL investments.
  • Diversify
    • Overall diversity would be between major categories like bonds, cash, cryptocurrency, precious metals, stocks, real estate, etc
    • Also diversify within each category
  • Use your head (think) and heart (feel)
    • Use your head by checking news, charts, statistics, etc
      • Buy low/sell high (pretty obvious)
      • After a large gain...think about taking some profit
      • After a large loss...evaluate the investment about what to do
      • When buying stocks, ETFs, etc think about using "dollar cost averaging"
      • Money missed is better than money lost
      • Don't just read an article's headline...at the very least also skim the whole article
      • Always use multiple sources to research an investment
      • When looking at a stock think about what type of person investests in that company's product(s)
    • Let your heart play a smaller part in your decisions.
      • An investment may NOT look great on paper, but you have a great feeling about it individually and/or its industry
      • If you have a bad feeling about a great on paper stock you own...think about selling all or part of the investment
  • Never let your investments go unmonitored
    • Review them often if simply to keep up with their current status.
    • Dividends paid can and do change.
      Sometimes growing, but sometimes down to 0%.
    • It is good to do a yearly rebalancing.
    • If you do not want to manage your investments, then go ahead and find a good advisor.
  • Always keep taxes in mind
    • IRA (Traditional & Roth) accounts can smartly be used for day trading.
      There may be trading fees (not likely), but no taxable events until withdrawing for retirement or otherwise.
    • Any investment is considered a short term investment when held less than a year.
      This means higher taxes!
    • $3000 worth of investment losses can be written off each year.
  • Growth vs Income
    • Younger investors can be agressive and lean toward growth investments.
    • Older investors usually lean toward income for security.
    • Different stocks can cover any mix needed.
      • Stocks with no dividend are usually growth stocks.
      • Stocks with dividend are usually income stocks.
      • Some stocks have growth and dividends.
    • Cryptocurrencies and precious metals are generally considered growth investments.
    • Bonds, CDs and mutual funds would be income investments.
    • Some stocks and real estate can be both growth and income investments at the same time.
  • Watch for cycles
    • Precious metal are usually inverse to other investments like stocks.
    • When quality stocks have a large drop...research and consider buying.
      Some are quick and some are long drops.
      So, judgement is definitely needed.
      • WMT: All of 2015
      • RHT: 2016/12/21
      • GE: All of 2017
      • COST: June 2017
      • DE: August 2017
    • Industries have cycles.
      • SIX: Always dips though Summer...then earning come in!
      • DIS: After a big movie...earning can give the stock a jump.
      • SCI: The baby boomer are getting older.
      • Industries and raw material suffer more than consumer goods in a poor economy.
    • Is a stock a hot trend? You can ride the wave, but be ready to unload when the trend is over.
      • TSLA: Has had a good run, but are having issues with facotory equipment and competitors.
      • NFLX: Too many competitor and P/E is way too high.
  • Opportunity cost(s)
    • If an investment is not performing as expected...consider unloading for something different.
    • Choice of invest or buy "wants" (fun stuff) not "needs" items.
    • High interest loans/credit cards should be payed off first. (same as above)
    • Participate in ESPP
    • Participate in 401K
    • Self managed or professional managed investments
    • Small/young stocks move quicker and further than big/mature stocks
      -think of it like speed boats vs cargo ships
      -little fish have a good chance of being eaten by a bigger fish for large profits
      -usually low price per share