Given that I need to start "planning for the future," I've started looking at ways to invest my money. I looked at CDs, T-bonds, mutual funds, etc. etc.

What really irks me is that there's really no difference between these "conservative" items in terms of return. I was looking at CDs, and they generally have a return rate somewhere around 4%. Meaning if I give somebody $1000 for a year, they'll give me $40. Except the rate of inflation is roughly 3%, so really I'm only getting $10 real dollars every year for every thousand dollars I loan to somebody else.

That really sucks.

Currently listening to: Madonna - hung up
Posted by roy on February 6, 2006 at 06:08 PM in Ramblings | 12 Comments

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Comment posted on February 7th, 2006 at 11:50 PM
You should blend your savings. I think I've told you this one before during our last cafeteria visit, but I prefer a savings chunk (about 6 months of living expenses) stored into something like an ING Direct account, then start playing with the rest. If you don't feel comfortable playing the market directly, you can always do an indexed fund (follows Dow Jones, NASDAQ, or S&P 500) or a blend of mutual funds.

CD's tend to be a waste of money for you in my opinion since the returns are so minimal and rates are crappy. Better to be a bit more aggressive with them now while you can afford to take more risks. If you INSIST on playing with CD's though, I'd do a tiered system, where you buy a new CD every month or two, staggering them so you always have one retiring around the time you invest more. That way, you can have some liquid in the event of emergencies.
Comment posted on February 9th, 2006 at 03:18 PM
Yeah, CDs are a waste of time I realized. Question, how much is "six months" living expenses?
Comment posted on February 14th, 2006 at 04:09 PM
Roy, it's great that you've decided to do something with the money you're earning.

Let me know if you've got questions... I've been reading a lot about in the past year. I really enjoyed Peter Lynch's book "One up on Wall Street" and find a lot of articles on Motley Fool informative.

PS. Don't bother with putting "retirement money" into lower risk/no risk vehicles like CDs & savings accounts. You will do much better by putting them into Index Funds. However, you should have a savings account for shorter term cash, since you cannot withdraw from IRAs/401ks without penalty.

6 months living expenses ~= fixed expenses + "some buffer"

fixed == rent, insurance, car payments, student loan payments, food

hparade (guest)

Comment posted on February 7th, 2006 at 05:08 PM
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Comment posted on February 7th, 2006 at 02:07 PM
you should buy stock for _anga.
Comment posted on February 7th, 2006 at 09:39 AM
gah investments no! i mean i know it's all about the future, but i'm holding off (besides lack of money) but more due to lack of futurevision YET yet.. but how are yOU i want to know more anyways~ are you still in durham? you should see mee i want to see you so we have to see each other ^^

Anton Zuiker (guest)

Comment posted on February 6th, 2006 at 07:38 PM
Take the long view, Roy, and just get a regular flow of money to build into something you can invest at higher rates. You might consider getting an IRA (up to $4000 is tax deductible) that, over time and as it grows, will get you to a nice nest egg. Damn, 12 years ago I was in your position, recently out of college and truly debt free. I wish I had started to regularly squirrel away at least 25 bucks a month. Which is what I'm doing now. Never too late to start saving.
Comment posted on February 9th, 2006 at 08:42 PM
who gets out of college debt free!?!
Comment posted on February 6th, 2006 at 07:18 PM
yea, i put $1500 into a cd for a year, and it was a waste of time. It gave me a little more interest (maybe .05%) more than my savings account, and the interest was put into my savings (which i spent). In the end the only good that came of it was that i was forced to not spend the money. But obviously that can be a bad thing due to penalties for taking it out early.

look into a Roth IRA, thats the best "long term" investment you can make. I'm sure you already know, but its a retirement IRA that does not get taxed when you remove the money post retirement.
Comment posted on February 6th, 2006 at 07:24 PM
yep, i opened a roth ira this past year; unfortunately it seems to be down $20 :(

;)
Comment posted on February 7th, 2006 at 11:36 AM
you can't touch it now anyway =).. keep plugging money here.

INGdirect.com for the meantime while your deciding what you wanna do. Free savings account that is semiliquid (1 day turnaround). its at 3.8%

i've put a lot of money in mutual funds as well as my "play" money in actual stocks.

I don't like CDs,

and i don't like savings accounts (well except ING, and that's just my "vegas" account).
Comment posted on February 6th, 2006 at 07:25 PM
yargh