Any investors here?
- Thread starter HellioN
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Depends on the risk you are willing to take. I usually don't buy individual stocks unless I have a few grand. Annuities are awesome too, but you need to add another 0 to even get started.
Right now I casually put into high yield dividend ETF's to play around. Not huge stock growth, but you get quarterly dividend payouts. These contains stocks like Coca Cola which have been flat growth for the last few years in this economy, but it's one of the highest paying dividends.
Not that exciting, but you should try to max out a Roth IRA every year. Yeah, it's money you probably wont use until you retire. Post Tax is awesome though the way this gov't is going.
Right now I casually put into high yield dividend ETF's to play around. Not huge stock growth, but you get quarterly dividend payouts. These contains stocks like Coca Cola which have been flat growth for the last few years in this economy, but it's one of the highest paying dividends.
Not that exciting, but you should try to max out a Roth IRA every year. Yeah, it's money you probably wont use until you retire. Post Tax is awesome though the way this gov't is going.
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Beg someone to get you in on the Facebook ipo.
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Read this: http://www.investingblog.org/archives/944/how-to-invest-in-stocks-with-little-money/
Honestly, $1000 is a good start, but you need to pick the right type of investments. You may find that blog interesting, as well. He's got a lot of good advice for investors and usually borders on the more conservative side of trading advice (meaning, he isn't one to post hot-stock tips, or tell you to buy this or that... Actually, he's pretty up front about avoiding that advice as much as possible). He's also been spending a lot of time recently writing beginners and first-time trader type posts like this one as well: http://www.investingblog.org/archives/936/how-to-invest-in-stocks-for-beginners/
There's probably a few good nuggets of wisdom in there for you. Now, I know you've got a grand ready to burn, but if you want to get trading, but don't want to put any real skin in the game quite yet, download Ninjatrader. It allow you to do paper trading (and actual trading when you're ready with a BYO-Service) for free and to sort of get a feel for what would happen if you did this or that. It's a great way to learn how to trade without costing you a penny. Plus, if you treat it like a game and figure I have $10,000... If it's gone, I lose, type thing... You can have some fun with it. Hell, get your friends involved. It's basically what you probably did in your high school Econ class, but with actual industry level software
Trading stocks is just scratching the surface, and if you are really interested in this stuff, you may want to look into options and derivatives. They let you play with the much higher priced stocks, with much smaller buy ins, but they have windows of opportunity and strange rules that could leave you holding nothing, even if the stock you option goes up in price. Definitely not a beginners course, but something to look into if you really like this sort of thing. Ninjatrader is your friend, though... that and the numerous financial blogs/sites that are geared towards newbie traders.
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Also, I know you talked about investing, but good investment strategies start with good saving strategies. Before you start investing, make sure you're saving a decent portion of your salary each month. This isn't to cushion you if the markets fail, this is to setup some sort of automatic nesting for your future. If your company offers a 401K plan, it's a simple and great way to start.
I always recommend that people start higher than they think they can afford to go, then slowly dial it back. The reason being, you'll adjust to the money you receive each paycheck. The first few checks that are a couple hundred less are going to hurt. I know, they will, but after a short while you won't even feel it. I started at 10% of my salary, and slowly increased it over the years as I got better at balancing and managing my spending. I now max out my yearly contributions to my 401K as well as save a nice piece of cash each month as well.
Trust me, this is essential. I know to many people that make great salaries, but have absolutely nothing to show for it due to just pissing away their paycheck every month. If it's in your checking account, you'll be inclined to spend it. If you can't contribute to a 401K, then a IRA is an option, but I honestly think a post-tax auto-deposit into a money market (to invest in mutual funds or bonds) will be a much better place to stick your money.
There's a balance here, though. You obviously don't want to go cash-strapped every month trying to save. You need to find what works for you. A good place to start is to pick a goal and move up to it. Maybe saving the max contribution allowed yearly in a 401K is just completely unrealistic for you. It was for me when I was just starting out. Hell, it was for me 5 years ago, but I worked up to it. You'll be amazed at what a few bucks now can do, though. I watched a few hundred a month turn into an enormous amount of money over the past ten years and it was virtually painless to save. Start today, and a little pain now will go a long way in the future.
I always recommend that people start higher than they think they can afford to go, then slowly dial it back. The reason being, you'll adjust to the money you receive each paycheck. The first few checks that are a couple hundred less are going to hurt. I know, they will, but after a short while you won't even feel it. I started at 10% of my salary, and slowly increased it over the years as I got better at balancing and managing my spending. I now max out my yearly contributions to my 401K as well as save a nice piece of cash each month as well.
Trust me, this is essential. I know to many people that make great salaries, but have absolutely nothing to show for it due to just pissing away their paycheck every month. If it's in your checking account, you'll be inclined to spend it. If you can't contribute to a 401K, then a IRA is an option, but I honestly think a post-tax auto-deposit into a money market (to invest in mutual funds or bonds) will be a much better place to stick your money.
There's a balance here, though. You obviously don't want to go cash-strapped every month trying to save. You need to find what works for you. A good place to start is to pick a goal and move up to it. Maybe saving the max contribution allowed yearly in a 401K is just completely unrealistic for you. It was for me when I was just starting out. Hell, it was for me 5 years ago, but I worked up to it. You'll be amazed at what a few bucks now can do, though. I watched a few hundred a month turn into an enormous amount of money over the past ten years and it was virtually painless to save. Start today, and a little pain now will go a long way in the future.
BobbyPeru
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