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Supersonic Scientist
11-14-2012, 12:00 PM
Many of us here are Baby Boomers, some closer to retirement than others. I am a very active and diversified investor. I'm looking to discuss what other here are investing in and what you opinions are regarding the current financial landscape as we move into the next several years.
I don't want to discuss the political-slant tangent to investing too much, just what ya'll are doing to build & save your nest-eggs.

To get it started, I'm currently in: Precious metals (Big time), Rental real estate property, & emerging markets, small & large cap markets all via Mutual funds, and other investment vehicles.

Please share your thoughts and plans.

Thanks...

LighthouseKeeper
11-18-2012, 12:26 AM
OK, I'll play. I have a decent sum built up over time. I have a 401K with my present employer and a Roth that I have been contributing to when I can. They are for the most part in a variety of mutual funds. I also have a 401K and pension from a prior job that I rolled into a managed portfolio. I wasn't too keen on the management approach as they seemed a little conservative for my risk tolerance but they got my attention when they pulled all holdings into cash in 2007 and I completely avoided the drop with that portfolio. Currently it is my highest earning portfolio even though the fees are higher than most mutual fund fees.

LighthouseKeeper
11-18-2012, 12:28 AM
By the way, like the avatar. I was just watching Dunham earlier this evening.

80s were ok
11-18-2012, 12:48 AM
401ks, Roth IRA's, US and Municipal Bonds, company pension(s) CDs (when rates are good) and good ol' hard cash. And you can't forget about Social Security when calculating your future income. That's what I have. I don't deal in rental property because I do not want to be a landlord or have all the hassles associated with it

Hunnibee
11-18-2012, 02:47 AM
All I've got is an IRA, and it won't be too huge when I retire in about 15-16 years, but I'm used to being poor. (I'm unemployed at the moment, actually) With any luck, the next job I get will be my last job. It would be nice to finally set down roots with a company and build up some kind of 401k or 403b or something in this decade. When I retire, I'm hoping to have enough to buy a small Fifth Wheel, set it up in a warm, sunny RV park by the sea, and live out my old age with a few cats. If Social Security is still around, that can cover my space rent and denture cream. :D

jake
11-18-2012, 02:36 PM
The Wife and I each have Roth IRAs which we actively contributed to until about 6-7 years ago when we could no longer afford to (I know how can we possibly afford not to). Also have a recently expanded current account due to an inheritance. I am lucky in that my job offers both a pension and a 401k - the result of having a large (but dwindling) unionised portion of the workforce - the company match is almost zero in the 401k. The company also recently pulled the rug from under us with the pension and set the minimum pensionable age to 60 from 55 - we also have a points system based on age and years of service which was tweaked with to make maximum pension almost impossible to achieve - still I can't complain - all new employees for the last few years only get the 401k option. We also have 50% ownership in the house we live in - her sister has the other 50% - we have seen the value of the house drop by about $75-85,000 in the last few years - while the taxes continue to go up. I think I will be ok in the long run. I am 52 - we don't smoke, we are both vegetarians. I just recently shoved a chunk of my cash in the 401k back into large and mid caps bringing my 401k cash down to about 7% from 20%. The IRAs are still holding the tech and pharma stocks which gave me my initial boom when I started investing in the late 90s - I really should sit down with my guy but I always seem to have an excuse not to. Only in the last few years have I been able to max out my 401k contributions including the godsend of the 50 years old plus catchup. Would appreciate any advice or tips on investing for income as my record with growth is spotty (Global Crossing, Palm, Lucent anyone?).

Supersonic Scientist
11-18-2012, 05:46 PM
Here is a suggestion that I used to good effect. I challenged the County's assessment-value of all 3 of my properties and was successful in having my property taxes lowered. I have saving $100's of dollars and over the life of ownership, I'll save thousands. Also, I took advantage of these energy-efficient programs with the electric & gas companies where you get rebates if you switch to energy-efficient appliances. Every little bit helps.

80s were ok
11-18-2012, 06:38 PM
. Would appreciate any advice or tips on investing for income as my record with growth is spotty (Global Crossing, Palm, Lucent anyone?).
my advice is not invest in individual stocks. Stick to mutual funds but research them well and make sure the expense ratios are like below .30% or something like that. I'm not saying you can't make money on individual stocks, you sure can but you shouldn't bank on it for retirement. If you have spare money lying around that you can afford to possible lose 100% of, the have fun with individual stocks. For all the crap people have to say about mutual funds, it's very unlikely if you put $2,000 into one (say, as part of a ROTH IRA), I've very unlikely it will ever go down to $0.00. Just spend a lil time researching.

Progmatic
11-19-2012, 10:19 AM
my advice is not invest in individual stocks

Experimenting with investments little bit myself in late 90s I actually would recommed to go step further and find yourself financial advisor or manager...yes they cost money but they tend to be "on it" whereas I was not and lost tons of "money" in process...

80s were ok
11-19-2012, 10:42 AM
Experimenting with investments little bit myself in late 90s I actually would recommed to go step further and find yourself financial advisor or manager...yes they cost money but they tend to be "on it" whereas I was not and lost tons of "money" in process...

sorry- in my opinion the only ones who recommend financial advisors are financial advisors. Unless it's a relative or good friend, they won't have your best interests at hand, not in the least.

jake
11-19-2012, 04:07 PM
What does everyone think of ETFs? Not just the obvious Dow and S&P500 exchanges but some of the more industry or area specific ones. These seem to be growing in popularity but I don't have anything in any of them.

Progmatic
11-20-2012, 11:11 AM
sorry- in my opinion the only ones who recommend financial advisors are financial advisors. Unless it's a relative or good friend, they won't have your best interests at hand, not in the least.

it maybe your experience...but I have two completely independent experiences that led me to believe that I am my worst financial enemy...

Adrian
11-21-2012, 01:32 AM
I tried active investing for a while, but I just don't have the stomach for the volatility.

My IRA is invested in PRPFX, the Permanent Portfolio. It's designed so that if one asset class takes a dive, there's always something else to take up the slack. The original concept was to have equal allocations of stocks (to capture market gains in times of prosperity), bonds (for deflationary periods), precious metals (a hedge against inflation), and cash (a buffer for losses during recessions). The last time I looked at the prospectus, it was 25% silver/gold, 10% Swiss francs, 35% Treasuries, 15% real estate and natural resource stocks, and 15% growth stocks. It's historically returned about the same as the overall stock market, but with a lot less volatility. I find it a good strategy for wealth preservation.