|
|
|
|
|
Users viewing this topic:
none
|
|
Login  | |
|
Stock - 7/6/2009 9:13:15 PM
|
|
|
SaraChristine
Posts: 98
Joined: 2/20/2008
Status: offline
|
Hello there!
My parents are interesting in investing a little money in the stock market. Neither have ever had any experience with investing, so they asked me to see what I could find out.
Does anyone have any recommendations on where to start, what to watch out for, and any other general pointers?
It would be greatly appreciated.
God bless,
Sara
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Stock - 7/6/2009 9:55:19 PM
|
|
|
blessedinnyc
Posts: 2902
Joined: 10/12/2007
From: NYC by way of Chicago
Status: offline
|
quote:
ORIGINAL: SaraChristine
Hello there!
My parents are interesting in investing a little money in the stock market. Neither have ever had any experience with investing, so they asked me to see what I could find out.
Does anyone have any recommendations on where to start, what to watch out for, and any other general pointers?
It would be greatly appreciated.
God bless,
Sara
Do they have any kind of knowledge of accounting or basic bookkeeping?
If they lost half of this money, would they be really distraught? Or could they live with it? I am assuming this isn't a huge pile of change for them; is it fair to assume that they have a lot more money in the bank than what they'd put into the stock market?
Finally, do they have an IRA? Are they willing to stick this money away until retirement?
I'm sorry if these questions sound a little nosy, but I have to ask them to give you the best answer on this. There's a lot of routes that we can take. If this is just a really small amount of money for them and they want the fun of picking out one or two companies to invest in, they can go with a single stock. I can make a few suggestions for discount brokers and a few good websites to visit on investment advice.
If this is a lot more money for them and they can't afford to lose it, this is probably not the time to be putting money in the stock market. I know the stock market's really cheap right now, but it's also really volatile. They should be keeping money that they'll need for quite a while safe and sound.
If they don't want to be reading balance sheets and financial statements but this is money they can lose, one other option is mutual funds or maybe ETFs. I'm a huge fan of low-overhead index funds.
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Stock - 7/6/2009 11:33:08 PM
|
|
|
LCannon
Posts: 1118
Joined: 2/22/2007
From: Lebanon, OR
Status: offline
|
Loose Cannon's Guide to Investing
1. Invest what you can afford to lose. Remember the initial talents? They were the master's.
2. Research and invest and follow. Never invest purely on another's word or hunch.
3. When you decide to sell take your gain and run! Never look back.
4. When you take a loss it's only money. Refer back No. 1.
I would go to a conservative brokerage house(like Edward Jones)and tell(or even ask what questions they should ask)the broker a rough estimate their resources and they want to go in X amount of time. EDJ and the like have boatloads options stock, bonds, mutual fund to fit most risk comfort levels.
_____________________________
'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' (Joshua 1:5)
''Let the very worst thing come to pass[and]even there,
especially there; His hand will hold.' -Elisabeth Elliot-
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Stock - 7/7/2009 12:36:42 AM
|
|
|
blessedinnyc
Posts: 2902
Joined: 10/12/2007
From: NYC by way of Chicago
Status: offline
|
Edward Jones is fine advice, but I really think a discount broker with some help from the Motley Fool's website is the way to go. (And as a guy who works in capital markets at an investment bank, I have a vested interest in sending folks to a full-service broker.)
Scottrade offers great service. They charge $7/trade, have no account fees, and actually beat out the full-service brokers to offer the best execution in the industry when it came to market orders a few years ago. $20/trade is a lot of money if you're only playing around with a few thousand. Best to do your own research rather than get advice from a broker and cut the cost of getting into and out of a stock at the same time, or better yet, just track down a good ETF.
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Stock - 7/11/2009 8:44:02 AM
|
|
|
agapetos
Posts: 9760
Joined: 4/11/2005
From: This side of the lil duck pond!
Status: offline
|
My uncle worked for a bank all his life and had shares.
His best advice to me was to never invest money that you couldn't afford to lose.
If your parents are thinking of investing their life savings, their retirement fun etc, it's probably not a good idea.
_____________________________
Stovie, Stovie, what am I going to do with you!
Maggie
September 09
My blog
|
|
|
|
 New Messages |
 No New Messages |
 Hot Topic w/ New Messages |
 Hot Topic w/o New Messages |
 Locked w/ New Messages |
 Locked w/o New Messages |
|
 Post New Thread
Reply to Message
Post New Poll
Submit Vote
Delete My Own Post
Delete My Own Thread
Rate Posts |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Forum Tools
Printable Version
MARRIED TO A MILITARY PILOT ~ PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR TROOPS! 