Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Help with Mutual Funds and ETF

Gosh Orange, I am down in every fund now. We have 15 of them. I have only been in this a lot for 16 months though.

Here is the hard part that most people cant do. Keep buying when the market is going down.

I always have and it has paid off for me.

Actually, I bought a lot when it went down under 8K in 2008. Because of that, it changed my long term outlook. People are worried about 16K now. Lol.

THIS, THIS, THIS!!!!!! Proven million dollar advice, right there.

For many, many reasons.

I pulled out about fully in May knowing that I would be spending my first summer retired and at my place in the mountains of north Idaho. As you know, I am a fairly high risk investor and just did not want to pay attention for the summer so I didn't and thoroughly enjoyed my time there. I will await my 3Q review and decide whether to jump back in or not. I do own a fair chunk of Royal Dutch Shell due to my former employ and it has taken a major hit but I do not need it and know that it will return so it will all ride.

EDM, I was wondering about what you might do. I wish I'd pulled out of my FBIOX but got a bit greedy and thought it would go up more. Then Hillary shoots her mouth off about biotech . I just dont quite know what I am doing but I will put the rest of our spare money in soon. I dont know what yet. I know a financial advisor that told me large caps should be a good bet about now. That was last week. I dont know for sure though. My fear is it will go way down even more , like a 10k DOW. All it takes is a panic sell and everyone freaks out if it gets too low and they all sell at once. That is the scary part.

I am thinking what we have seen is a correction and nothing more. Near term the market will bounce around a few hundred up and down until oil starts to rise a fair bit. My guess end of 2016 at best. But hell, I am 53 and and am good to go for a bit so now rush here.

tom - Markets are off again, every body seems to be worried about China. I have the $$$$ in the bank right now, and maybe I should just hold tight.

Very, very hard to do.

The fund I am most likely going to buy is FOCPX. It's a Fidelity fund . It went down 1% today to my surprise. I just don't think it is going to go down much. If the Dow gets down to 15,566 like meltdown Monday in Aug. I think that is the true bottom. But then it goes up and dives again. I dont know much but I think it is leveled off now. No? Anyway, to the OP. I will never buy a loaded fund again. Also watch the expense ratios too. An Index fund is just a plain good idea in most cases. If you have 50k or less I thin index funds are good ideas. If you want to go a bit more aggressive many small cap funds seem to do better. When ya get more money, funds in several categories might be better for you. I have a little bit in an S&P index fund.

Just set up an appointment with my Fidelity guy for Friday to decide where to jump back in.

Hint, the Fidelity guy only knows how to get the Fidelity guy paid. Real value changes in a matter of seconds in the market, and EVERYTHING else is factored in, always.

just sayin.

If you need advice, NEVER, and I mean NEVER take it from someone who sells ANYTHING, but advice.

I wish I had known this forty years ago. It's free to everyone here.

Wrongo. Been doing this investing chitt for 30 years and am now retired at 53. I ain't no dummy but do welcome advice.

Ya never asked how I been doing. ;-{>8

I am guessing that you are just fine.

I am, and I would have said exactly what you did when I had been investing for only thirty years. ;-{>8

If I where living in the US, I would choose Vanguard Index funds.

50% US Index
30% World Index
20% World Bonds

Lowest fees above else! I do not expect to get more then the market.. I want to be IN the market, for as long as possible.

Buying monthly on the upsides and downsides.. and Hopefully when I retire this nest egg will have increased enough for me to live comfortably.



I used to buy individual stocks.. but it just became to much of a hassle. There are a bunch of companies in the US that would mostly survive anything, but I have to deal with currency ups and downs as well. Not good for my long term sanity..

Thirty, forty meh...

Kind of like asking a used car salesman if the car you are looking at runs good.

Two cents from one of the most unsophisticated investors around.

Everybody and their brother, after they have given their pet formulas for getting rich by constantly moving money around and being lucky, states the following:

- Diversify
- Invest over time and get rich slowly
- Always pay yourself first - i.e., put money aside before buying anything else.

Easy peasy so that what I've been doing for several years now. I put a healthy percentage of each paycheck into our company's 403b fund which they match up to a point, that's done automatically.

I also put a few hundred dollars each month into Vanguard Index funds - their total stock market, international stock market and total bond market funds. That's a line item "expense" on my monthly budget spreadsheet just the same as paying the mortgage and utility bills. That takes advantage of dollar cost averaging. I buy $xxx worth of each fund around the 1st or 2nd of the month, I generally don't even look at the current price.

Took a big hit in 2008 like everyone else but recovered. Took a lesser hit just recently but with the diversification my total investments' net worth didn't dip too much at all. In fact when the market fell so badly that Monday IIRC I put a whole month's extra allotment into the stock fund that night to take advantage of the good prices.

I started really late in life so won't be retiring in my 50's but am on track for a decent amount when I do retire.



I read a book a few years ago called "The Best Investment Advice You Will Ever Get" or something like that. In the preface the author says you can read all twenty something chapters or skip to the very last chapter. The first chapters were all about the ins and out of investing, lots of technical details and historical data. Then in the last chapter he says, "buy broad based indexed funds. Vanguard and Fidelity both have good ones. If you do that and invest long term you will make just as much money as if you followed all of the detailed steps related in the first chapters of this book".

I'm sure there are more sophisticated ways of handling money if one wants to devote the time and energy to following the markets and prognostications. I happen to like the KIS principle in all things and the above seems to be working okay.

Yup, deny human nature at your own peril. (PS- It doesn't matter how nice they are or how expensive their suit is.)