Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire The single most powerful factor behind successful investing?

Curious, do any of you guys work for an employer who contributes to a 401k on your behalf? If so, what percentage do they contribute or is it a dollar for dollar match of a certain percentage you put in?

1 for 1 for the first 5%. but they wait until the end of the year to do it and if you quit one day before the disbursement you lose the whole year.

I had always heard that the successful man is not the guy who dies owning a million dollars but the guy who dies owing a million...

Rule #1: Stay single.
Rule #2: Have fun, stay single.
Rule #3: If you need rule #3, its too late.

Man, there are some pearls there Mr DF. Great stuff, and oh so true.

As for me , I never found a rental property I thought was worth the money and hassle to fix up. I decided to get some REIT's instead. I got AGNC, that pays 12.75 % dividends monthly. The price has stayed from $19 when I bought 6 months ago, then 5 months ago I payed $18 and one month ago I payed $18.12 The price is 18.25 today. So, I have been getting about 13% on my REIT. I have another REIT and it gives 7.1% div. monthly. I guess, the price might go down but it has alway payed monthly div. and reinvested monthly. I also get a div check from GNL. I payed $10 per share but is only worth $8.50 now. If you buy GNL now, you will get about 8% monthly div check. They dont reinvest the div. though. Just a thought for someone that does not have 50k to put in a rental. I have 10k in one account and get $104 per month reinvest dividends , but the dividends over the last 6 months are starting to reinvest and multiply, and it multiplies fast at 13%. This was the original thread , compound interest.

"You have to take on some risk at some point in time."

Yes, life comes with risk; the secret of any success is to control what you can (e.g., investment expenses) and diversify (braod based index funds win).

Remember Enron, a company that could only keep going up? Some put all they had on this winning horse and lost it all. Even when Enron went kaput, index fund investors felt barely a ripple.

Life comes with risks, but you don't have to stand out in the traffic...

If a deal sounds too good, think...

Ole Bernie Madoff paid some really handsome dividends, was a legend during his reign as financial guru, par excellence.

All was Kosher until the "music stopped", those left standing got burned, bad.

Enough greed to go around, Bernie and his "pigeons".

Some made money and got out, some couldn't get enough and stayed in. Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered...

Buyer beware...

DF

Dutch,

Maybe a dozen years ago I somehow ended up fishing with a guy who'd worked in a refinery until he retired in his mid-60's. His life-long ambition was to fish every day, not just on days off, so every day he drove around 150 miles, round-trip, to fish one hole on the Bighorn River here in Montana. He knew that hole really well, because within three casts I caught a really nice brown trout following his directions.
But I can't imagine a life spent doing the same job every day, so you can retire and follow exactly the same routine every day, no matter how much you like fishing!

But he seemed very happy. We're all different.

Yes and Amen.

Yes, that works both ways though. When a stock does really well, an index fund also barely feels a ripple. My grandpa picked stocks, my dad picked stocks, and I pick stocks. You don't take everything you own and stick it in a single stock. Spend 5k here, 10k there, and in the long term you own some really high quality companies, most of whom pay a good dividend that you reinvest.

Amazing how folks will sign on the dotted line to buy a house for all kinds of money, but are too afraid to pick stocks. You can lose a pile of money on a house.

BTW, lots of folks, myself included have been buying ATT (T) for what was the 5.5% dividend yield, since the banks aren't paying crap for interest. We were getting in around $32-34 a share for a long time. Just looked and shares have appreciated to over $38 a share. So not only have we been getting 5%+ we have some very nice share appreciation.

Lots of very nice blue chips to make a good yield on since the banks ain't paying crap.

The secret is to save money and invest it in the right stock(s).

My father invested in PacCar and Microsoft.
I invested in Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Apple.

My father told me that when Merrill Lynch calls, 95% of the time their pitch is bs, but you have to listen, so when you hear something real you can jump on it.

With a tepid economy posting a .5% for Q1 2016 indicate what have to look forward to, its best you maximize your investment dollar. I maintain that the average person doesn't have the aptitude or time to perform the needed research. Not a "put down" just stating the truth.
Therefore a licensed advisor, one who is not fee based is what you need. I say that because too many times the advisor has you buying in and out of investments - all the while earning a commission for the transactions. He/she may not have your best interests at heart. You should interview 2-4 persons and see who appears to come off as a good fit.
A big "no brainer" that people don't maximize to the extent of the company match is the 401K style investment.
As always, "time" and not "timing" is your friend.

"I had always heard that the successful man is not the guy who dies owning a million dollars but the guy who dies owing a million... "

If correct, there are a lot of successful men in the US today!

Am I right that you DO advise a "fee only" advisor, as opposed to a commission based advisor?

You got good advice.

It makes you wonder who they really working for....

Surely not the client...

DF

My Dad told me never to invest in the stock market but to buy and invest in real estate, Unfortunately my companies 401k will not allow me to do that in an effective fashion.

My Dad lives in West Palm Beach and retired quite nicely

Here is MY real estate anecdote.

I bought an apartment building in 1990.

The bathroom floors kept getting rotten. I think I pulled up every bathroom floor in that building one time or another. I crippled in floor joist repair, patched up the underlayment, put on new vinyl flooring, put on baseboards, caulked around the edges, and put the toilet back in.

Meanwhile I bought Microsoft stock.
The stock cost 4% of what the building cost, but made 3X as much money... with no toilets to fix.

I sold the building in 2000.
I spent the money in 2004 on the Google IPO.
Those $100 shares are worth $1400 now. Not as good as microsoft did for me in the 90s, but I will take it.

Damnit Clark you made some great calls


Congrats

I'd be tempted after the fact to follow you but you're due for an Enron after a run like that!

Jk. Happy for you, you picked some great stocks