When I was in high school and college I used to mail in checks to dividend reinvestment plans (DRIPs). I had DRIPs for GTE and Ford stock and would mail in anywhere from $10 to $50 at a time. When I started my career in consulting in 1998 I began my first real auto investing experience with a corporate 401k, where I got to put away around 3 or 4 percent of my … [Read more...] about Auto-Investing
Investing
Still Unsure about Risk Tolerance? Try this…
By mirroring asset allocations of target date funds, you can get a starting point for asset allocation and risk. In my post about risk tolerance and time horizon, I wrote about what I consider two most important factors to contemplate before you start investing. The time horizon is typically the easiest to figure out, even if it’s a range. I recall looking at the … [Read more...] about Still Unsure about Risk Tolerance? Try this…
Time Horizon and Risk Tolerance
Should you buy stocks, bonds, mutual funds, or exchange traded funds (ETF)? Should you buy Cisco or GE? Vanguard funds or Pimco? The themes of time and risk are repeated in books, blogs and YouTube videos everywhere. How often have your heard that you should diversify your investments? Diversification is a form of risk mitigation. If you knew with absolute certainty … [Read more...] about Time Horizon and Risk Tolerance
Don’t Do Something, Just Stand There!
I actually wrote this post back in February 2019 but have been sitting on it for months. I suppose it’s because I could sum it all up in one sentence that would read something like: during the next downturn I will largely ignore the markets and, if anything, look for an opportunistic time to buy more. Market and Media Signs I picked this post back up again after … [Read more...] about Don’t Do Something, Just Stand There!
Swing for the Fences Investing
Swing for the fences investing is a pretty well established term, see for yourself at Investopedia. In my experience, swing for the fences investing not only involves bold, speculative bets, but doing so without any regard for the “R” word….risk. It is pure insanity to invest without assessing your risk tolerance, the upside vs. downside risk, mitigating that risk, and so … [Read more...] about Swing for the Fences Investing