Blog Posts Across InvestEveryMonth.com

Should I Continue Investing Every Month?

I like the idea of investing every month. I have my investments set up on an automatic investment plan so I don't even have to think about it. However, am I investing in the right thing? All my investments are doing poorly as the stock market continues to struggle. Maybe I should be investing every month into a business or into real estate investments? I guess the idea of buying cheap homes is the same as the idea of buying cheap stocks when they are doing poorly now. The main hope is that… Continue

Posted by James Scott on June 27, 2008 at 2:12pm

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What Should I Invest In?

I'm relatively young so I'm taking a long-term view of my investment strategies. Because of this, I am trying to minimize my fees and taxes as I invest in very diversified index and mutual funds. I'm basically betting that the overall markets will rise over the next few decades. I try not to watch investment advice programs on cable television, but I found myself on a treadmill at the gym watching MSNBC's Millionaires program. There were four millionaires giving advice about what we should inve… Continue

Posted by James Scott on April 14, 2008 at 11:34am

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Get Your 401(k) Matching Funds

I overheard someone yesterday talking about how they didn't invest in their 401(k) account because they thought they could get a better return on their own by buying individual stocks. I wanted to chime in, but figured it would be rude so I need to vent my comments here. Most companies match your 401(k) investment contributions up to a certain percentage of your income. This is basically free money! You can't find a better investment than getting free money. Your money doubles as soon as you m… Continue

Posted by James Scott on February 19, 2008 at 11:29pm

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Automatic Deposits Will Help You Succeed

Do you have automatic deposits set-up? It really is one of the best ways to achieve your savings and investment goals. I used to have a hard time saving money every month because there were so many bills to pay and so many things I wanted to do with my money. Now that I use automatic withdrawals, my investments are made before I even see the money. I still pay my bills and spend the money in my checking account, but the process of reaching my investment goals has been automated with no need f… Continue

Posted by James Scott on February 19, 2008 at 11:27pm

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Sustainable Investing

Tom Friedman of the New York Times says green is the new red, white, and blue. He says a green revolution is blooming around the world that will solve our environmental, economic, and terrorism problems all at once. We certainly would solve a lot of our problems if we found a clean energy solution that didn't require carbon emitting fossil fuels from foreign countries. 70% of our oil use is for automobiles. I would like to invest in and purchase a clean fuel automobile as one of the most patri… Continue

Posted by James Scott on February 19, 2008 at 11:23pm

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I Want To Retire Early

I want to retire early. I don't mean a few years ahead of time, I mean right now. My main problem is that everything I'm interested in is not profitable. It is not profitable to spend time with and teach my children. It is not profitable to be a concerned citizen working to make the world a better place. It is not profitable to take care of my body instead of sitting in front of a computer all day. I'm sick of only being able to do things that are profitable. My goal now is to retire as so… Continue

Posted by James Scott on February 19, 2008 at 11:19pm

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Speculating vs. Investing

Are you a speculator or an investor? This is an important question to ask oursleves as we experience the current market swings. If we are investors, we are trying to make a profit over a long period of time. If we are speculating, we are trying to make money in a short period of time with high risk endeavors. Most of the investors I know have been taking the current market losses in stride. They understand that the market is still positive for the year. They know that the market has been very… Continue

Posted by James Scott on February 19, 2008 at 11:17pm

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Lots Of People In Debt

I was listening to a radio program last night and heard some statistics about how many Americans are in debt. The numbers were staggering. I'm not sure what the main reason is for this large amount of debt being held by Americans. My first thought is that Americans are working harder compared to thirty years ago, but we are bringing home less money after you adjust for inflation. In the distant past, one person could work while the wife stayed home and this could lead to a nice middle class li… Continue

Posted by James Scott on February 19, 2008 at 11:03pm

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I'm Going To Invest In SRI Funds

I've always liked the idea of socially responsible investing (SRI). I want to make money through investments, but I don't want to make money by being a part of negative actions such as dumping toxic waste, cutting down lumber in unsustainable ways, selling poorly tested pharmaceuticals, etc... I want to make money while also knowing that my money is having a positive impact on our society. It is the way I do business and it is the way I want to manage my investments. A lot of times, we have n… Continue

Posted by James Scott on February 19, 2008 at 11:00pm

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Investing In A Sustainable Economy

Our economy is based on consumption. Companies have been making money for generations by convincing customers that they should consume their products. We also consume energy and carbon emitting fossil fuels while producing and consuming products. This can't go on forever in unsustainable ways. We can continue to consume products, but some of these products will no longer be available. Oil is a perfect example. Oil companies make money by taking oil from the ground, refining it, and then sellin… Continue

Posted by James Scott on February 19, 2008 at 6:08am

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Reduce Consumption Today For Future Financial Independence

The most important investment lesson I have ever learned is to reduce consumption today in order to achieve financial independence in the future. The best thing you can do is to invest in pre-tax investment vehicles in order to reduce your realized taxable income. If you decide to buy a big boat or house, you not only will need to spend the money on the monthly payments, but you will have to pay taxes on the money before you spend it. It is a double whammy working against your wealth creation.… Continue

Posted by James Scott on February 19, 2008 at 6:05am

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Diversified Investments

With the market having a few wild swings lately, the investment chatter has been increasing at the gym, grocery store, and in restaurants. I keep overhearing people talk about the stock they own. That is where I am having trouble with the conversations. People aren't talking about how their mutual fund, index fund, or 401K is doing. I mainly hear people talking about how the current economy is effecting xyz stock. I cringe whenever I hear people say they are heavily invested in a single stock… Continue

Posted by James Scott on February 19, 2008 at 5:59am

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If I Invest $100 A Month Will I Be A Millionaire?

If i invest $100 a month will i be a millionaire? I guess the most important part of the equation is how long I will be investing $100 a month. I did a search on Google for a compounding interest calculator (because each year my earnings will be determined by how much I have saved and how much interest my savings had earned the previous years). The compounding interest calculator gives me the following results if I start with no money and invest $100 a month at a 8% interest rate: 20 years -… Continue

Posted by Willie on February 19, 2008 at 5:54am

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SRI Funds Create Positive Returns

I saw the recent post about how more 401(k) funds are starting to include socially responsible investment fund options. I checked with my 401(k) advisor and found out that I did have a few recently added SRI fund options. I'm now in the process of changing my asset allocation to include the new SRI funds. Before I decided to make the change, I did some research into the SRI funds. I found out that the notion that SRI funds generate smaller returns is more myth than fact. I also saw a stat tha… Continue

Posted by Willie on February 19, 2008 at 5:51am

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The CNBC Monopoly on Financial Information

I know some cable line-ups offer bloomberg financial news and maybe a few others, but when I watch television, CNBC is the main source for financial information. Is it a good thing to have one company (GE) with near monopoly control over cable financial news? There certainly are a number of programs offered on the channel, but most of them operate according to the same commercial format. They all seem to have the same goal of getting more people to invest in the stock market. Even if I think… Continue

Posted by Willie on February 19, 2008 at 5:49am

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Teaching Kids About Money

I'm just about to start my journey as a parent. I've been thinking about how I want to raise my children. I know there will be a lot of things I can't plan for. One thing I'm thinking about is how much wealth I should share with my children. I want to have some sort of allowance system so they will start to manage their own money at an early age. I'm also wondering what type of example I should set for my children. If I have been financially successful, should I let my children know by buying… Continue

Posted by Willie on February 19, 2008 at 5:45am

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Annual Expense Ratio

Do you know what an annual expense ration is? If you invest in mutual funds you should learn this term as soon as possible. Basically, the annual expense ratio is the amount of fees paid to your mutual fund provider in ratio to the amount of your money that is actually being invested. You need to find a mutual fund with good performance, but also with a low annual expense ratio. Continue

Posted by Willie on February 19, 2008 at 5:44am

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How Many Stocks Should I Own?

How many stocks should we own as individual investors? This question was brought up in one of jason's posts and it got me thinking about what the answer should be. In the end I came away with two answers: lots of stocks and only a handful of stocks. Let me explain. The key to investing is being diversified. So the first answer is that you want to own lots of stocks in a wide range of sectors. This is nearly impossible to do on your own so a mutual fund is a great way to establish a good diver… Continue

Posted by Willie on February 19, 2008 at 5:42am

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Shaky Economy and Market

I'm a little worried about the recent labor report showing a loss of 4,000 jobs last month. Actually it was a net loss of 4,000 jobs after hundreds of thousands of people found jobs and hundreds of thousands of people lost jobs resulting in an overall loss of 4,000 jobs. This is one way the economic data can be a little deceiving. Some people might ask what the big deal is if 4,000 people lost their jobs in a country of 300 million people, but the truth is that hundreds of thousand of people lo… Continue

Posted by Willie on February 19, 2008 at 5:40am

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What I'm Learning Here

This site has been helpful in terms of keeping me focused on my overall investment strategies. I find that the more time I spend visiting and reading investment blogs, the more involved I am with my personal investment goals. I have found that visiting this site and posting my thoughts allows me to share and learn things I normally don't share or learn when I'm just sitting on my couch watching CNBC. I think the interaction is what I enjoy the most. One user here, jason, has been trying to fig… Continue

Posted by Willie on February 19, 2008 at 5:38am

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MadMoney With Jim Cramer A Pump And Dump Scam?

A pump and dump scam is where someone buys a stock at a low price and then sends out newsletters or emails to as many people as possible talking about how the stock is about to explode. When lots of people follow the advice and buy the stock, the price of the stock goes up allowing the originall pump and dump scam artist to sell their shares at a nice profit. When the market fundamentals kick in and lower the price because it was only hype that was rising the stock price, many people who bough… Continue

Posted by Willie on February 19, 2008 at 5:37am

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Automatically Invest Every Month

I think the best investment advice I ever received was to invest every month in an automated way. Most of us don't have the discipline to make monthly investments. There will always be something we might want to spend money on or some excuse for why it can't be done this month. By automating monthly investments, we pay ourselves first before we spend money on this and that. If we pay ourselves first through a 401(k) plan, the money is be invested before it is taxed. So take a few moments rig… Continue

Posted by Willie on February 19, 2008 at 5:35am

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Passive vs. Active Investing

I just started reading The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham. It is supposed to be one of the best investment books of all time. It doesn't talk about personal finance, but it is praised by Warren Buffet as the book every investor should read. So far, it seems the main point of the book is that intelligent investors take a long-term view while finding minimum risk opportunities and not doing what everyone else is doing. One of the first lessons is the difference between passive and acti… Continue

Posted by Willie on February 19, 2008 at 5:33am

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Passive Investing Leads To Ignorant Shareholders

I've been reading The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham. The book talks about how it is best to invest in a wide range of stocks (such as through an index fund) in order to decrease the risk of one or two stocks performing badly and damaging your ivestments. Graham urges investors to hold a wide range of stocks for the long term instead of actively trading a handful of stocks. At first glance, this seems like a good idea. The general index markets have consitently risen for many decades… Continue

Posted by Willie on February 19, 2008 at 5:32am

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Should I Buy What I Know?

I'm continuing to read Benjamin Graham's book called The Intelligent Investor. I just read a section about how it is not a good investment strategy to buy what we know. Basically, the idea in the past was to buy stock if we liked a certain product, worked in a certain industry, or had some personal knowledge about a new company that was expected to do well. Graham advises us not to do this. He says that trying to pick a winner is a form of speculating rather than a form of investing. He also… Continue

Posted by Willie on February 19, 2008 at 5:30am

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"I Don't Know And I Don't Care"

I'm reading a book by Benjamin Graham called The Intelligent Investor. One piece of advice he delivers is that we should be passive investors who buy and hold onto a wide range of stocks. He advises us to buy mutual funds or index funds instead of trying to pick a few stocks that we think will do well. If we are passive investors, we can relax and not worry about the daily stock market fluctuations of individual stocks. Passive investors are diversified across many forms of stocks and bonds.… Continue

Posted by Willie on February 19, 2008 at 5:27am

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The More You Trade, The Less You Keep

Here's another piece of advice I just came across in the book The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham: The more you trade, the less you keep. What this means is that if you decide to be a day trader who buys and sells stocks often, you will be paying so many fees and higher taxes that you will keep less money in the long run. The fees and taxes will add up to a nearly 10% surcharge on your investment activities which means you need to make a ten percent return just to break even. If you a… Continue

Posted by Willie on February 19, 2008 at 5:24am

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My Investments Are Boring

Are you investing to generate wealth or are you investing for sport? If you are investing for sport, then you enjoy comparing your portfolio with other people as you try to pick individual stocks that will out perform the market. For me, I'm trying to generate wealth. Everything I read tells me the best strategy for doing this is to invest every month into a low cost index fund. Index funds are boring. I can't claim to have picked the latest hot stock because my index funds own almost all sto… Continue

Posted by Willie on February 19, 2008 at 5:22am

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Investing According To Pascal's Wager

Most of us have heard of Pascal's Wager. The general idea of Pascal's Wager is to show that we all should believe in God and live a pious life because that is what the risk assesment leads us to do. Pascal's Wager says that if we live a pious life, then we will be safe no matter if there is or isn't a God. If we lead a sinful life, then we are ok if God doesn't exist, but we are in big trouble if God does exist. Since we risk going to hell through a combination of God existing and our decisio… Continue

Posted by Willie on February 19, 2008 at 5:20am

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Don't Just Do Something, Stand There!

I finally finished the book The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham. Now I'm reading a book called The Little Book Of Common Sense Investing by John C. Bogle. John C. Bogle is the founder and former CEO of the Vanguard Mutual Fund Group. He is a student and supporter of the ideas promoted by Benjamin Graham. Like Graham, he thinks the best investment strategy is to invest in a diverse portfolio of stocks and to hold them for a very long time while keeping your fees and taxes as low as possi… Continue

Posted by Willie on February 19, 2008 at 5:18am

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Comment On Index Funds

I just finished reading a book called The Little Book Of Common Sense Investing by John C. Bogle. John C. Bogle is the founder and former CEO of the Vanguard Mutual Fund Group. The main advice found in the book is that we should invest in low cost index funds and hold onto them for a very long time. The basic idea is that instead of searching for a needle in the haystack, we just buy the entire haystack. We buy the entire haystack because we know the haystack will continue to grow and because… Continue

Posted by Willie on February 19, 2008 at 5:13am

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Timing The Stock Market

I agree with the idea of investing every month because it removes the need to time the market. It is almost impossible to know when we should invest our money into the market. The reason for this is that the market goes up and down based largely on unexpected events. It also removes the emotional factor of market timing. When the market is doing well, everyone gets excited and wants to put some money in the market that seems to be doing so well for people. However, the best time to put money i… Continue

Posted by Willie on February 19, 2008 at 5:10am

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Pay Off Debt First Or Start Investing?

I often see people on investment sites asking if they should pay off their debt first or start investing. The answer is a little complicated because each individual situation is different. The first thing you need to do is figure out what the interest rate is on your debts. You need to reduce your high interest credit card debts (18 - 26%) as soon as possible. If you have lower interest student loans or a lower interest home mortgage, then these loans are less crucial to pay off, but you need t… Continue

Posted by Willie on February 19, 2008 at 5:08am

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Owning Or Beating The Stock Market?

I'm reading a book called The Little Book Of Common Sense Investing by John C. Bogle. John C. Bogle is the founder and former CEO of the Vanguard Mutual Fund Group. One piece of advice of his that I wanted to share is that "owning" the stock market is a winners game while "beating" the stock market is a losers game. What this basically means is that owning the entire stock market through an index fund that gives you ownership of all or most stocks will allow you to benefit from the overall gai… Continue

Posted by Willie on February 19, 2008 at 5:00am

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A Crazy Time To Start A Busines

I would think it would be easier to start a business when the economy is strong. Starting a business during a strong economy when consumers are throwing their money at anything that moves would be easier than starting a business now when consumer spending is being drastically cut back. I'm trying to remain positive with my new business investments. For people who have been reading my posts on this site, you know that I got myself out of debt and now spend my old "debt repayment budget" on start… Continue

Posted by paul on February 19, 2008 at 4:59am

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I'm Saving To Live Beyond 100 Years

I saw an article about how younger people these days are expected to live 100 years or more due to improved technology. That got me thinking about my retirement planning and my overall expectations. So I'm doing a few things differently. First, I'm exercising more because I want to be healthy when I'm older. Second, I'm trying to invest more money now because I know that compound interest and the time value of money means the longer my money is invested the better it will do. I figure a few t… Continue

Posted by paul on February 19, 2008 at 4:56am

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Entrepreneurial Wealth?

I always figured my best path to a secure retirement was to work hard and invest my money as early and as often as possible. The main obstacle was just a matter of figuring out what I should invest in to get the best return. Then I read an article on this site about how most of the nation's millionaires are entrepreneurs who started their own business. I have been prety focused the last few weeks on reading everything possible about starting a business. I'm trying to decide if I should start… Continue

Posted by paul on February 19, 2008 at 4:47am

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I'm Debt Free!

Today is a very good day! I'm debt free! It has been a long project (and struggle) to reach this point. My debt problems started in college when I got a free t-shirt and a credit card with about $6,000 in "free" money to spend. Little did I know then how dangerous that first credit card would be. I left college with about $4,000 of credit card debt and about $2,000 in student loans. I should have realized the hole I was digging for myself, but I was fresh out of college with a new job and I wa… Continue

Posted by paul on February 19, 2008 at 4:45am

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I'm Going To Start A Business

For the past couple of months, I have been thinking about an article I saw that said most of the millionaires in this country are entrepreneurs. When thinking about this, I also ran across a comment that said it is true that most millionaires are entrepreneurs, but it is also true that most entrepreneurs are not millionaires. So I want to continue investing every month into some sort of safe investments with a diverse asset allocation to keep me on track for a secure retirement. However, I ca… Continue

Posted by paul on February 19, 2008 at 4:44am

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Should I Invest In Real Estate Or Internet Business?

I have paid off my consumer and student loan debts and now I want to invest the extra money I have each month into something productive. I decided that I want to continue making monthly investments into my mutual funds because I don't want to bet my entire nest egg on a new investment of business idea. After making my monthly investments and paying my bills, my monthly budget shows a few hundred dollars a month available. I read an article on this site saying that most millionaires are entrep… Continue

Posted by paul on February 19, 2008 at 4:41am

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Three Investment Options

Online business, real estate, or playing the stock market? I have been trying to figure out what I should invest in now that I am out of debt. I already invest in mutual funds, and will continue doing so, but I want to start making more investments. My top choice right now is to invest some time and money each month into starting an internet business. I also have considered going into the real estate business. I have been reading some investment books this past week. Most of what I read is fo… Continue

Posted by paul on February 19, 2008 at 4:31am

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e-dreams

I have been trying to decide if I should invest my time and money into real estate, internet businesses, or into learning everything possible about making money through investing. I saw a movie recently called e-Dreams that gave me a look into investing and internet businesses. The movie was about two investment bankers who decided to start their own internet business after seeing how much money was being invested into internet companies in the late 1990's. It turned out that the investment b… Continue

Posted by paul on February 19, 2008 at 4:27am

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Do You Know How Suze Orman Got Her Start?

I'm watching a Suze Orman program on PBS right now and I just heard her story about how she got her start in the world of finance. She was a waitress for many years and one day a man asked why she was so glum. She told him that she wanted to start her own business, but her parents wouldn't loan her the start-up capital. Out of the blue, the man gave her $50,000! Wouldn't that be nice! So she took the $50,000 and invested it in a mutual fund at Merrill Lynch because that is what the man said t… Continue

Posted by paul on February 19, 2008 at 4:19am

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Can I Outperform My Mutual Fund Manager?

I'm starting to learn more about investing and the stock market. With all the information I'm absorbing, I might get confident and think I can start buying and selling individual stocks. Should I do this? Is it worth learning about investing if I will only be investing for myself or is learning all the technical details about stocks and the market only worth it if I will be employed as some sort of stock broker of financial advisor? Right now, I invest in mutual funds. I like having profession… Continue

Posted by paul on February 19, 2008 at 4:18am

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Business Advice From The Simpsons

I've been thinking a lot about what I should do with my money now that I am free of my debt payments. I've been considering making investments into real estate, the stock market, or online businesses. I never thought I would get business advice from The Simpsons, but a recent episode addressed the exact issue I am dealing with. Flush with extra cash, the Investorettes, an investment club consisting of many female residents of Springfield, decide they want to invest in some higher risk investm… Continue

Posted by paul on February 19, 2008 at 4:15am

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Stop Using Your Credit Card To Bolster Your Confidence

When I was growing up, I didn't have a lot of money available to me for purchasing the latest trends and fashions. I'm glad I didn't have the ability to buy the latest fashions and gadgets because it forced me to have confidence in myself aside from the material things I put on my body or carried in my school bag. Now that I am older, I have enough money to buy the latest trends, fashions, and gadgets, but I still don't. Part of it is that I don't generally buy things I don't need and the oth… Continue

Posted by paul on February 19, 2008 at 4:13am

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I'm Trying To Get Rich At Home

I'm trying to find ways to get rich at home. I'm not a big fan of going to work each day. I would rather be productive and profitable without renting myself to another person or business on a daily basis. This is a good goal to have, but I know it is not an easy goal to achieve. With the internet, there has never been more opportunities to get rich at home. We can be involved in a diverse range of products, goods, services, markets, and businesses. We can do business with almost anyone from al… Continue

Posted by paul on February 19, 2008 at 4:11am

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I Want To Solve My Financial Issues

There is so much I want to do with my life. I can't believe I have to spend most of my time focused on aquiring financial resources to pay for food, house, health insurance, etc... I want to solve my financial issues so I can spend my time doing the things I want to do instead of spending my time doing what I have to do in order to aquire financial resources. Of course the first thing I can do is limit my spending so I don't have to work so hard to pay for the things I don't really need. Howeve… Continue

Posted by paul on February 19, 2008 at 4:08am

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I'm Debt Free - Now What?

I'm debt free. It took a long time, but I finally made my last payment. I no longer will have to pay the large debt repayment amount each month. It will be nice to be able to put that money toward something other than debt payments. I've been trying to figure out what to do with the extra money I will now have each month. For now, I am putting most of it into my mutual funds, but I'm also spending it on a few things I restricted myself from buying when I was determined to get rid of my debt.… Continue

Posted by paul on February 19, 2008 at 4:00am