How Do You Invest?

[Asim]

This is off-topic, but I know that the average age of visitors to rangefinderforum is most likely reflective of successful and knowledgeable investors.

And so I thought we could share each others' wisdom about life investments...

Besides buying two-of-each Leica M model through the years, I was wondering how each of you has invested your money in giving yourself security, comfort, riches.

Do you earn passive income, and how?
Do you own or run a business... what kind?
Have you invested in the stock market, property, commodities, etc?
Do you only earn through a full-time job or the pension from a job you've retired from?

Tell us how you got started and share with us your experiences on the way, good and bad. All advice is welcome.

 

[Ranchu]

I am an anti-capitalist. I'm not trying to derail your capitalist thread, but I have to note that not everyone 'invests', and that being a successful and knowledgable 'investor' is not a goal for everyone.

 

[narsuitus]

Over the decades, I have invested in education, precious metals, diamonds, real estate, stocks, bonds, commodity futures, stock options, and collectibles.

I am a firm believer in capitalism and once owned an autographed copy of Ayn Rand's book, "Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal."

 

[marcr1230]

Understand what you are investing in, and who else benefits and how - make sure all interests are aligned
keep expenses low
buy and hold - if you sell profits early, you'll never have the megahit

invest in people, experiences and memories, live as much as you can given your means
A lot of people accumulate wealth and don't enjoy along the way, enjoy the journey

 

[Ronald M]

I am an anti-capitalist. I'm not trying to derail your capitalist thread, but I have to note that not everyone 'invests', and that being a successful and knowledgeable 'investor' is not a goal for everyone.

Hope you are not planning on living on social security. Everyone needs some income for retirement.

My company had a decent pension, I was roped into the worlds greatest ponzi scheme starting around age 16. SS is a ponzi scheme by definition, using current contributions to payout older investors. Makes Bernie Madoff look like a piker.

Around age 30 or 28 General Motors had a stock investment plan. I put in the max and there was generous company match. I did not keep the stock but moved it into the stock market. When GM went under, my loss was minimal but others did not heed the advice and lost millions. DIVERSIFY Buy dividend paying stocks and reinvest the dividends. Compound interest is your friend.

Someplace 401k was put in and there was a company match. Did that for 20 years and it paid off well. I doubled my investment during the internet bubble and then got out in time. Do not time the market. I was lucky.

There is also some inherited money where forefathers invested 65 years ago.
Time in market is your friend.

My advice is start early and you will be ready to retire. Never bought a fancy iPhone or very many cars or a big house with commensurate tax bill. No need to keep up with the jonses or you will be broke like they are.

If you think you can start saving at age 50, you are sadly mistaken.

Give the money to Edward Jones or Fidelity and let them manage it if you don`t know finance. Take advantage of all company matches.

Things are harder today because the politicians have things all screwed up and nothing is working like it should. We are trying to drain the swamp but the headwind is difficult. Youngsters want to go socialism because it sounds good.
It is not and never worked wherever it was tried. They be too young to know how things are supposed to work. The education system is all screwed up so they do not learn anything about economics.

I am a capitalist. Socialists get crumbs equally.

 

[benlees]

As educated working class for my adult life, I sympathize with Ranchu's position, but have hedged my bets (pun intended), thinking if I am able to "retire" I should have some money saved up. 1968 on has shown that capitalism is able to absorb the most strident criticism and volley it back over the net as a "blockbuster" or a cereal box full of crap. Kudos!

Money under the mattress won't do. Banks won't do.

Do you want a new hobby (this would actually be work, time wise, but some people enjoy it) where you can follow the money and react quickly? Then you can be an "investor"
Want to make your money grow, and you have 40 years? Mutual funds. Watch out for fees. Companies like GE consistently make money for the long haul. More than real estate, generally.
If you want to be rich, and you are asking here, then you've missed that train. Investing in Leicas is not a sound strategy for the growth of your money.

 

[benlees]

Very few people are actually "capitalists". How many own the means of production? Very few. Shareholders do not qualify. While they believe in "capitalism", they maybe unaware of the huge public investment that stokes those fires, all the while thinking their crumb is bigger than their neighbours. Maybe it is?

Capitalists often confuse communism with socialism.

 

[tunalegs]

Don't buy old cameras if your goal is to make money. Don't buy old cars either. In fact, don't buy collectibles at all as an investment. Unless you inherited something valuable, lucked into something when its value reached the lowest valley, or stole something astonishing out of somebody else's dumpster, you're unlikely to make much if anything.

Accounting for inflation, almost nothing is worth more than it was new at any point thereafter. And those things which are, are usually only worth so much due to a bubble. Collecting is largely fad driven.

Additionally, I don't know anybody who's made a living off of investing who didn't already start with enough money to retire. Sure, there are a few lucky people who start with nothing and end up with a ton of money, but there are probably more people who've invested less in a lottery ticket, and ended up with a lot more money. You can also start with enough to retire, and end with nothing.

 

[radi(c)al_cam]

Over the decades, I have invested in education, precious metals, diamonds, real estate, stocks, bonds, commodity futures, stock options, and collectibles.

I am a firm believer in capitalism and once owned an autographed copy of Ayn Rand's book, "Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal."

I am an anti-capitalist. I'm not trying to derail your capitalist thread, but I have to note that not everyone 'invests', and that being a successful and knowledgeable 'investor' is not a goal for everyone.

Hope you are not planning on living on social security. Everyone needs some income for retirement.

My company had a decent pension, I was roped into the worlds greatest ponzi scheme starting around age 16. SS is a ponzi scheme by definition, using current contributions to payout older investors. Makes Bernie Madoff look like a piker.

Around age 30 or 28 General Motors had a stock investment plan. I put in the max and there was generous company match. I did not keep the stock but moved it into the stock market. When GM went under, my loss was minimal but others did not heed the advice and lost millions. DIVERSIFY Buy dividend paying stocks and reinvest the dividends. Compound interest is your friend.

Someplace 401k was put in and there was a company match. Did that for 20 years and it paid off well. I doubled my investment during the internet bubble and then got out in time. Do not time the market. I was lucky.

There is also some inherited money where forefathers invested 65 years ago.
Time in market is your friend.

My advice is start early and you will be ready to retire. Never bought a fancy iPhone or very many cars or a big house with commensurate tax bill. No need to keep up with the jonses or you will be broke like they are.

If you think you can start saving at age 50, you are sadly mistaken.

Give the money to Edward Jones or Fidelity and let them manage it if you don`t know finance. Take advantage of all company matches.

Things are harder today because the politicians have things all screwed up and nothing is working like it should. We are trying to drain the swamp but the headwind is difficult. Youngsters want to go socialism because it sounds good.
It is not and never worked wherever it was tried. They be too young to know how things are supposed to work. The education system is all screwed up so they do not learn anything about economics.

I am a capitalist. Socialists get crumbs equally.

Hmmmmm:

"Rand underwent surgery for lung cancer in 1974 after decades of heavy smoking.[96] In 1976, she retired from writing her newsletter and, despite her initial objections, allowed Evva Pryor, a social worker from her attorney's office, to enroll her in Social Security and Medicare.[97][98]"

The so called laissez-faire capitalism only has "initial objections" when subsidies are in sight...

 

[johnf04]

I think the single most useful thing a retired person can have, is a property owned outright. This allows me to live reasonably comfortably on my pension. Mind you, I don't do expensive trips. Doubtlessly, Americans would see my government provided pension as "socialist". It is available to all citizens at age 65.

 

[Brian Legge]

I invest because I have no idea what will happen to social security over the next 60 year. I'm been fortunate enough to make a decent living and believe its my responsibility to save now to minimize how much I'll cost society when I'm older. I also want to make sure my family is financially secure if something happens to me. My views would likely be different if lived in a country with a different social safety net. I also am nervous about healthcare costs down the road.

All of it is in retirement funds for tax advantage reasons (401k, IRA, HSA). No pension options available. After watching how companies have mismanaged their pension funds over time, I'd rather have a 401k with decent low cost options.

I invest in index funds through Vanguard. I don't believe I'm knowledgeable enough in company valuation to pick individual stocks to beat index funds in the long run.

I hold a mix of US equities that mimic general distribution of the market (with a slight bias towards mid cap which historically have higher return rates in the long run), a world equity index fund for international exposure, bonds with a focus on US treasuries/other government debt and a small portion of REITs. The government bonds and REITs primarily because they are less coupled with equity movement.

 

[Big Ursus]

Like Ranchu, I am an anti-capitalist.

 

[Brian Legge]

I'm not totally sure why this broke down so quickly in to socialism vs capitalism. Honest question for the anti-capitalists responses -

If you were in a country where the majority of jobs no longer offer pensions, long term sustainability of government funded benefits/social security is in question and healthcare costs are high, what would your plan be for sustaining yourself once you are unable to work?

Savings cash is an option but loses continuously to inflation. Moving to another country may be an option but the better the benefits, the more selective countries tend to be about who they'll accept.

 

[johnf04]

Luckily, Brian, I live in a country which has a reasonable pension, free hospital care, and subsidised prescription medicines.

 

[Ranchu]

I'm comfortable moving to another country with a lower cost of living, but I don't see capitalism lasting much longer in it's current form. I'm on the winning side. Also willing to eat rats.

🙂

 

[Corran]

The so called laissez-faire capitalism only has "initial objections" when subsidies are in sight...

SS is paid into by taxpayers. It is not a benefit/entitlement or a wholly socialist program, and in fact my generation will likely not get full, if any benefits from it due to mismanagement and pulling money from it. Who did that? The government. Hmmm, indeed.

 

[Corran]

As for the so-called anti-capitalists...well the other options haven't worked out so well, so have fun in Venezuela, N. Korea, etc.

 

[coogee]

This is off-topic, but I know that the average age of visitors to rangefinderforum is most likely reflective of successful and knowledgeable investors..

Personally I fail to see what this thread is doing on a Rangefinder forum and I absolutely disagree with the above 'reflective of...', how does anything reflect anything about anything, it seems hugely presumptive to me.

The whole topic seems not more than a little uncouth to me, I don't want to read about other people's money, property, whatever.

 

[Ranchu]

As for the so-called anti-capitalists...well the other options haven't worked out so well, so have fun in Venezuela, N. Korea, etc.

Thanks Corran. You're great.

 

[johnf04]

As for the so-called anti-capitalists...well the other options haven't worked out so well, so have fun in Venezuela, N. Korea, etc.

What about Norway, Denmark, Sweden....just to name three.