28 replies to this topic

[Kaddict]

I recently got into buying and selling stocks. I did it mostly bc I have some extra day and was just gonna put it towards my mortgage but realized I can easily make more than 3.875% a year in the stock market. So here I am. Any of you do stocks/etfs/mutual funds and what do you buy? If not, why not?

[Padme]

I partake, I have a lot of medical marijuana stock, technology, block chain and that sort of thing =) 

 

It's been about 3 years now and I'm happy with my results. It's definitely helped my retirement plans and shave off my student loans

[Cannabis]

I partake, I have a lot of medical marijuana stock, technology, block chain and that sort of thing =) 

 

It's been about 3 years now and I'm happy with my results. It's definitely helped my retirement plans and shave off my student loans

 

I'm very interested in medical marijuana stock, can I pm you for some info?

[Neoquest]

I invested in a few stocks about two years ago. My portfolio is up >60% since then, so it's definitely been a solid investment.

[jcrdude]

I recently started snagging up ETFs for their low cost of maintenance, reasonable returns, and occasional dividends.

 

The ideal approach on relatively stable funds is to start early, diversify, buy, and hold.

 

If you have NO IDEA what to do, STASH is a pretty easy app to get you started. Total cost of the app is $12/year (and switches to a percentage when your account >$5000). Robinhood is a good app for when you kinda already know what you're doing and don't want to pay any fees except transaction fees.

 

My portfolio is split across 15 different ETFs. I decide what to buy based on what I have the least invested in and what is currently down in price (so that my dollars buy a bigger piece of the fund).

 

And FOR THE RECORD, my weakest performer right now is the Corporate Cannabis ETF, but a large share of that is in Canadian holdings, and their National system hasn't quite spooled all the way up yet ;3

I recently got into buying and selling stocks. I did it mostly bc I have some extra day and was just gonna put it towards my mortgage but realized I can easily make more than 3.875% a year in the stock market. So here I am. Any of you do stocks/etfs/mutual funds and what do you buy? If not, why not?

 

Also, for the record, I recommend you put that toward Mortgage principal. Compounding interest is a bitch. I'm investing funds as a stashing vehicle to set aside downpayment moneys.

 

It may seem like the percentages work in your favor, but you can turbocharge your mortgage by sliding extra funds there. And the equity is probably just as good a performer as the market.

 

Unless you want to start talking about ROTH IRAs.... ;3

[Kaddict]

Ya. I’ve been using Robinhood since it is free. I think it’s a good way to start. They also have a referral program where if you sign up with someone’s referral link you both get a stock for free (it is usually cheap but can be an expensive one) so if anyone is interested in starting to learn how to play the game with a free real stock lmk.

Ya by putting down 10k on my mortgage it saves like 20k in interest. But at this point my mortgage with tax and insurance is 700/month ( we bought at a good time) and I owe 90k on it. I just wish I would’ve started investing 2 years ago bc the stock market had been booming. So when I got $8000 of awards at my graduation I wasn’t expecting I decided to try the market. See if I can get that 10% average or better.

[jcrdude]

Ya. I’ve been using Robinhood since it is free. I think it’s a good way to start. They also have a referral program where if you sign up with someone’s referral link you both get a stock for free (it is usually cheap but can be an expensive one) so if anyone is interested in starting to learn how to play the game with a free real stock lmk.

Ya by putting down 10k on my mortgage it saves like 20k in interest. But at this point my mortgage with tax and insurance is 700/month ( we bought at a good time) and I owe 90k on it. I just wish I would’ve started investing 2 years ago bc the stock market had been booming. So when I got $8000 of awards at my graduation I wasn’t expecting I decided to try the market. See if I can get that 10% average or better.

 

I just took advantage of STASH's offer of free Retirement Management for a year. I'm probably going to roll everything across to Robinhood when the promotion ends. $12/year isn't a whole lot, but giving away my meager gains is what I'm trying to avoid ;3

And holy balls, congrats on that chunk of cash! Without running the numbers, I'd offhand recommend doing about a 50/50 split on mortgage principal and long term investing based on getting investing started if it's not already.

 

But holy shit. Your bank broke down the math for you. Additional payments now on your mortgage get you 100% LONG TERM RETURN ON YOUR MONEY. That's a hard ROI for the market to beat.

[Kaddict]

I actually did the math using an online mortgage a calculator. I doubt the banks want to point out the benefit of paying off early. And I did put an extra 10k principle earlier and was gonna do it again with this but decided to stock market it. That would make it almost half and half, except I only put in 5k into Robin Hood. Also, Robinhood doesn’t have any transaction fees. Which makes it nice for smaller and more frequent buys. Like today, for instance, I have bought and sold BZUN at A trough and peak for an extra $10 profit than if I would’ve just held on to it but that would’ve cancelled out if I had transaction fees.

Also the payout of paying off the mortgage early decreases with rash extra payment I make due to the compounded nature of it. I’m also considering doing one of two things, I’d like your guys opinion: my wife and I decided to live like our peers who are paying 1500/month on rent. I was thinking of either putting 800/month extra into our mortgage (thus paying it off in 6 more years rather than 25, saving about 30k in interest) or putting that into the stock market each month, giving us more liquidity while also having the benefit of (hopefully) growing our earnings.

[Bones]

Stocks are good fun but its like gambling you have to be willing to lose what you put in.

 

 

Side note 3% growth is great but always remember that your mortgage is over a longer period of time and a higher rate of interest so paying off your mortgage quicker is much better than earning 3% per year that said if you are having fun keep going

[jcrdude]

I actually did the math using an online mortgage a calculator. I doubt the banks want to point out the benefit of paying off early. And I did put an extra 10k principle earlier and was gonna do it again with this but decided to stock market it. That would make it almost half and half, except I only put in 5k into Robin Hood. Also, Robinhood doesn’t have any transaction fees. Which makes it nice for smaller and more frequent buys. Like today, for instance, I have bought and sold BZUN at A trough and peak for an extra $10 profit than if I would’ve just held on to it but that would’ve cancelled out if I had transaction fees.

Also the payout of paying off the mortgage early decreases with rash extra payment I make due to the compounded nature of it. I’m also considering doing one of two things, I’d like your guys opinion: my wife and I decided to live like our peers who are paying 1500/month on rent. I was thinking of either putting 800/month extra into our mortgage (thus paying it off in 6 more years rather than 25, saving about 30k in interest) or putting that into the stock market each month, giving us more liquidity while also having the benefit of (hopefully) growing our earnings.

 

I punched up an imaginary version of your story to do some comparisons on what end results would be. If you'd like the spreadsheet, you're welcome to it, but I had to hide hella rows to make the single image have any meaning. I highlighted year chunks and when the mortgage was paid off in each scenario.

 

Spoiler

 

Conclusion: Technically, you'll make more money overall if your portfolio outperforms your mortgage interest, but that's excluding the very real element of risk. If you pay off the mortgage and you don't like having it paid off (IN 6 YEARS! That would be fucking killer! You would be one of the best kinds of weird people: Someone who owns the house and isn't borrowing it from the bank)... you can always go back in and get a mortgage again... XD

 

Also keep in mind that this isn't factoring in any inflation of value that your house may accrue over the time you're in it ;3

 

TL;DR - Keep up the good work. At this rate, you'll easily be within striking distance of $1m net worth in the next 30 years

[Kaddict]

I punched up an imaginary version of your story to do some comparisons on what end results would be. If you'd like the spreadsheet, you're welcome to it, but I had to hide hella rows to make the single image have any meaning. I highlighted year chunks and when the mortgage was paid off in each scenario.
 

Spoiler

 
Conclusion: Technically, you'll make more money overall if your portfolio outperforms your mortgage interest, but that's excluding the very real element of risk. If you pay off the mortgage and you don't like having it paid off (IN 6 YEARS! That would be fucking killer! You would be one of the best kinds of weird people: Someone who owns the house and isn't borrowing it from the bank)... you can always go back in and get a mortgage again... XD
 
Also keep in mind that this isn't factoring in any inflation of value that your house may accrue over the time you're in it ;3
 
TL;DR - Keep up the good work. At this rate, you'll easily be within striking distance of $1m net worth in the next 30 years

 

Wow dude. Thanks! I appreciate this advice. I think I am usually more of the “safe bet” person. I understand you can’t get as rich being safe as you can bring risky, but you also can’t get as broke. I’d rather be well off than risk being loaded or broke.
For instance, I was talking to my father-in-law recently, and they recently said sold their business for a mint. And he was the bemoaning the fact that he put the majority of his money in the low yield savings bond. Because if he would’ve put it in the stock market it would have doubled. But, he doesn’t have any risk, and is now making 400 grand a year off of his 4% interest

[jcrdude]

Wow dude. Thanks! I appreciate this advice. I think I am usually more of the “safe bet” person. I understand you can’t get as rich being safe as you can bring risky, but you also can’t get as broke. I’d rather be well off than risk being loaded or broke.
For instance, I was talking to my father-in-law recently, and they recently said sold their business for a mint. And he was the bemoaning the fact that he put the majority of his money in the low yield savings bond. Because if he would’ve put it in the stock market it would have doubled. But, he doesn’t have any risk, and is now making 400 grand a year off of his 4% interest

 

That doesn't sound like a worst case scenario. It sounds like most of his investment of time and energy went to the business... and sweat equity clearly paid off nicely.

 

Savings bonds behave poorly as investments because their earnings are locked in from day 1. Bond funds, however, are always buying new bonds at today's rates and looking for diversity in the bond market.

 

Do you have any bonds or international funds in your portfolio yet? As the US raises the base interest rate, the rate on US bonds goes up, so the bonds funds usually do better when stocks are flat or decreasing. And international funds are 90% separated from whatever internal stuff the US is over-reacting to today.

[jeas09]

Cryptos all the way cany go wrong when trading crypto currency

[Padme]

I'm very interested in medical marijuana stock, can I pm you for some info?

 

I didn't see this until now, feel free.  

[Kaddict]

That doesn't sound like a worst case scenario. It sounds like most of his investment of time and energy went to the business... and sweat equity clearly paid off nicely.

 

Savings bonds behave poorly as investments because their earnings are locked in from day 1. Bond funds, however, are always buying new bonds at today's rates and looking for diversity in the bond market.

 

Do you have any bonds or international funds in your portfolio yet? As the US raises the base interest rate, the rate on US bonds goes up, so the bonds funds usually do better when stocks are flat or decreasing. And international funds are 90% separated from whatever internal stuff the US is over-reacting to today.

Just saw this. I dont have any bonds or international funds in my portfolio. I do have foreign businesses though. I have 2 grand of IQ and similar amount of BZUN. I have made some money off of SNAP too (I bought a bunch at 12, and sold lots at 14.3, now I only have $500 left). Then I have some in NYMT which has a 13% dividend yield. I have made some good buys and some bad ones. But I am still up 3% since starting 2 weeks ago. Then I have ~700 in some other random stocks. What do you suggest as far as bonds/intl funds?

Cryptos all the way cany go wrong when trading crypto currency

@jeas09

 

What cryptos are you trading in? And They haven't been doing well since January from what I have seen

[Coops]

Does anyone have any good beginner resources they can post here or PM me? I can't work anymore (maybe forever, maybe not, we'll see e.e) but with what Baldman makes we could reasonable save + invest a small portion every year and I'm pretty interested it getting a retirement plan in place. I don't know a ton about stocks, but with the legalization of cannabis pending in the US, I'm definitely interested in investing there. We do have money invested in cryptocurrencies, but I don't feel that's sufficient (mostly ethereum and bitcoin and some smaller coins). 

[Kaddict]

For beginners I would absolutely recommend robinhood. You are able to buy and sell without any fees, which is a big deal if you aren't dealing in very large transactions. Because most places will charge you $5+ for EVERY transaction. so you buy $1000 worth of a stock/bond/eft, you will end up losing 1% automatically, just by having to buy and eventually sell the stock. And if you use a referral code you get a free stock to start out with. So I can PM that to you if you like.


As far as learning how the market works, I used mainly investopedia, reddit and then other random google searches to start me off on understanding things. Reddit is really helpful because most important things are stickied, and if you still have questions, you can make a post that will get a response

[GhostMommy]

You know they tax your profits and you're unlikely to making enough money where you can deduct your mortgage interest. Don't know what state you live in, but have your calculated your real rate of return after taxes?   This is not meant as professional advice and you should consult a qualified local professional and ignore some strange women randomly giving you investment advice.

[Kaddict]

My state has really low taxes. In fact it has no state income tax. Since for the next few years I will be in a low tax bracket I probably need 5%/year to profit over paying on my principal. And while the stock market is a gamble, it is typically low risk and long term averages are 10%/year.

[Volition]

I'm not sure what the US equivalent of these ETFs are, here's what I've got in my portfolio at the moment:

 

XAW

VGRO

VEF

 

Might add a Canadian weed ETF later on. Will depend on how strictly thc DUIs are enforced upon legalization in Canada.

 

For stock I have a few I bought for shits and giggles. Was looking at the Minto REIT IPO two weeks ago but it doesn't really fit my risk appetite. ENF has pretty decent dividends, but I'm not looking to get more exposure to O&G at the moment.

 

Really wish Robin Hood was available in Canada.

[Padme]

Does anyone have any good beginner resources they can post here or PM me? I can't work anymore (maybe forever, maybe not, we'll see e.e) but with what Baldman makes we could reasonable save + invest a small portion every year and I'm pretty interested it getting a retirement plan in place. I don't know a ton about stocks, but with the legalization of cannabis pending in the US, I'm definitely interested in investing there. We do have money invested in cryptocurrencies, but I don't feel that's sufficient (mostly ethereum and bitcoin and some smaller coins). 

 

The investing subreddit is a great place or the personal finance one. They have a lot of resources in their sidebar and if you post the general group who respond are usually very helpful. 

 

I invested in block chain over crypto directly as I found the returns more steady. 

 

There are a lot of free financial advisors who can help you in the U.S but I would be VERY cautious as the requirements for who can help you in the US are not as regulated as they should be and most are not required to actually serve your best interests (very sketchy.) The differences between what someones job title is lets you know a lot. Never trust the first person you talk to and investopedia has a wealth of answers. On top of that, I really enjoy the Financial diets youtube channel, it is US focused so a decent amount of it doesn't apply to me as a Canuck. 

 

Best of luck and let me know (you know how to get a hold of me ) if you need more resources!!! Financial security is SO important and the earlier the better even if it is only a few dollars a month. 

[Futurama]

I just invested in CRON breh's. Canada make me proud.

[willy101]

The investing subreddit is a great place or the personal finance one. They have a lot of resources in their sidebar and if you post the general group who respond are usually very helpful. 

 

I invested in block chain over crypto directly as I found the returns more steady. 

 

There are a lot of free financial advisors who can help you in the U.S but I would be VERY cautious as the requirements for who can help you in the US are not as regulated as they should be and most are not required to actually serve your best interests (very sketchy.) The differences between what someones job title is lets you know a lot. Never trust the first person you talk to and investopedia has a wealth of answers. On top of that, I really enjoy the Financial diets youtube channel, it is US focused so a decent amount of it doesn't apply to me as a Canuck. 

 

Best of luck and let me know (you know how to get a hold of me ) if you need more resources!!! Financial security is SO important and the earlier the better even if it is only a few dollars a month. 

 

+1 on investing and personal finance. You can check out wallstreetbets for some humor, but I wouldnt do most of their calls seriously. Honestly timing the market is hard but just having market exposure will be better than not having it all so look for low fee ETFs and maybe pick a few names to try via Robinhood for the low fees. 

[Futurama]

I'm still invested in CRON brehs. Canada has made me very proud.

[Padme]

I'm still invested in CRON brehs. Canada has made me very proud.

 

Same. 

 

Many great Canadian investing opportunities right now