Investments - what has served you well?

Triple BB

Active Member
Jun 22, 2013
296
16
Wyoming
If you listen to Warren Buffett, here's the advice he gave his wife assuming he passed before her, “My advice to the trustee [for my wife] could not be more simple: Put 10 per cent of the cash in short-term government bonds and 90 per cent in very low-cost S&P 500 index fund.” He recommended Vanguard. They have a short term inflation protected fund that fits the bill for the 10%...
 

Maxhunter

Veteran member
Apr 10, 2011
1,291
849
Wyoming
I agree listen to Dave Ramsey he has sound financial advice. I've done pretty well by myself using a reputable investment company. If you think your not capable to invest yourself definitely get in contact with a good financial planner. My wife and myself have a lot of pensions coming in with zero debt. We've also got good medical insurance which is something you'll need if you plan on retiring early. Life can change and retirement may have to be postponed or date lengthen. Good luck!
 

mallardsx2

Veteran member
Jul 8, 2015
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Warren Buffet said it best when he repeated the saying that "compounding interest is in fact the 8th wonder of the world".



My advice to anyone is to open a Roth IRA Fidelity account and invest in the FID 500.....invest $6000/year and let it ride.

Everyone talks about diversity....diversity, diversity.....makes me chuckle. How much more diversified can you get than investing in the 500 biggest companies in the USA? The 500 index funds are where most filthy rich people have their money tied up in one form or another... Think about it, regardless of party affiliation, people want companies to succeed and if they dont, they get dropped from the fund....its really a bulletproof investment. If the S&P 500 and the index funds that follow it fail, its pretty much a scorched earth situation.....and no stock no matter where you have it is going to be safe from the fallout.

The below are examples of best case scenario's, be it what they may, but it proves the point:

To put it in perspective, if you invest $6000 yearly starting today....You would have ~$725,000 in 20 years at the current return rate.
With an Investment (what you paid in) of $114,000....

1$6,000$0$6,972.00
2$6,972$6,000$14,101.46
3$14,101$6,000$22,385.90
4$22,386$6,000$32,012.42
5$32,012$6,000$43,198.43
6$43,198$6,000$56,196.57
7$56,197$6,000$71,300.42
8$71,300$6,000$88,851.09
9$88,851$6,000$109,244.96
10$109,245$6,000$132,942.65
11$132,943$6,000$160,479.36
12$160,479$6,000$192,477.01
13$192,477$6,000$229,658.29
14$229,658$6,000$272,862.93
15$272,863$6,000$323,066.73
16$323,067$6,000$381,403.53
17$381,404$6,000$449,190.91
18$449,191$6,000$527,959.83
19$527,960$6,000$619,489.33
20$619,489$6,000$725,846.60


Or to put it into further perspective, if you had invested $15,000 yearly when you were 24 per year into a ROTH 401K and planned to retire at age 59-1/2....You would have ~$20,978,000 in 36 years at the current return rate based on a 10 year average.
With an Investment (what you paid in) of $525,000....

24$15,000$0$17,430.00
25$17,430$15,000$35,253.66
26$35,254$15,000$55,964.75
27$55,965$15,000$80,031.04
28$80,031$15,000$107,996.07
29$107,996$15,000$140,491.44
30$140,491$15,000$178,251.05
31$178,251$15,000$222,127.72
32$222,128$15,000$273,112.41
33$273,112$15,000$332,356.62
34$332,357$15,000$401,198.39
35$401,198$15,000$481,192.53
36$481,193$15,000$574,145.72
37$574,146$15,000$682,157.33
38$682,157$15,000$807,666.81
39$807,667$15,000$953,508.84
40$953,509$15,000$1,122,977.27
41$1,122,977$15,000$1,319,899.59
42$1,319,900$15,000$1,548,723.32
43$1,548,723$15,000$1,814,616.50
44$1,814,616$15,000$2,123,584.37
45$2,123,584$15,000$2,482,605.04
46$2,482,605$15,000$2,899,787.05
47$2,899,787$15,000$3,384,552.55
48$3,384,553$15,000$3,947,850.07
49$3,947,850$15,000$4,602,401.78
50$4,602,402$15,000$5,362,990.87
51$5,362,991$15,000$6,246,795.39
52$6,246,795$15,000$7,273,776.24
53$7,273,776$15,000$8,467,127.99
54$8,467,128$15,000$9,853,802.72
55$9,853,803$15,000$11,465,118.77
56$11,465,119$15,000$13,337,468.01
57$13,337,468$15,000$15,513,137.82
58$15,513,138$15,000$18,041,266.15
59$18,041,266$15,000$20,978,951.27


Thats a lot of elk hunts in your 60's....just saying.
 
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mallardsx2

Veteran member
Jul 8, 2015
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Also, Fidelity has a parent sponsored ROTH IRA for kids that you should look into asap depending on your child's age.....they will thank you later. Max $6000/year.
 

go_deep

Veteran member
Nov 30, 2014
2,650
1,982
Wyoming
Find a financial planner you trust, doesn't matter where they live in today's world.
You may need to start with one investment, but never bank on one investment, you need to diversify.
We fund Roth IRA, Roth 401K, 401k, single stocks, real-estate.
But the most important part is just do it.
Good luck Scott!
 

buckbull

Veteran member
Jun 20, 2011
2,124
1,293
I can't believe the cost of college today. I went to a major west coast private (for profit) university in the PAC 12 on a football scholarship. Today the cost to attend that school is $60,000 per year plus room & board. By the time you get done with 4 years, it could easily be 350 to 400 K. That is absurd!

Back in my time 60 years ago the graduation rate among athletes was really low....less than 25%. After my first year, I realized I was not good enough to play pro and I had better get an education, (which I did). I was damn lucky!
Yep. I'm paying more for one semester for my son than the total cost of my degrees I received in 95 and 97. Total costs per year are $40,000. That's in state tuition. I believe out of state tuition is $55,000.
 

buckbull

Veteran member
Jun 20, 2011
2,124
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While this makes alot of sense, be careful, i did this for my brothers kid. the oldest one has no intention of going to school, this ended up being the same as flushing the money down the toilet.
When my oldest son died I was able to distribute his funds to my other kids. But you are correct, if nobody goes to school then I guess the money is just sitting there although you can transfer it to anyone in the future. My kids were not going to have a choice; they were going to college or a trade school.
 
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Colorado Cowboy

Super Moderator
Jun 8, 2011
8,075
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Dolores, Colorado
Dave saves that nobody should buy a new truck unless they are worth at least $1 million dollars. If that hold true I think 4 out of 5 men in my town are millionaires.
My last 4 vehicles (2 trucks & 2 suvs) have all been used, low mileage lease turn ins that I paid cash for. Saved a lot of money and had good luck with all of them.
 

Hilltop

Veteran member
Feb 25, 2014
3,796
2,162
Eastern Nebraska
Dave saves that nobody should buy a new truck unless they are worth at least $1 million dollars. If that hold true I think 4 out of 5 men in my town are millionaires.
I sure like my new trucks every few years lol. Not sure I meet his criteria though. The problem is, I can get 0% on new but pay quite a bit higher (or pay cash) for used. Doing the math, I trade every three years and have come out very close to even over the last 15 years.
 

buckbull

Veteran member
Jun 20, 2011
2,124
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I sure like my new trucks every few years lol. Not sure I meet his criteria though. The problem is, I can get 0% on new but pay quite a bit higher (or pay cash) for used. Doing the math, I trade every three years and have come out very close to even over the last 15 years.
Given today's climate of more demand than supply due to the chip shortage I think it probably makes sense to buy a new rig. I've been looking at trucks as of late and many used trucks (3 years old, 50,000 mileage) are only 10%-20% off MSRP. Bad time to buy a truck.

And alot of these trucks were bought with big manufacturer rebates so guys with newer trucks are actually able to make a profit.
 

Wapiti7

New Member
Aug 26, 2011
37
14
New Mexico
Mallards, looks like you are using a 16.2% annual return. I don't think I would plan my retirement assuming that high of a static rate of return. I think it is even dangerous to use the historical average S&P rate of return, because 1) there will always be fees lowering your effective yield below that (even in low load Vanguard funds) and 2) timing of stock market increases/decreases can heavily play into it depending upon where you are in the investment/distribution timeline.

100% agree with you on funding kids' Roth IRA's up to the lesser of $6k or the kids' earned income. In most states, the kids will have unfettered access to that money once they reach the age of emancipation (18 years). Told my kids if they did, I would never fund another nickel and probably give it to their sibling instead.
 
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mallardsx2

Veteran member
Jul 8, 2015
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I agree with you. Which is why I said, "The below are examples of best case scenario's, be it what they may "

You and I cant predict the future...we can only make educated guesses....so I always say, a guy has to look at the past and the past 10 years (or more) and it just so happens that it is a 16.2% return.

For we know it may be 5% 18% or 20% or 10% but I can tell you it has been hammering out 10% returns yearly for a VERY long time and the fees are .015%.....So I dont really consider those in my calculations because its not even worth the trouble to do the math for fees that low....

The FID 500 throws about a ~$0.50 per share quarterly dividend which is nice as well. Invest-re-invest dividends-stock price rising....all of this compounding. Boom, Boom, Boom, year after year.

When and if a person makes it to retirement they may choose to move their funds to a safer vehicle. Personally, I will likely not do that and just live off the dividends and cash assets. Which most financial advisers will tell you is a bad idea. Just like they will tell you its a bad idea to put the majority of your money into the 500 index's....meanwhile its exactly what most of them do....Another fun fact is that if you pay a financial advisor to manage your money 85% of them will not outperform the S&P 500 index..the ones that do take a portion of your money as a fee and you still dont outperform the index.......thats scary.....


For what its worth, I have been tracking and watching the S&P 500 and its following index's since I was in my early 20's......when it was high I was investing, when it was low I was investing and moving more money into it....its grown significantly over the years through a lot of dedication and sacrifice on my end.......and my suggestion is to invest at least some money into it and let it ride until you reach what you know you will need to push you from retirement -> death, then start moving portions of it over to safer vehicles.

If a person didn't start saving until they were in their 40's or 50's for retirement they will need to swing for the fences or starve in retirement unless they have some kind of "trust fund". Which, to be honest, I do not. lol

Furthermore, at a minimum no kid should be able to graduate high school until they have a full understanding of the IRA accounts, the stock market, compounding interest and investments.

I remember when a Social Studies/Economics Teacher saw my interest in this kind of thing and we sat down after class and went over a bunch of ideas and he told me that he bought Boeing aircraft stock for $1.50/share. I said how many shares did you buy? He said, "Enough that I probably shouldn't be sitting here talking to you right now..." lol
 
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Rich M

Very Active Member
Oct 16, 2012
758
566
I'm getting 6-8% with an advisor. Last year when the market dropped, we had a max loss of 12% (if memory serves) - made it back plus 8% I think. It keeps going up and we're only putting $14K in Roth IRAS in there.

Otherwise investing into 401Ks and date funds. Pulling 8-10% in those.

I work my numbers at 6% and figure anything extra is a bonus.
I also don't include my house value, social security, or anything else in my numbers.
 

mallardsx2

Veteran member
Jul 8, 2015
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I looked hard at a target date fund. But the only one available to me that fits my retirement schedule was the 2040 and the fees are MUCH higher and that is intolerable to me for a set it and forget it fund that is "lightly managed".

The target date fund for my retirement year of 2040 had a 5.74% return. I cant live with that so I continue to play roulette....