Started my 1rst retirement account around 35 . Spent most all my money on booze , women ,toys and gambling before that it was all kind of a party. My folks never had any stocks so just had to learn on the go . Started off pretty slow but the last 4 years it really took off to the point of critical mass now so just gonna keep riding the APPL horse for another 4 years then cash in my chips. I started ROTHs for my 5 kids and have there's building up nicely . I get them stocks for christmas and tell them it like planting a tree just give it 30 years see what grows.

Smart, I’m getting ready to do the same for my kids 4 year old and a 8 month old.

Made a decent profit on the previous run up and sold. I felt that even if they got a portion of the contract, that was already baked into the price.

How early did you guys get into investing in the stock market? I started at 37 and really wish I had started earlier. My parents started me off with $20k when I was 20 and I took it out and blew it on a car I didn't need, like a moron. Hopefully I can teach my kids to do better.

Last week lol age 47, I got some catching up to do.

I started at about 40, I'm 52. I have a pension plan and was buying a house, I feel I waited too long to start investing more. I began setting money aside in an IRA for a few years, small at the beginning. By 45 I'd bumped it up to the max per year, moved it into higher growth index funds and started buying crypto. I've only been actively trading beyond my index funds for 3 months and I'm doing it for small potatoes compared to most people here. When they buy 1000 shares of PINS, I buy 10.

Iceman, is this something to be concerned about? Macerich seems to be quiet on this.

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3665087-macerich-near-lows-after-report-of-hiring-adviser-on-debt

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/mall-owner-macerich-taps-pjt-211010427.html

The main thing is that you started and that you are investing. The power of compounding is real. Develop a strategy and stick with it.

I'm 35 and I started kicking a lot of funds toward retirement when I was 25 or so. I got bonuses at my previous job and maxed out contributions and paid off all of our debt before I blew the rest on pinball and other dumb things. I signed onto a pension gig a few years ago that will allow me to carry my health insurance into retirement at the same rate.

I'm pretty proud that we worked hard for what we have and made good financial decisions to put us in a comfortable spot. I love my parents, but they didnt exactly beat me over the head about compounding interest, nor did my alma mater. I literally learned more about longterm investing listening to podcasts on a lawnmower. Fiscal responsibility should be a persistent study in our high schools.

I just recently got into managing a small brokerage account with a couple thousand dollars, everything else is parked in longterm plays. I'm really liking options strategies and hope to be able to turn that into a little bit of a consistent income.

I’m 33. I’ve always put money in 401ks, prioritized knocking out all my (and my wife’s) student loan debt in my early 20s, and then buying a house by 28. I only really started messing with more active trading this past year.

Engineering Economics was the most important class I ever took in my life. I remember learning compounding interest in grade school, but kids don’t think long term so it never set in. Whereas in college I figured out retirement goals to be set by my late 50s.

Of course when I graduated college it was right as the market was in a free fall, so the lack of job options (and extra income) set me back a few years on my goal. But considering most of my peers financial conditions, I can’t complain.

Been reading through the thread tonight as I prepare for some market re-entry. And I wanted to thank you guys for some solid ideas to explore! Keep it coming!

Other than maxing my and my wife's 401k and IRAs every year and a few small things, I've been largely on the sidelines for awhile in all cash. I jumped out significantly in late Q4 2019. Put about 10% back in March '20 at the bottom in hard hit names like MAR, XOM, USFD, CCL etc. Got a nice pop but exited most of those in June/July 2020. What remains are small positions in names like JD (my best performer and a favorite...check them out...Amazon of China), VZ, XOM, KO, CVS, BAC, BSX etc....

So I missed the 2020 run with the bulk. Thankfully I did pour a big chunk of cash into some coastal real estate at the peak of COVID fear and that's up 50%. So not all bad...but I kick myself for being too scared to push all the chips back in March!!! Hindsight is always 20/20.

Now it's hard to figure out a good entry point since I exited in Q4 2019...so I'm going to dial back in on some more individual stocks and do some research. But everything seems so overvalued to me based on fundamentals.

I work in tech...I like the high flying growth stocks of course and am familiar, but my God those valuations are just flat ridiculous. I did buy a little APPL today though...

Looking forward to looking into a few of the other names mentioned here. Thanks guys!

You might consider getting a free account with thinkorswim (TDA). You can load up some indicators like MACD to get a pretty good idea of trend reversals. It might not point to THE bottom, but it gives you an idea of A bottom, which would help to give some buy points to dollar cost average some funds in.

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Thanks. I'll check those out. I use Fidelity to trade and feel like I have access to their Pro tools as well. Although reading technical charts has not been my thing in the past. I think now may be the time to learn.

So that's why it was up so much
bought OSK last Sept. in the $70's

Just curious, it appears that most people on here do their own trades and do not work with a broker. Is this due to being newer to investing, concerns about fees, liking to do it yourself, amount of money being invested, or something else? There is no right or wrong answer, like I said, I am just curious.

In my case, I have a guy that is a broker and CFP. He and I work together collaboratively, which has been great. Sure, I pay fees, but he has been able to make me a ton of $$$ throughout the years. In addition, based upon the financial relationship I have with him I have gotten preferential rates on loans, terms, etc. For me, it has been more than worth it, but I know for others the expense might not outweigh the gains.

When I started out in high school / college I used my dad’s broker.

He gave advice that basically just enriched himself. He was pricey too for the amount of money I had to invest at the time. Left a real bad taste in my mouth.

When I got a real job, I told myself I would go it alone until I had a big enough account so that the fees wouldn’t eat me alive.

Then it became having enough to hire an investment advisor. Then enough to hire a private wealth manager.

Basically kept moving the goal posts as I got more and more comfortable with going it alone on simpler investing.

Plus between the 401(k)s, college savings plans, and other default managed accounts, my funding became diverse and managed by others regardless.

I swear at some point I will just turn the keys over...some day...

If you are talking about traditional brokers, the issue I always had with them is they don't make any money unless they are trading
I don't work with a broker never have, but I do have a Money Manager for a certain % of my investments - his fee is based on money invested
I have another % of my investments with Wealthfront - which is a robo investment platform and takes a small % of money invested
everything else is self invested based on subscribed newsletters which have done very well for me over the last 20 years+

I've always managed my own....never have used a broker. I have a friend that owns a financial management service and I have contemplated using him, but as an engineer, im a control freak (willingly admit), and its hard letting someone else make decisions on my money. Ive done pretty well for myself and am comfortable financially. Ill admit, probably could have made more with an active manager, but I've had peace of mind knowing exactly where my money is, so there's benefit to that.

I've had "a guy" from ML in the past...met him right out of college. Did nothing for me because I had nothing then. So then I went ML Direct self managed.

Had an old Sales VP school me back in the day on the statistics that most actively managed funds do not out perform the market and his philosophy. And so I went the ETF route for most. I've talked to some guys the last couple years...not found one I like yet. So here I sit...out of the market. Lol ...

My dad started a ROTH with me when I was 15 and reffing soccer. He would match my contributions, and I believe it was in a broad mutual fund. Did not touch it, think about it, or anything through college. Had a nice chunk for the down payment on my first house at 25, and an invaluable lesson on compounding and the power of the market.
40 now, and I've had my TSP (401k equiv) maxed for years, max my ROTH (backdoor) and drop extra cash in my brokerage for near term stuff... Pinball of course..
Teach your kids about money because schools sure as hell aren't, and it's not a popular discussion topic in general. I'll never understand why its such a faux pas to discuss money...

I should have qualified, my guy is a money manger. We started out as a broker relationship but that has evolved throughout the years to what you describe.

I had a lot of the same education from my father. I started contributing to Roth’s in my teens and have done so consistently for over 20 years, and have always put a large percentage into my 401k. It was all due to my father teaching me about compounding interest. If I have one regret, it’s that I don’t have as much outside of qualified accounts. But he also taught me to aggressively pay down debt, so I’m 100% debt free, including my house.

Now I’m 44 and looking at alternate investments. We are exploring rental properties as they will provide ongoing cash flow in retirement. But man, we are struggling to find the returns in real estate. Anyone else dabble in that market?

I've considered the ROBO platforms in the past. How have you liked Wealthfront?

How is it possible to start a ROTH IRA for your kids if they do not earn income?

Friendly thought for you. As a sales guy, I can tell you the number one competitor in any sales situation is your client doing nothing. This seems like where you are stuck right now. If you are happy with the path that you are on, then you are good to go. But it sounds like you feel like you are missing out. If that is the case, stick your toe back in start getting back in the rhythm of things. It's not about making money in the short term; it's about making money consistently and repeatedly throughout your life. You can only do this if you are in the market. If you are looking for a money guy, talk to friends and people that you respect to see who they are working with. Interview these guys just like you interview with companies. You live in one of the most affluent counties in the country; there are no shortage of good money managers around. You have to do what is right for you and your situation, but waiting is not going to help you get where you want to be.

My brother and I have two vacation rentals. For us it's good good because it's a lot more passive than long term rentals (unless you have a management company). However, we aren't generating much cash flow now, as both houses have mortgages. There is a pretty good FIRE thread going, I know several of the active posters have rental properties, might want to bounce that question over there to keep this on topic..

I like it becuase it helps me diversify my investments into a 3 part investment style so all my money is not managed the exact same way

- Money Manager
- Wealthfront
- Self-Management

Wealthfront also does tax loss harvesting which is near impossible for a human to do efficiently

He said he was earning money reffing soccer
Lots of small business owners "employ" their children and do the same thing

I have a money manager for a chunk of our funds. I manage a previous IRA and current 403b outside of that umbrella, though he makes recommendations based on the makeup of my main account. Then I have my own small account for swing trades/options.

I dont love fees, but it feels worth it to have a diversified approach to investing.

I got into investing by having a competition where each of my family members (I have 5 kids) picked a stock and I bought about $1000 worth of each. I think we had Apple, Disney, Google, Hasbro, Nintendo, Amazon, and AMC. Amazon was a little more at the time for just one share but I still bought that for the one kid that chose it. Then whoever had the best return at the end of the month won a portion of what they'd made. I believe all of them, except my wife's Disney went up, but my AMC went up 23% in that month so I won, much to the chagrin of my kids.

That was the first time I bought APPL and it was the last time until a couple days ago when I bought some again. I just have always felt that it was overvalued. They don't even make the best smartphone, that'd be Samsung.

I invest so much in Wal-mart because I feel it is still really undervalued. I know profit margins are a thing but how can Apple be worth more than 5x what Wal-Mart is worth? The reach, dominance, and just pure real estate holdings of Wal-Mart has me wondering how they are not the most valuable company in the world. I believe with a few tweaks that they could dominate Amazon, too. They already have far more shipping centers across the country. They could have 1-day shipping for most people, for most things. There is no reason they couldn't get into streaming and do everything Amazon does online along with their dominance in B&M.

When I started at my current job 8 years ago, I got the 401k. The broker who manages that for us wanted to meet with me and discuss finances. Instead of listening to my situation and desires, he gave me a cookie-cutter line out of any "Investing for Dummies" book so I decided to just do the minimum 3% there. I am also a big numbers/spreadsheets kind of guy and I eventually started doing my own thing and I just really enjoy it.

https://www.fool.com/investing/2021/01/06/5-rules-for-opening-a-roth-ira-for-your-kid/

Mine all had incomes and tax returns

Very sage advice - thank you. Wholeheartedly agree. I'm the CFP's deal that "does nothing"....and time kills all deals! By in large I'm in a good spot and have a lot for which to be grateful - but could always be better. I got out with a bulk...want back in. Been a bit stuck on the how and when. Real estate investing took priority in 2020. We are a dual income household so between us we are still pretty heavy in the market through retirement accounts.

By the way...FWIW....I read a comment of yours while perusing the thread last night. There was some talk about backdoor ROTHs and not being able to do that when you have an existing IRA balance. True. I had that problem but because all of my IRA balances were funded with pre-tax rollovers from old employer 401ks...what I did was drain the swamp on all of those IRAs as a first step and place all that money in my current 401k plan in solid low cost ETFs. Now my IRA balances were $0 (did this for both my wife and I). Then I started the backdoor process each year for both my wife and I - we each have one. FWIW....doesn't work if you have a lot of post-tax dollars in IRAs but you mentioned rollover 401ks into IRAs so thought this may apply to you. Or maybe you prefer the greater investment choices available within the IRA vs. your existing 401k account. Thanks for your tips...you seem to have a good grasp.

So what is everyone buying today??

ha! - I'm a Samsung guy too....good man! I like your approach with the kids to get them involved. I just recently setup the Stockpile app for my kids with a custodial account....have you seen that one? Pretty cool...let's you buy fractional shares of stock to teach kids about investing. Higher fees but neat idea. Of course the kids gravitate toward the brands they know...Apple, Nike etc...

You answered your own question there about Walmart. Their net margin is roughly 2%, which is not great. They make it up based upon volume, but lag far behind peers such as Target (4.3%) and Dollar General (7.84%) in net profit and other key metrics. Their share price has doubled in 5 years, which is great; but they suffer in that they are not viewed as up-market as Target and Costco, don't have their own destination brands like Target has developed, and are not as cheap as Dollar General. They are moored solidly in the middle, which hurts them. They don't have the tech infrastructure that their competitors have, so they are playing catch up on that front, which is incredibly expensive. I can't speak to their real estate holdings. I'm not saying that they are are a bad company to invest in. However, there are other retailers in that space that I like much better.

bought a little pltr on the dip

A drink

Seriously though, I am pretty much locked in until mid March. Watching earnings of several techs over the next few days and may make a small buy depending on the situation.

I had jobs starting at a young age. Yeah, you have to have earned income that matches or exceeds your Roth contribution. I was lucky, I guess, that I got attacked by a dog at 4 years old and got a modest payout. So I just kept shuffling that money into Roth’s. Man, had I got bit like that today, money wouldn’t be a problem. The dog ripped off half of my cheek, over 100 stitches...

Glad that you were able to get some nuggets out of me. I have never done a back door roth so would not be the right person to ask on that. When I switch companies, I roll all of my 401'ks to my IRA (Non Roth) that I have. Here, I have greater options on what I can invest in then in just the 401K options. This allows me to invest in stocks, ETFs, and other managed investments. I make a much better return than just having it in a 401K based upon the options available. One other advantage of this is that this gives me a higher $$$ amount under management with my guy, which gets me much more preferential treatment and rates in other banking pursuits. As you start looking at total financial health vs just investments, this starts to bring tremendous advantages to the table. It makes it that much more important in interviewing and choosing a financial team as you start consolidating who you work with, but there are big advantages.

Just curious, I read that you invested in some costal property. Is that out here on the bay or down in North Carolina? I moved from MoCo (lived near your) about 3 years ago and waterfront out here has gone through the roof in that time. Been a great investment and combined with lower county taxes, been a great move for me and my family.

Not glamorous but
VTIP

You can also contribute to a 529 plan for your kids if they dont earn any income. It's basically a college savings plan that grows tax free. There are some considerations to be made, but it works well in our circumstance.

Looking at CCIV and WMT.

I have one rental, a newer townhouse. It's nice side income, but I wouldn't want more, it can be stressful when things break and between tenants if you manage it yourself. I'll probably hire a management company when I retire.

I doubled down on CCIV yesterday. Merger to complete by end of June. Do your own due dilligence but anything under 35 seams reasonable and if it dips under 30 I would think it was a steal. I have been holding since 23 and averaged up to 30 yesterday a bit too early. I thought it would have bottomed out by now. I don't know where this will bottom out now. If I were looking in from the outside, I would wait until the first green day, then buy the day after.

Ocean City MD. Rent via Airbnb although right now I'm not renting the new one (enjoying the utility of a second home while kids are doing school from home...YOLO!!). The market has gotten ridiculously high since I bought it in May....I've thought of just selling it NOW but it's 4BR which garners much higher weekly/daily rates so will be a good source of cash flow in the future when I'm ready. I've owned there since 2014 doing rentals. Also...check w/ your accountant...but short term rentals (less than 2 weeks) are treated as active income/loss if actively managed by you and used by you personally less than 2 weeks per year (versus passive rental income/loss). Like a hotel or BnB business. I had to point out the IRS code to my tax guy and get his blessing on my interpretation. This opens up some new ways to increase ordinary income....or offset it.

Here is your Tom Lee Epicenter. Thought i posted this before but i'll do it again. I like energy and consumer discretionary and a couple of financials like IBKR (rising rate play).

Tom Lee FSI BLAST COVID-19 UPDATE COVID-19 case reverse progress as 7D delta now positive = questionable. Technology and Heal (

I view it as a positive in conjunction with the recent other analysis i posted and how the debt might actually get resolved, different scenarios, etc.

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4408044-macerich-grossly-undervalued-assets

And i'll say it again, I believe the "re-openings" are going to happen at a much faster pace now.

That said, MAC is just one play amongst many in the Epicenter. SPG has been a big winner. Energy, travel, industrials, materials and anything pro cyclical still goes for the next 6-9 months for me

Come on Cheese! No wonder why you were down so much. GL on that, hope it works out for you brother.

Nice! Don't know why I blanked on Ocean City. Have never had interest in renting out properties because a) I don't like dealing with the public any more than I have to do in my regular job and b) no time. Turns out my house that I bought used to be rented out one week a year for Navy Commencement and I have had prior people contact us to see if they can rent again. Rates for house rentals that week are beyond stupid (6-10K for the week) but I don't want randos in my house destroying things. It has gotten to the point that some people rent out bigger boats to stay on that week.