Investing little by little
I made my second investment of the month on the 15th: I bought a 30 year Treasury Bond in the most recent auction on TreasuryDirect. It’s a very small bond, but it’s a start, and they’ll send me money every six months. I know that bonds are a conservative investment, but that fits my investing profile. I’ll probably be thinking about index funds next.
Related Websites- For 2009-2010: Invest in this, not that. Remember that old adage, "If you can't beat them, join them"? Well, a lot of people have come around to that line of thinking when...
- Prosperity 4 Kids Product Review Many readers are aware of my interest in improving financial education for young people. If there is any silver lining to be found on today's...
- How to Easily Evaluate your Asset Allocation with Morningstar Instant X-Ray Tool Despite my licenses, I am not an not an investment expert, and I donât begin to pretend to be one. That being said everyone should...
February 19th, 2007 at 2:39 pm
There’s conservative, and then there’s money loosing investments. If you’re going to make an investment with a 30 year commitment, you should be considering something that will pay a better rate than under 5%. Since you’re young, you should be looking for growth rather than income on your investments. Treasuries and bonds are great for a small percentage of your portfolio, but for the under-35 set your total allocation of those types of assets should definely be under 40%, and probably even closer to 10-20%/. For a low startup fund, take a look at the Vanguard STAR fund ($1000 minimum). If you have $5000, the Vanguard Lifestrategy growth fund or the Total stock market fund would be worth looking at. I can highly recommend the Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing for much more detail.
February 19th, 2007 at 5:07 pm
But I do want income from my investments, and I’m not in the under-35 set. And this is way under 40% of my investments; actually it’s under 10%. But I do have that book on my list of things to check out :)