Investment/savings help needed

[Atvar]

Hey guys...I am turning to the anandtech hive mind for a little help/guidance. I have never been very good at saving or investing and hence I know very little about it. Now that I have a real job I need to get a bit serious about it.

To give some numbers to work with, lets say I have $1000 per month after bills and my 401 k contribution through my employer. I am looking for both short term and long term. I figure my 401k is a good start on the long term side...need to work on the other end I am not saving up for anything major, already have a car, place to live etc..

Basically I am just looking for some good ideas....I have a savings account but that only gets like 1% interest if that. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks.

Todd

 

[chrisms]

Always go long term.

Check out http://finance.yahoo.com

Learn about what some of the basic statistics mean, and look at the companies history. The most basic way of checking if a company is good is looking at a chart of the past 5 years. If has steadily went up and continues to, what are the chances it will suddenly drop when you buy it? It's hard to find companies like that, though, so looking for an increased in EPS (earnings per share) every year is a good sign.

Just look for something with a good track record, in a good industry, and it's that easy. In a year I'm up 50% on the $4000 in paychecks I put in the stock market. And I'm in high school.

 

[techfuzz]

You could look into a no-load mutual fund through one of the major brokers like Schwabb or TD Waterhouse for example. They'll give you a bit more for your money than a savings account especially if you intend on keeping a minimum balance.

If you're looking to do some long term investing, pick some companies and do the research and open and online trading account at someplace like E-Trade and do it yourself.

Stay away from the short term investing unless you REALLY know what you're doing.

techfuzz

 

[Atvar]

Definately a good idea about short term. I by no means really know what I am doing. I am new hehe. I guess by short term what I really meant was money that I can actually get my hands on...liquid but still working for me. Thanks for the replies btw.

Todd