Investment

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Background: I'm 22. I work in engineering at a startup company. I live at home because we Asians do that not because we can't afford to move out but because our parents want us back home and saving money.

I max out my 401k and my Roth IRA, which is almost a third of my salary, but given taxes and everything I walk away with... not much...

So where else should I be investing my money. I have friends starting in the stock market, but honestly I'm quite scared. Otherwise I have the rest of my money sitting in a high yield savings account.

 

[oznerol]

Originally posted by: DLeRium
Background: I'm 22. I work in engineering at a startup company. I live at home because we Asians do that not because we can't afford to move out but because our parents want us back home and saving money.

I max out my 401k and my Roth IRA, which is almost a third of my salary, but given taxes and everything I walk away with... not much...

So where else should I be investing my money. I have friends starting in the stock market, but honestly I'm quite scared. Otherwise I have the rest of my money sitting in a high yield savings account.

You planning on buying a home in the next year or two? If that's the case, keep it in a savings account.

If you're not looking to touch the cash for ~5+ years, stocks, mutual funds, and the like aren't a bad option right now.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Originally posted by: DLeRium
Background: I'm 22. I work in engineering at a startup company. I live at home because we Asians do that not because we can't afford to move out but because our parents want us back home and saving money.

I max out my 401k and my Roth IRA, which is almost a third of my salary, but given taxes and everything I walk away with... not much...

So where else should I be investing my money. I have friends starting in the stock market, but honestly I'm quite scared. Otherwise I have the rest of my money sitting in a high yield savings account.

That's incorrect.

 

[evident]

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: DLeRium
Background: I'm 22. I work in engineering at a startup company. I live at home because we Asians do that not because we can't afford to move out but because our parents want us back home and saving money.

I max out my 401k and my Roth IRA, which is almost a third of my salary, but given taxes and everything I walk away with... not much...

So where else should I be investing my money. I have friends starting in the stock market, but honestly I'm quite scared. Otherwise I have the rest of my money sitting in a high yield savings account.

That's incorrect.

you're incorrect

 

[Capt Caveman]

Originally posted by: evident

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: DLeRium
Background: I'm 22. I work in engineering at a startup company. I live at home because we Asians do that not because we can't afford to move out but because our parents want us back home and saving money.

I max out my 401k and my Roth IRA, which is almost a third of my salary, but given taxes and everything I walk away with... not much...

So where else should I be investing my money. I have friends starting in the stock market, but honestly I'm quite scared. Otherwise I have the rest of my money sitting in a high yield savings account.

That's incorrect.

you're incorrect

Sucks to be you. I was happy to live away from my parents after graduating school. My parents didn't mind.

 

[cheezy321]

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: evident

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: DLeRium
Background: I'm 22. I work in engineering at a startup company. I live at home because we Asians do that not because we can't afford to move out but because our parents want us back home and saving money.

I max out my 401k and my Roth IRA, which is almost a third of my salary, but given taxes and everything I walk away with... not much...

So where else should I be investing my money. I have friends starting in the stock market, but honestly I'm quite scared. Otherwise I have the rest of my money sitting in a high yield savings account.

That's incorrect.

you're incorrect

Sucks to be you. I was happy to live away from my parents after graduating school. My parents didn't mind.

He has to find some way to rationalize the fact that he still lives at home. Call it the asian crutch

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

You got PM.

What ducci says is also true. A guy at work wants to buy a home but considered buying C when it was in the $1-$2 range. I told him of all financials, not to gamble on C. He would have done well over the past month, but mostly due to luck. Do not risk a down payment on a home in any investment. As you can see today, there is no rationality behind short term stock market movements. (although, the markets make more sense today than when they did at Dow 14,000)

"If you're not looking to touch the cash for ~5+ years, stocks, mutual funds, and the like aren't a bad option right now."
Mutual funds are a horrible thing with rare exception. Berkshire Hathaway is diversified, run by one of the best investors of the past 100 years and has killed any mutual fund I know of over the past 20 years. Not to mention, Warren Buffet does not charge "fees" for his over-performance while fund managers charge fees for under performance.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Originally posted by: evident

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: DLeRium
Background: I'm 22. I work in engineering at a startup company. I live at home because we Asians do that not because we can't afford to move out but because our parents want us back home and saving money.

I max out my 401k and my Roth IRA, which is almost a third of my salary, but given taxes and everything I walk away with... not much...

So where else should I be investing my money. I have friends starting in the stock market, but honestly I'm quite scared. Otherwise I have the rest of my money sitting in a high yield savings account.

That's incorrect.

you're incorrect

Blanket statements like that made by DLeRium, Capt Caveman and evident are usually incorrect.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Originally posted by: cheezy321

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: evident

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: DLeRium
Background: I'm 22. I work in engineering at a startup company. I live at home because we Asians do that not because we can't afford to move out but because our parents want us back home and saving money.

I max out my 401k and my Roth IRA, which is almost a third of my salary, but given taxes and everything I walk away with... not much...

So where else should I be investing my money. I have friends starting in the stock market, but honestly I'm quite scared. Otherwise I have the rest of my money sitting in a high yield savings account.

That's incorrect.

you're incorrect

Sucks to be you. I was happy to live away from my parents after graduating school. My parents didn't mind.

He has to find some way to rationalize the fact that he still lives at home. Call it the asian crutch

I call it wealth management.

 

[Fritzo]

Save up $5000 and buy a mutual fund.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Originally posted by: Fritzo
Save up $5000 and buy a mutual fund.

He can start one now by setting up an auto-monthly investment.

 

[Koing]

Originally posted by: cheezy321

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: evident

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: DLeRium
Background: I'm 22. I work in engineering at a startup company. I live at home because we Asians do that not because we can't afford to move out but because our parents want us back home and saving money.

I max out my 401k and my Roth IRA, which is almost a third of my salary, but given taxes and everything I walk away with... not much...

So where else should I be investing my money. I have friends starting in the stock market, but honestly I'm quite scared. Otherwise I have the rest of my money sitting in a high yield savings account.

That's incorrect.

you're incorrect

Sucks to be you. I was happy to live away from my parents after graduating school. My parents didn't mind.

He has to find some way to rationalize the fact that he still lives at home. Call it the asian crutch

I lived at home until last year (24yr) until I had saved enough to buy a house. The first 3yrs of working meant I saved a lot and the first job payed rubbish until my pay rise so I really needed to live at home to save a stash of cash.

Koing

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: evident

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: DLeRium
Background: I'm 22. I work in engineering at a startup company. I live at home because we Asians do that not because we can't afford to move out but because our parents want us back home and saving money.

I max out my 401k and my Roth IRA, which is almost a third of my salary, but given taxes and everything I walk away with... not much...

So where else should I be investing my money. I have friends starting in the stock market, but honestly I'm quite scared. Otherwise I have the rest of my money sitting in a high yield savings account.

That's incorrect.

you're incorrect

Sucks to be you. I was happy to live away from my parents after graduating school. My parents didn't mind.

Uhm. I know how this is in the rest of the US, but trust me, from our neighborhood, it's MORE than common. We're in an area where the median home price is 1 million even in this recession. Home prices have barely fallen 10 - 15% whereas the rest of CA has seen a good 30% slump. People here have dual income parents who make well over $200k combined, and a lot of my friends have moved back home because this is how it is. I know a few that have moved out but trust me they still get money from their parents too.

It's the Asian mindset of being cheap and staying with your family that factors in. I can make it out on my own, but I also know that we save a lot money at home. This is why a lot of us stay at home. Our parents want us home too.

Now sure I made a blanket statement, but I'm talking about the Asians like in my neighborhood. Think parents who came over from Taiwan, China, Korea, Japan, or Hong Kong to study graduate school after going to the top universities in their own country. We're not the same as the Asians in East SJ that my company employs for technicians and operators.

My mom's outlined plenty of examples for me where a lot of her friends have kids who stay at home for a good 3 - 4 years and then jump right out to buy a house because they can afford it with the cash they saved up. That's probably going to be my plan except I need to look into graduate school too, but for now I'm just wondering how I should spend the rest of my money.

 

[Fritzo]

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: Fritzo
Save up $5000 and buy a mutual fund.

He can start one now by setting up an auto-monthly investment.

Most of them have a minumum buy-in. He could get a Scottrade account, deposit money every month (works like a savings account- you get interest), then buy a fund when available. There are so many good buys right now I wish I had $25g's sitting around. I bet I could double it in a year just by margin trading

 

[Capt Caveman]

Originally posted by: Fritzo

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: Fritzo
Save up $5000 and buy a mutual fund.

He can start one now by setting up an auto-monthly investment.

Most of them have a minumum buy-in. He could get a Scottrade account, deposit money every month (works like a savings account- you get interest), then buy a fund when available. There are so many good buys right now I wish I had $25g's sitting around. I bet I could double it in a year just by margin trading

They do but most will waive the minimum if you set-up an auto-monthly deposit. ie. Fidelity lowers their minimum to $100 if you set-up an auto-fund builder monthly deposit.

 

[cheezy321]

Originally posted by: IHateMyJob2004

Originally posted by: cheezy321

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: evident

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: DLeRium
Background: I'm 22. I work in engineering at a startup company. I live at home because we Asians do that not because we can't afford to move out but because our parents want us back home and saving money.

I max out my 401k and my Roth IRA, which is almost a third of my salary, but given taxes and everything I walk away with... not much...

So where else should I be investing my money. I have friends starting in the stock market, but honestly I'm quite scared. Otherwise I have the rest of my money sitting in a high yield savings account.

That's incorrect.

you're incorrect

Sucks to be you. I was happy to live away from my parents after graduating school. My parents didn't mind.

He has to find some way to rationalize the fact that he still lives at home. Call it the asian crutch

I call it wealth management.

Do you call your parents basement a "1 bedroom apartment" too. LULZ

 

[evident]

Originally posted by: cheezy321

Originally posted by: IHateMyJob2004

Originally posted by: cheezy321

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: evident

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: DLeRium
Background: I'm 22. I work in engineering at a startup company. I live at home because we Asians do that not because we can't afford to move out but because our parents want us back home and saving money.

I max out my 401k and my Roth IRA, which is almost a third of my salary, but given taxes and everything I walk away with... not much...

So where else should I be investing my money. I have friends starting in the stock market, but honestly I'm quite scared. Otherwise I have the rest of my money sitting in a high yield savings account.

That's incorrect.

you're incorrect

Sucks to be you. I was happy to live away from my parents after graduating school. My parents didn't mind.

He has to find some way to rationalize the fact that he still lives at home. Call it the asian crutch

I call it wealth management.

Do you call your parents basement a "1 bedroom apartment" too. LULZ

no. i live in my parents basement. i have a good job and goals. my parents piss me off sometimes, but we all get along fine. instead of paying rent i pay for house repairs. what's the shame in that?

 

[cheezy321]

Originally posted by: evident

Originally posted by: cheezy321

Originally posted by: IHateMyJob2004

Originally posted by: cheezy321

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: evident

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: DLeRium
Background: I'm 22. I work in engineering at a startup company. I live at home because we Asians do that not because we can't afford to move out but because our parents want us back home and saving money.

I max out my 401k and my Roth IRA, which is almost a third of my salary, but given taxes and everything I walk away with... not much...

So where else should I be investing my money. I have friends starting in the stock market, but honestly I'm quite scared. Otherwise I have the rest of my money sitting in a high yield savings account.

That's incorrect.

you're incorrect

Sucks to be you. I was happy to live away from my parents after graduating school. My parents didn't mind.

He has to find some way to rationalize the fact that he still lives at home. Call it the asian crutch

I call it wealth management.

Do you call your parents basement a "1 bedroom apartment" too. LULZ

no. i live in my parents basement. i have a good job and goals. my parents piss me off sometimes, but we all get along fine. instead of paying rent i pay for house repairs. what's the shame in that?

There's a lot of shame involved when your entire social life revolves around playing WOW in your parents basement.

 

[paulney]

Originally posted by: cheezy321
There's a lot of shame involved when your entire social life revolves around playing WOW in your parents basement.

Oooohhh, IT'S ON! It i SO ON! (c) South Park

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: IHateMyJob2004
You got PM.

What ducci says is also true. A guy at work wants to buy a home but considered buying C when it was in the $1-$2 range. I told him of all financials, not to gamble on C. He would have done well over the past month, but mostly due to luck. Do not risk a down payment on a home in any investment. As you can see today, there is no rationality behind short term stock market movements. (although, the markets make more sense today than when they did at Dow 14,000)

"If you're not looking to touch the cash for ~5+ years, stocks, mutual funds, and the like aren't a bad option right now."
Mutual funds are a horrible thing with rare exception. Berkshire Hathaway is diversified, run by one of the best investors of the past 100 years and has killed any mutual fund I know of over the past 20 years. Not to mention, Warren Buffet does not charge "fees" for his over-performance while fund managers charge fees for under performance.

To what extent is BRK.A/B's performance dependent on Warren Buffet? What will happen after he passes? A young investor might have 40+ years of investing ahead of them. Isn't it a bit naive to assume that BH's performance will continue for that long, especially considering Buffet's age?

 

[IEC]

Originally posted by: cheezy321

Originally posted by: evident

Originally posted by: cheezy321
Do you call your parents basement a "1 bedroom apartment" too. LULZ

no. i live in my parents basement. i have a good job and goals. my parents piss me off sometimes, but we all get along fine. instead of paying rent i pay for house repairs. what's the shame in that?

There's a lot of shame involved when your entire social life revolves around playing WOW in your parents basement.

It's a shame that you can't respect a mature adult's fiscally sound decision to live with their parents until they can go out and buy a $1M+ home. It's also a shame that you sound like you're twelve years old.

I won't be working anywhere near my parents next year (graduating, 22) but that is simply as a function of where I got job offers from. I didn't apply to anything back home. If there were similar opportunities there I would not hesitate to take back my old room and save a bundle of $$$. Home cookin' doesn't hurt either.

 

[IEC]

Originally posted by: Spartan Niner

Originally posted by: cheezy321

Originally posted by: evident

Originally posted by: cheezy321
Do you call your parents basement a "1 bedroom apartment" too. LULZ

no. i live in my parents basement. i have a good job and goals. my parents piss me off sometimes, but we all get along fine. instead of paying rent i pay for house repairs. what's the shame in that?

There's a lot of shame involved when your entire social life revolves around playing WOW in your parents basement.

It's a shame that you can't respect a mature adult's fiscally sound decision to live with their parents until they can go out and buy a $1M+ home. It's also a shame that you sound like you're twelve years old.

I won't be working anywhere near my parents next year (graduating, 22) but that is simply as a function of where I got job offers from. I didn't apply to anything back home. If there were similar opportunities there I would not hesitate to take back my old room and save a bundle of $$$. Home cookin' doesn't hurt either.

Also, LULZ. Going out and being independent is all well and good, but bragging about wasting money simply to pretend to be went out of style last year.

 

[cheezy321]

Originally posted by: Spartan Niner

Originally posted by: Spartan Niner

Originally posted by: cheezy321

Originally posted by: evident

Originally posted by: cheezy321
Do you call your parents basement a "1 bedroom apartment" too. LULZ

no. i live in my parents basement. i have a good job and goals. my parents piss me off sometimes, but we all get along fine. instead of paying rent i pay for house repairs. what's the shame in that?

There's a lot of shame involved when your entire social life revolves around playing WOW in your parents basement.

It's a shame that you can't respect a mature adult's fiscally sound decision to live with their parents until they can go out and buy a $1M+ home. It's also a shame that you sound like you're twelve years old.

I won't be working anywhere near my parents next year (graduating, 22) but that is simply as a function of where I got job offers from. I didn't apply to anything back home. If there were similar opportunities there I would not hesitate to take back my old room and save a bundle of $$$. Home cookin' doesn't hurt either.

Also, LULZ. Going out and being independent is all well and good, but bragging about wasting money simply to pretend to be went out of style last year.

You aren't independent or an adult if you live at your parents house. Its not something to be proud of. Its not something to brag about to others. It is frowned upon in American society. Its something you do when you are younger than 21. After that, you have to grow up and DO YOUR OWN THING. You gotta grow up sometime, and living in your parents basement is not the best way to do it. Its called man-child syndrome, and many Asians seem to promote this sort of thing.

Living at your parents home after a certain age has a *huge* negative connotation to it in American culture. Have you not seen any of the millions of movies that poke fun at grown men that live at their parents house?

 

[EMPshockwave82]

Originally posted by: cheezy321
There's a lot of shame involved when your entire social life revolves around playing WOW in your parents basement.

Had to go back up and see who posted this. Looked like something Alchemyst (or however you spell his name) would say.


I just opened an Etrade account and started trading. I have a 401k with 15% going in. I'm 26 and renting from my old college roommate that just bought a house.

 

[UDT89]

if your parents are ok with it, stay home until you can buy. renting is pointless if you have that option and are young enough where its within reason. you might be single for a while depending on the women you chase but oh well.

i bought my co-op when i was 26. I'm 29 now and the area I bought in has retained its value fairly well through this economy (b/c its near the water). And over the last 3 years my apartment is worth more than what I paid and i have about 40k in equity.