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| irene_brandon20 |
 Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 11:54 am Post subject: How to begin investing |
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Yes I would like to ask what is the best way to begin investing. How much is usually required to open an account, and what is the best company to open an account with?
A co-worker told me I could transfer some from my 401k and use it to open an account and start investing. Is this true? He said 1000 was all that was needed to begin. |
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| efflandt |
| Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 1:25 pm Post subject: |
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Typically you cannot draw or transfer anything from a 401(k) unless you are no longer an employee of that company or are retirement age. So that is probably not an option at this time. When you leave that employer or retire, you can transfer any or all of it to an IRA (best done with direct trustee to trustee transfer to avoid withholding).
Since you appear to be "eligible" for an employee retirement plan, your ability to make "deductable" contributions to an IRA may be limited or none depending upon income.
You could likely make after-tax contributions to a Roth IRA (within higher income limits). But you don't want to go overboard initially investing in non-diversified risky ventures in a Roth, since you cannot recover losses unless your total distributions are less than contributions when the account is totally emptied. Better to invest in something with a good chance of some return than trying to get rich overnight and putting all your eggs in the wrong basket (until you get some profit to play with). |
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| jacobnbr1 |
| Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 1:38 pm Post subject: Re: How to begin investing |
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| irene_brandon20 wrote: | Yes I would like to ask what is the best way to begin investing. How much is usually required to open an account, and what is the best company to open an account with?
A co-worker told me I could transfer some from my 401k and use it to open an account and start investing. Is this true? He said 1000 was all that was needed to begin. |
Man!!!
There is alot of people asking this same question...
Where did they come from???
Don't touch your 401k......... Find the 1k somewhere else.
Formulate a plan/strategy and trade the plan here in the simulator or on paper before going live with real money... |
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| JRW-910 |
| Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 1:48 pm Post subject: Re: How to begin investing |
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| jacobnbr1 wrote: |
Where did they come from???
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…Hopefully through all of the advertising that I am doing. It’s great to see fresh blood around here that area eager to learn about investing.
Sorry to hijack the tread!
-JRW |
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| Kiman4 |
| Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 2:17 pm Post subject: |
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Investing Sr. Associate
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How much money should you have on hand to start investing with directly into the market once you get past all of the barriers of signing up for a company and all of that.
I mean the money that will directly go into buying stocks |
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| Colli |
| Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2007 3:10 am Post subject: |
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It depends on what type of investor you are (i.e. Nervous, Short-Term, Long-Term, Confident, etc).
First - DO NOT tap your 401k for the money to start getting into individual stock investing! If you can find the money elsewhere, you might just look into DRIPS. Regardless of how you invest, you still need to do the appropriate research. You will find that once you have done good research, it is easier to sit tight on an investment while it gyrates through market cycles. |
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| geb9696 |
| Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2007 10:59 pm Post subject: |
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Investing VP
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| Kiman4 wrote: | How much money should you have on hand to start investing with directly into the market once you get past all of the barriers of signing up for a company and all of that.
I mean the money that will directly go into buying stocks |
You can sign up for an account with an online discount broker for free. Trades will cost in the range of $4-10 which means you will want to have atleast $500-$2000 dollars to start investing with. The less you start with the less of an ability you have to divisify unless you invest in an index fund. Investing in an index fund can be a great idea if you are just starting out and do not have a great amount of knowledge of the stock market. It is an easy way to get the same returns as most managed money and still give yourself time to learn and research before having to make any tough decisions. |
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| deprived |
| Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 9:19 am Post subject: 401k |
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Investing Sr. Associate
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| Quote: | Yes I would like to ask what is the best way to begin investing. How much is usually required to open an account, and what is the best company to open an account with?
A co-worker told me I could transfer some from my 401k and use it to open an account and start investing. Is this true? He said 1000 was all that was needed to begin. |
If you really would like to use 1k out of your 401k; all you have to do is take a loan against your 401k - see HR dept on how to do this. Each company has thier own rules and the goverment rules to follow. The loan you take out is paid back through payroll deductions, this is set by YOU, you have up to 5 years to pay it back.
The best part of this loan is the interest you pay goes into your 401 account - of course there are admin fees that you have to pay but that is outlined when you take out the loan. Interest is usually prime interest rate plus 1 percent. Ex: prime interest rate at 8.25% will be 9.25%.
I woud recommend this because you are paying yourself back plus interest and not a bank or another finacial instituiton. You can also take the loan out for any reason, buying a car, down payment on homes, trips there is very little stipulations on what the loan has to be for. |
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| jake |
| Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 12:55 am Post subject: |
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| If the question is about how much starting capital you need to 'trade'- I'd say 20k bare minimum. Paper trade first and always bet small. |
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| Do5 |
| Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 10:03 am Post subject: |
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Investing Sr. Associate
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| good info thanks for sharing |
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| akshaytalwar |
| Posted: Sun May 18, 2008 1:40 am Post subject: |
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Put your money to work and get on the road to financial freedom
Whether you're approaching retirement age, just starting out on your own, or somewhere in the middle, you've begun to think about your financial future. The next step is to do something about it... but where do you begin?
For the average person, investing can be a mystery. Terms like price to earnings ratio (p/e ratio), market cap, and return on equity, can be a bit confusing to say the least, but in reality, about as simple to understand as basic arithmetic.
The first step to building your portfolio is to open a brokerage account. These accounts allow you to purchase stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and other investments by paying professionals to buy or sell the items you tell them to. |
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| txga |
| Posted: Sat May 24, 2008 9:05 am Post subject: |
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| I've learned so much by reading this thread. |
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| Hal E. Burton |
| Posted: Sat May 24, 2008 10:28 am Post subject: |
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| akshaytalwar wrote: | Put your money to work and get on the road to financial freedom
Whether you're approaching retirement age, just starting out on your own, or somewhere in the middle, you've begun to think about your financial future. The next step is to do something about it... but where do you begin?
For the average person, investing can be a mystery. Terms like price to earnings ratio (p/e ratio), market cap, and return on equity, can be a bit confusing to say the least, but in reality, about as simple to understand as basic arithmetic.
The first step to building your portfolio is to open a brokerage account. These accounts allow you to purchase stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and other investments by paying professionals to buy or sell the items you tell them to. |
Hmmm, Hmmm I can smell the spam in the frying pan now! |
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