If you have to ask for investment advice, you probably won't outperform the market, and I am strongly discouraging you from putting your hard-earned money in any of the investments you’ve listed. Too many people lose money or underperform the market substantially by following CNBC, their brokers, or some economist. These people do not have your interests in mind. They have their own agendas and are just trying to sell you something - probably their shares.
Index funds outperform over 70 percent of growth mutual funds long-term. Many even outperform the S&P 500. Just pick a set amount you can contribute to every week or two, and stick with the boring dollar cost average strategy. Don’t chicken out if the market comes down. Many people have no discipline and get out before making real money. Instead, consider adding even more during bear markets. Don’t pay attention to news events, just keep adding every one or two weeks (contribute the same amount over the same time increment). If you’re in it for the long haul, this is the strategy that works best and will give you the highest return, and will average you in more toward market bottoms because you’re buying more shares with the same amount of money as the market comes down, and fewer shares as the market rises.
Some noteworthy mentions:
VTSMX – few ever outperform this one long-term. Actually, there are index funds with even lower fees.
BTIEX – In a Scottrade account, this one has no transaction fees.
VOO/SPY – ETFs tracking the S&P 500.
SDY – a popular dividend ETF.
If you don’t do what I tell you, you are statistically more likely to lose money as a beginner trader/investor, and you surely won’t beat the market when you’re just starting off. If you want to try to beat the market, trust me when I tell you that the market will be here long after we’re gone, so just paper trade/invest (keeping a log without using real money) until you are confident you will consistently outperform VTSMX over a long period. In fact, even if you do become a great investor/trader, your money should still mostly be in boring index funds.
Ramit Sethi was on three episodes of Pickup Podcast. Download these episodes freely on iTunes and consider checking out his book.
Index funds outperform over 70 percent of growth mutual funds long-term. Many even outperform the S&P 500. Just pick a set amount you can contribute to every week or two, and stick with the boring dollar cost average strategy. Don’t chicken out if the market comes down. Many people have no discipline and get out before making real money. Instead, consider adding even more during bear markets. Don’t pay attention to news events, just keep adding every one or two weeks (contribute the same amount over the same time increment). If you’re in it for the long haul, this is the strategy that works best and will give you the highest return, and will average you in more toward market bottoms because you’re buying more shares with the same amount of money as the market comes down, and fewer shares as the market rises.
Some noteworthy mentions:
VTSMX – few ever outperform this one long-term. Actually, there are index funds with even lower fees.
BTIEX – In a Scottrade account, this one has no transaction fees.
VOO/SPY – ETFs tracking the S&P 500.
SDY – a popular dividend ETF.
If you don’t do what I tell you, you are statistically more likely to lose money as a beginner trader/investor, and you surely won’t beat the market when you’re just starting off. If you want to try to beat the market, trust me when I tell you that the market will be here long after we’re gone, so just paper trade/invest (keeping a log without using real money) until you are confident you will consistently outperform VTSMX over a long period. In fact, even if you do become a great investor/trader, your money should still mostly be in boring index funds.
Ramit Sethi was on three episodes of Pickup Podcast. Download these episodes freely on iTunes and consider checking out his book.