Comments on: The Shortest Investment Book Ever Giveaway

By: Kim

Kim — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 19:49:18 +0000

My question is this. I, like most people I imagine, have several 401Ks (current job, past job), a rollover IRA, a SEP-IRA (from when I worked freelance), a taxable investment account with ETFs and an eTrade account where I buy single stocks. I know I’m supposed to look at these as a whole pool of $, but I really want to use the taxable account for an apartment down payment in a few years. So should I invest conservatively in that account and aggressively in the longer time-frame tax-deferred accounts? That goes against tax avoidance strategies because I will have income-producing investments like bonds in my taxable account.

By: AverageJoe

AverageJoe — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 16:06:05 +0000

It’s interesting to note the global nature of this fiscal crisis we are in. I have seen how interdependent all the developed countries’ economies are, and their stock markets too, though the US seems to be leading the way down. In looking to diversify, I am considering committing 20-30% of my 401k to European stocks.

Does Mr. O’Donnell feel that with a 20 year time frame, European companies or economies have any significant advantages over US based companies? Does he think the US Dollar will be weaker or stronger over the long term?

By: Greg

Greg — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 14:22:48 +0000

Thanks for the freebie! Why do jumbo CD rates vary so greatly during these times?

Greg

By: Gopinath

Gopinath — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 02:36:04 +0000

My query is:
What are the indications that the market has hit the bottom,so that we can put in the hard earned money for investing(rather than speculating and losing)?

Thanks,
Gopi

By: kim varner

kim varner — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 18:41:30 +0000

In what ways is today’s market similar and dissimalr from the Great Depression.
Thanks for the giveaway.

By: Carol

Carol — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 08:55:56 +0000

My question is what does he think of this generation’s attitude toward money?

By: mindy

mindy — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 03:00:08 +0000

what is the best way to avoid financial mistakes

By: zach

zach — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 23:40:20 +0000

i’ve been putting an extra 5% into my supplemental retirement annuity every month for the past 4 months (i started my job in sept 07, and was eligible to contribute in sept 08, when i contributed 5% to get a matching 7%, and an additional 5% in a separate account but the same fund). that said, i also have $6600 in credit card debt (and a small but growing emergency fund of $4300).

is it a good idea to invest heavily now while stocks are low, or take that money and pay off any outstanding obligations? on one hand i hear from people that now is the time to buy because stocks are so low, and then others say this is the worst time to be in debt and that i should pool all of my efforts towards paying that down.

thanks in advance, and i look forward to seeing the answers to everyone’s questions and learning from your interview.

By: Simon

Simon — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 14:01:03 +0000

Sign me up for the drawing… seems like a worthwhile addition to my financial library.

Thanks

By: jen

jen — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 13:31:08 +0000

I am always wondered if we have enough insurance–whether it’s on the house or ourselves. I have short and long term disability as well as long term care coverage. My husband is not offered this coverage through his work. Should we have all 3 for him?

By: Austin

Austin — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 03:05:23 +0000

Drawing upon your experiences as a teacher and a writer, how would you organize and present a class lesson plan to educate people who are just getting started in their study of investing?
(e.g. how long? what topics? format?)

As a person who has been a caregiver for a family member, what advice would you give people who may be facing the possibility of becoming caregivers for their parents?
(e.g. what are some realistic expectations? What resources would you recommend? What is the financial impact?)

By: john

john — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 02:10:26 +0000

What is the one piece of info you would repeat, repeat, repeat? Something that people hear about, know about, but always tend to overlook it, or gloss it over as not that important. The past few years of my studying personal finance and planning details for retirement in a few years, I completely overlooked taxes on my pension and IRA withdrawals, as well as on Social Security – now it’s part of my plan, but what a big mistake that would have been…

By: Derrick

Derrick — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 21:19:49 +0000

What is your time tested investing advice for a college graduate starting to build a portfolio in the current market? What fundamentals or foundation would you suggest building a lifelong portfolio on?

By: Sanjeev

Sanjeev — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 18:34:33 +0000

The usual investing guidelines have been around investing in low-cost index funds, maintaining an age/risk appropriate asset allocation, and rebalancing once or twice a year. I have been following these for a good time. But I am starting to doubt the guidelines now. All the technology advances in the last 10 years have fuelled easy availability of trading platforms to almost everyone and rapid information delivery has led to larger trading volumes with volatile market swings. My question would be – are we witnessing a shift that will render the long-term buy-and-hold strategy ineffective? Will holding and rotating sector based ETFs based on momentum yield better returns (as one would still keep the cost to minimum by buying these sector ETFs once in a while)? Or a hybrid approach combining the two? What are your thoughts?

By: Arlene Aughey

Arlene Aughey — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 18:26:35 +0000

My husband and I are both age 60, and currently retired. We have saved all of our lives, and have quite a good amount in IRA’s and SEP’s. The problem is that – instead of being in a lower tax bracket in retirement, as we were always TOLD we would be – we are not finding this to be the case. We understand that we must take the money outof these accounts by the time we are 70 1/2, and I am truly searching around for what would be the best way to do this, without paying even more taxes. Can you help us with any ideas? Thanks!