Time to be an adult and buy stocks.

[Chino]

I've earned 44.18% return across all my penny stocks since I got in 9 days ago. I should have put in a few hundred more dollars than I did. 

[Chino]

Bought $2,000 worth of PTX three days ago and it's up 31.5% in pre-market today 

[axeman90210]

As long as it's still "Mohegan Sun" money, god bless

I'm currently contributing 10 or 11 percent to my 401k (6% match) and everything else is going towards paying down my student loans (almost there, 70K down to about 13K). Once I'm debt free I'll start an IRA, and both that and the 401K will be invested in nothing but low cost index funds. If I was actually going to actively invest I would have to look at it the same way as Chino, but I'd rather just go to the casino

[kaos2900]

How in the world can you guys afford to put 10% in your 401k? Must not have kids, lol!

[Chino]

How in the world can you guys afford to put 10% in your 401k? Must not have kids, lol!

I just don't think about it  If I had kids I'd probably want that extra $550 a month, but for now, I just think of it like a tax. Any type of budgeting takes that contribution into account. One thing my dad always drilled into my head was "the biggest regret I have about my adult life is I started to invest ten years too late. I could have retired 4-5 years ago if I started my 401 when I was 21". That's something I remind myself of every time I look at a pay stub. I've already got a nice $20K nest egg while the majority of my friends haven't even started a retirement account yet. C'mon compound interest!

[Stadler]

How in the world can you guys afford to put 10% in your 401k? Must not have kids, lol!

I just don't think about it  If I had kids I'd probably want that extra $550 a month, but for now, I just think of it like a tax. Any type of budgeting takes that contribution into account. One thing my dad always drilled into my head was "the biggest regret I have about my adult life is I started to invest ten years too late. I could have retired 4-5 years ago if I started my 401 when I was 21". That's something I remind myself of every time I look at a pay stub. I've already got a nice $20K nest egg while the majority of my friends haven't even started a retirement account yet. C'mon compound interest!

Do the math; with compounding interest, EARLY is always BETTER.  Plus, with the match (and compounding interest) it's like free money.

Kaos, not your financial adviser, and certainly I get it (I stopped contributing for a while around and immediately after my divorce) but you have to figure out a way to at least contribute up to the max your employer will match, if you have that benefit.  Drink lite beer, tell the kids to put on a parka, eat ramen... something.   That and flex spending programs.   Free money. 

[cramx3]

How in the world can you guys afford to put 10% in your 401k? Must not have kids, lol!

I don't have kids and that makes it much easier to contribute 7% to my 401k. My employer only matches 4% but I added a few more points when I got my raise last year so it effectively took my raise and put it into savings. 

I do wish I had a 401k going when I was younger.  My previous employer didn't offer it my first 5 years at the company and when they did offer it, they didn't match at all so I didn't participate, plus I needed that cash to help buy my house and support my ex.

[kaos2900]

My employer matchs 3% at 100% and thats what I do. They match 50% up to 5% so I wouldn't go over 5. I tried that for a month and it cost me and extra $100 which is just too much for me at the moment. Once my kids are old enough to go to school and my wife can start working more I'll bump it up from 3-5%. I also have college savings accounts for both of my kids which is really the only other thing I invest in at the moment.

[jasc15]

How in the world can you guys afford to put 10% in your 401k? Must not have kids, lol!

The way I figure it is that there is someone who manages to live on 10% less than I earn, why can't I?

Live below your means.

Also, if your company offers a stock purchase program at a discount, take advantage if possible.  Most offer their stock at a 15% discount, and require a minimum holding period of 30 days.  This partially goes against the single stock purchase maxim, but if you feel the risk of your company tanking 15% in one month is low, go for it.

[cramx3]

I'm definitely wishing my company goes public (which is the plan) and hits it big due to our stock option plans.  My dream of getting a large sum of money 

[kirksnosehair]

Couple of thoughts came to mind as I scanned the responses in this thread:

401k accounts are not meant to be used for day trading, which is kind of what you're doing if you're constantly moving funds around in your account.  It's not practical and it's a recipe for eventual disaster.  People go to school for as many as 8 years or more to become experts at market analysis.  "Reading up" on it isn't going to make you an expert.  Not anytime soon.


I totally agree with the concept of extinguishing all debt before investing anything.   

[Evermind]

I read 'Time to be an adult and buy socks' 

Just popping in to say I read the same thing.

It reminds me of the thread that was in General Discussion some time ago called "Do you courtesy flush?". Due to my extensive knowledge of English language I mixed "flush" and "blush", so I was intrigued about the situations where you should courtesy blush, opened the thread and started to read the posts and, well, yeah.

[cramx3]

https://youtu.be/gvZSpET11ZY

Relevant to the 401k discussion, from this week's Last Week Tonight.

[jasc15]

Can't believe I didn't share that yesterday when this thread came back.  Its really an excellent take on a subject that most find confusing or boring.

[cramx3]

Can't believe I didn't share that yesterday when this thread came back.  Its really an excellent take on a subject that most find confusing or boring.

And more importantly, how that confusing part can turn into expenses for you.  I'm should start taking stock tips and investing based on that cat