financial guru

[JuBru]

Who is or who are the financial gurus here??? Looking around at things, and I have no idea what I'm looking at... I absolutely hate numbers! Need some free help! ha

[CARTEK]

I do a pretty ood job of reading annual reports. I used to do pretty go in the market, but the last 13 months have me doubting any abilities I might have thought I had.

maddawg has some expertise that I am sure he would be willing to impart.

[bdawg]

are you looking for investment advise? or business eval? or tax? or how to get out of debt? I ain't to good with numbers, but I got some peeps that is. Seems anglish ain't that good too

[Brian96]

Who is or who are the financial gurus here??? Looking around at things, and I have no idea what I'm looking at... I absolutely hate numbers! Need some free help! ha

Did you just win the lottery or something? Like bdawg said, give us an idea about what kind of advice you are looking for and there is almost certainly someone who can and will help you.

[JuBru]

Investment, savings, bonds, cd's, et al... basically just wanting to save as much money as possible over the next 5 years and get a lot of roi

[faninmonroe]

Investment, savings, bonds, cd's, et al... basically just wanting to save as much money as possible over the next 5 years and get a lot of roi

pick up a Barrons and pull out the market week section.....go to the market labs bond section....about the next to last page...use the bottom 1/3 of the page to start your search for CDs.

[CARTEK]

Advice: never buy a CD over the phone, internet, or by mail. If you can't get in a car and drive to the bank, find another CD.

[faninmonroe]

Advice: never buy a CD over the phone, internet, or by mail. If you can't get in a car and drive to the bank, find another CD.

concur.....just use the data to help start the search

[nadB]

Advice: never buy a CD over the phone, internet, or by mail. If you can't get in a car and drive to the bank, find another CD.

What does getting into a car and driving to a bank have to do with purchasing a CD ??

Advice: never say never. :icon_wink:

[CARTEK]

You buy CDs from banks that you know and that are nearby.

If a bank is offering a rate that is too good to be true, the bank likely has liquidity problems. If the bank fails and even if your deposit is less than $100,000 (i.e., fully insured by FDIC), a face-to-face with the new bankers will get you your money on demand. However, if you live in Monroe and get a CD out of Chicago, it may take weeks to months before you get your money...all for the sake of chasing 25 basis points!

There are people that purchased CDs from IndyMac that still have not gotten their fully insured money...these are almost exclusively people that bought CDs online because IndyMac's rate was 25 basis points better than that of a local bank. Sometimes it pays to do business with people you know, even if you make a little less money (25 basis point = $250 annually on $100,000).

Now is the time for the novice investor to educate himself about the market because unless you are already hip deep in it...now is not the time to be wading in...too much volatility and uncertainty for the meek and faint of heart!

I recommend that the novice read the following books:

The Richest Man in Babylon
Think and Grow Rich
The Little Book of Common Sense Investing
Good to Great
A Common Sense Guide to Your 401(k)
How Mutual Funds Work

If you can wade through all of these, you'll be miles ahead of your peers. I wish I had read them when I was 30 or younger...it would have made life a lot easier...of course, some of them had not been written when I was 30!

[Brian96]

I've been happy with ING Direct for my savings and CDs. I have banked with them since 2002 and they have consistently and significantly outperformed local options, including credit unions. At this point I haven't messed with any market stuff, sticking with FDIC insured accounts. Cartek's points are valid, but other than the time it would take--in a worst case scenario--to recoup FDIC money, there is no more risk with a reputable, national, primarily web-driven bank than a local bank, provided they are insured by the FDIC. But I'm in no position to offer advice about non-insured options (although my wife did net 30% gains on her fake portfolio over 6 weeks for her finance class in the spring--would have been higher if her teammate had not talked her into adding the Shaw Group).

[Brian96]

Also, Rus-La, knowing your situation, you certainly want to be able to conduct your business remotely and outside of normal "banking" hours, so make sure whatever you do gives you those options. That is part of the reason I got involved with ING and Bank of America (I loved being able to walk up to an ATM in Hong Kong, stick my debit card in, and get HK$ at a competitive exchange rate and no fees of any kind charged to my account).

[faninmonroe]

At this point I haven't messed with any market stuff, sticking with FDIC insured accounts.

How old are you? Do either Cartek or I have to give you a TVM presentation?

Now may not be the best time to be wading in......but at least start dipping you toes in the game for your long term goals. There are plenty of mutual funds for newbies that will serve you well.....Dodge and Cox or Vanguard total stock market are good starting points....others on here might have some good ideas as well...

[CARTEK]

I've been happy with ING Direct for my savings and CDs. I have banked with them since 2002 and they have consistently and significantly outperformed local options, including credit unions. At this point I haven't messed with any market stuff, sticking with FDIC insured accounts. Cartek's points are valid, but other than the time it would take--in a worst case scenario--to recoup FDIC money, there is no more risk with a reputable, national, primarily web-driven bank than a local bank, provided they are insured by the FDIC. But I'm in no position to offer advice about non-insured options (although my wife did net 30% gains on her fake portfolio over 6 weeks for her finance class in the spring--would have been higher if her teammate had not talked her into adding the Shaw Group).

All banks are web-based these days...even the small bank my BIL works for in Central Illinois is 100% wired! Thus, there is no legitimate reason to use a bank that is not local or does not have local representation. Legitimate banks will have comparable rates on virtually all service lines but local banks have a leg up: if you do have a problem, you can trot on over and talk to them; try that with a web bank.

[JuBru]

That's the thing, I need it to be web-based since I'm leaving in 16 days... I'm looking around at websites like www.bankrate.com and seeing what's all out there. I'm looking at having 2 savings accounts - 1 that is regular savings that I can use for overdraft protection or if I need extra money, and the other be a deposit only. From there though, I have no idea what I want or need. I don't have much money to play with right now, but around November, I'm looking at around just $200 a month to "play" with and such becasue the other $500 I would have I'm putting in the Savings Deposit Program (10% interest, compounded quarterly - no idea what that means, just know it's a good thing).... I'm looking at short term (1-3 years) and long term (5, 10, 20, and 30 years). But mostly short term right now, becasue I want to handle it all myself right now while I can, while I'm away, until I get back October 2009 before I look into going to MerrilLynch or MorganStanley or where-ever....

Mostly, I guess, I'm trying to "educate" myself to understand what all the lingo actually means so I can tell exactly what it is I'm looking at, and then be able to make the best decision I can... And well, like I said, I have to do it all online.