OFFICIAL: STOCK ADVICE THREAD

[BLAZER PROPHET]

BUMP

I may be coming into a chunk of money that I want to invest for a perhaps soon to be born first child's tuition. I skimmed through this again and see BB30 recommending ETFs. This seems like you're at the mercy of an investor. I suppose they make their money off commissions, so they would want to do well themselves, yes?

Short tangent, when I and my cousins were born, my grandfather bought each of us shares in 3M for college savings. I assume he chose that because it also paid dividends in stock. Is this a good premise for picking a long term investment?

When my daughter was born I went to Northwestern Mutual and bought her a whole life insurance policy for $100,000. Because of her age my remiums were about $15/mo. It paid for her college (only went to a 2 year school) and they can be a very safe investment for the long term as many give guaranteed rates of return.

 

[blazerboy30]

BUMP

I may be coming into a chunk of money that I want to invest for a perhaps soon to be born first child's tuition. I skimmed through this again and see BB30 recommending ETFs. This seems like you're at the mercy of an investor. I suppose they make their money off commissions, so they would want to do well themselves, yes?

Not all ETFs are alike.

Do NOT buy actively managed or so-called "exotic" ETFs like some of those I have mentioned in this thread (SSO and XIV). Those are only for shorter-term trading if you have a system you follow.

Do NOT buy ETFs other than broad-market ETFs.

Short tangent, when I and my cousins were born, my grandfather bought each of us shares in 3M for college savings. I assume he chose that because it also paid dividends in stock. Is this a good premise for picking a long term investment?

The short answer is: No, this is not a good premise.

If you want to do very little work and beat pretty much any other investor over the next 20 years, I would do this:

70-80% in VT (world stock market index)
30-20% in BND (total bond market index fund)

Each year, rebalance the portfolio to get back to the desired 70/30 ratio (or whatever you've chosen).

 

[blazerboy30]

Bump.

SSO up 21% since this call.

SSO up 44% since my original post on it.

XIV up 51% since original post about it.

 

[Run BJM]

Mags made some brilliant picks in 2013. Got any advice for this year?

 

[MarAzul]

Got 2 shotguns (semi and pump) and a .38 special. You think I need more?

Naw, that will do and good choices too.

 

[jlprk]

The Boglehead method hasn't worked for awhile because the biggest Vanguard bond funds have had negative return.

 

[Hobbesarable]

If you want to do very little work and beat pretty much any other investor over the next 20 years, I would do this:

70-80% in VT (world stock market index)
30-20% in BND (total bond market index fund)

Each year, rebalance the portfolio to get back to the desired 70/30 ratio (or whatever you've chosen).

Those are good suggestions. I was also checking VTI (Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF) and BIV (Vanguard Intermediate-Term Bond ETF).