"John A. Weeks III" <john[at]johnweeks.com> wrote in message
news:030220041502453056%john[at]johnweeks.com...
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Ted is right, the market is riskier than most think, and long term averages
are deceiving.

"If you look at performance of the S&P 500 over the last 50 years 17.0% of
the five year holding periods resulted in a loss of principal compared to
9.5% of the ten year periods. But that's not the whole story. Even though
only one in ten ten-year stock market periods would have resulted in a loss,
one in three would have produced a return of under 5% a year." (Source:
Index Compendium)

Brent D. Gardner, ChFC
Chartered Financial Consultant
http://members.cox.net/brentdgardner1378/

"Be ever questioning. Ignorance is not bliss. It is oblivion. You don't go
to heaven if you die dumb. Become better informed. Learn from other's
mistakes. You could not live long enough to make them all yourself." - Hyman
George Rickover (1900-86), Admiral, US Navy, advocated development of
nuclear subs & ships

The Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) and Chartered Financial Consultant
(ChFC), designations owned and exclusively offered by The American College,
signify the highest standards of academic study and professional excellence
in the financial services industry.

Mike,

I'd recommend you use your money to build a portfolio including stocks
(index funds), bonds and cash (e.g. money market). But, first,
invest a small amount of time doing some reading (yes, plain old
fashioned books). Start with these two:

A Random Walk down Wall Street - Burton Malkiel
The Intelligent Asset Allocator - William Bernstein

Carefully read these two books and you will be better educated than
99% of the population. Also, careful on financial planners. I
followed a well respected planners advice and lost a LOT of my money.

Hope that helps.

Oh, yes. And live a little.


On Tue, 3 Feb 2004 11:57:38 CST, mike1cheng[at]yahoo.com (Mike) wrote:

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sizzlemp[at]aol.com (SizzleMP) wrote in message news:<20040203132853.26490.00001388[at]mb-m07.aol.com> ...
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Hmmmm I dont see my original message anymore.

Anyway, Flushing Savings Bank was offering a promotion.
3.75 APR for 3 months, then it goes to their going rate.

"Mike" <mike1cheng[at]yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:b9ddd551.0402030916.7abb0323[at]posting.google.com...
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If it is a good company and your productivity remains high, be optimistic.
After all some of those jobs are starting to come back. After all when their
wages rise, the incentive will be lost to move more.
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You should keep 6 months of expenses liquid.

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Don't be afraid of doing something you want to do.
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FICO is only a credit score, the only possible problem is that you haven't
established credit and apply for a mortgage later. But if you have some
consumer credit, you have no issues.
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With rewar comes risk. Take a basic risk tolerence quiz, plenty of them on
the net and fairly standard and with them you will find an asset allocation
model. Use that as a guide. Don't be afraid of risk, it can be managed and
taking the right amount of risk will probably up your return to 7-8%
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It is one way to avoid being laid off. There is risk involved but if you
understand the risk and like what you are doing it could be well worth it.
- quote -

It might be worth finding a good financial planner. Somebody that can be
objective and review your situation. Be picky who you work with, find
somebody that is independent realizing nobody does this for free, you just
get to pay them in different ways.

Enjoy life.
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"John A. Weeks III" john[at]johnweeks.com, you wrote:

<< <i> But over the long run, stocks return an average of 11%, and have never
had a 5 years period in memory that was a loser (not since 1935 if I recall).
</i> >
How about:

1937 - 1941
1970 - 1974

I'm not sure, but 1998 -2002 came mighty close if not negetive . . . .???

For large company stocks: not only the above but also 1973 - 1977

.. . . .according to my Ibbotson information.

And I guess it depends on how long one's memory is. <VBG> ;-)

In article <b9ddd551.0402030916.7abb0323[at]posting.google.com> , Mike
<mike1cheng[at]yahoo.com> wrote:

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I know how that goes. My job moved to India just prior to the
holidays. Sent out dozens of resumes and letters, so far, only
a single call back.

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That is a good position to be in.

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That is not a good position to be in. Why even live if you cannot
have fun in the process?

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No red flags. You are supposed to seek out the best rate of return.
FICO not an issue, that is only for debt, not for assets.

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Being debt free is essential today while living in the 3rd world
America that the Bush administration is trying so hard to create.

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Yeah, if you are not in the market, you risk getting eaten alive.
You see, fixed returns are set as low as possible, and they only
just keep up with the increases in cost of living, or they fall
behind a little every year. That is the true meaning of risk,
where you are certain that you will lose over the long run. With
stocks, you have some good years, and some not so good years. But
over the long run, stocks return an average of 11%, and have never
had a 5 years period in memory that was a loser (not since 1935
if I recall).

The best thing is to build a portfolio that is like a pyramid. You
want your core holdings in something safe, like corporate bonds.
Put about 1/2 there. Then you want a layer of relatively safe
stocks, followed by a smaller layer of a bit more risky stocks, then
a small part in very aggressive stocks. To top things off, have a
bit of money in a liquid emergency fund. Consider this an illustration,
some of the financial planning pros in the group can probably suggest
the optimal portfolio mix for you based on age and goals.

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By doing a ladder with your bonds, you get certain degree of liquidity
by having a new set of bonds come due each quarter, despite having the
funds tied up in 10 year bonds to get the best rate of return.

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You ain't gonna do it by sticking with the money market.

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Great, your friend has just spent his life savings by purchasing a
minimum wage job in a iffy proposition that depends on teenage kids
for its labor pool. Is that really something you want to do? Ask
your friend about this after 6 months or so.

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This is a problem. It has a solution. 90% of the country has
reasonable real estate rates, while 10% is out of this world. Pack up
a U-haul, and move somewhere where normal people can afford to live.
Given your job, keep working until it ends. Spend as little as you
can, and save as much as you can. Work to get your financial house
in order, and get your portfolio built. When things do end, pack up
and move somewhere that is less expensive. This will buy you a few
years to consider your options for what to do with the rest of your
life.

-john-

--
================================================== ==================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708 john[at]johnweeks.com
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
================================================== ==================

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Where in NY are you getting 3.75 for a money market account?

Hello, I posted this on another group, and someone referred me here.
This is my original post, with some added info, based on questions
people had about my original post.
I hope you have a few moments to give me some advice.

I am currently employeed with a good IT company, but with the industry
the way it is, who knows how long it will last.

But anyway, I managed, to save a very good sum of money. (I can live
the way I am for a couple of years. Of course, if I got married, a
chunk of the money will go away, same if I had a kid, or someone in my
family got very sick)
I dont go on vacations, I try not to spend money, actually Im not
living life, lol.

My money is sitting in a money market account, getting 3.75 apr, I go
to different banks every few months to find the best interest, and
then shift my money around. (theres no drawback to consistantly
opening and closing accts is there? Will my FICO be affected? Will
it raise a red flag with the IRS?)

Whats the best method of intelligently using/saving my money?

I paid off my student loans awhile back. So no outstanding debt.
I contribute to my company's 401, I put money into Roth, and I have
medical insurance through work.

Stocks? kinda risky.

I want to remain liquid, in case I run into any problems, or if my
family (grandparents/parents) has an accident and needs the money.

I obviously want my "money" to start making more money.

A friend is opening a franchise, because he feels thats the way to get
ahead. (he is still keeping his daytime job)

The problem with investing in Real Estate, or a small business is:
Im in NY, even a cheesy 3 bedroom house is 600k.
I looked at a 3 bedroom condo - small rooms, small living room,
kitchen is the size of a work cubical - 175k.
My friend is opening a franchise, and it cost 200k to open up.

What are some suggestions for me to do?

Thank you