SD_S2K

cthree you should sell s2ki.com and become a financial adviser if you believe you can pick 5 stocks that will perform that well for the next 30 years.

I don't have that luxury or knowledge, so I trust the professionals at a firm like Vanguard to do it for me. Go browse their site and look up the fund I mentioned and you will see a 12%+ return over the life of the fund. And with an expense ratio of .22 or similar, I will gladly do so. You cannot accurately say you have NO FEES when you have to pay a fee every time you buy and sell. At least 95% of traders do, unless you use zecco or whoever the new free trade sites are. I have no idea.

Every day I watch the threads where you guys agonize over what stocks to buy or sell or short of load up on, etc. Sure, some people can make money doing it. Not everyone. Market timing and guessing and all that is for professionals, and anyone else who thinks otherwise is nuts.

I know you will whole heartedly disagree and tell me your 2 cents, but just thought I would give mine. I would rather let an industry giant/professional handle my money at a very low cost.

I would interested to see how we all end up in 20 years with our various investment choices.

GPMike

If I was loaded (10s of millions) I would give my dough to James Simons.

Since most of us are not...like Cthree said....you can never go wrong with a diverse, cream of the crop companies basket, and just watch it and keep putting into it until you retire/die.

martha

I don't have a dog in this hunt as they say, but I'm curious why you come to this forum at all.

QUIKAG

I don't think you're taking into consideration dividends and any capitals gains. Apparently Yahoo Finance doesn't include capital gains and dividends into the annualized rate of return. I could be wrong, but I heard that the other day.

Multiple sites have stated that the S&P 500 has had over 10% growth over the last several decades. Is that 7.5% you quoted inflation adjusted? If so, then it might make more sense.

QUIKAG

Martha,

I come into this forum because I appreciate various points of view and different perspective. Just because I basically agree with SD S2K in that a well diversified collection of low cost mutual funds both index and actively managed is the way to go for 95% of people, that doesn't mean that I don't appreciate the perspective of others who feel that individual stocks are the way to go.

sahtt

No one here says mutual funds are "bad".

Most of us are also not professionals, but I know some professionals that know less than I do on the subject.

I like how cthree put it regarding his wife's choice of mutual funds-if you want out of the middle class, which I realize is defined differently for everyone, you are going to have to work hard and take risk.

Even if you go your whole life matching the mutual fund you "would" have picked but spend extra hours every week doing so, at least you had a shot at making big $$$. At least you had a shot.

I often think exactly the opposite of many people. You mentioned you don't have the luxury or knowledge to trade yourself. I do not have the luxury to not* trade myself because the gains I want have only been consistently met by people that require minimum 1.5 million dollars.

For your retirement, stick with index funds and ETF's [or mutual funds].

But there are others of us who want more NOW, and next year, and are willing to take the risk to achieve that. I want to be able to fly to Germany, rent a new 911, and run the ring for a weekend without thinking twice about it when I still don't need glasses. I will never get there working 9-5 and giving my $ to a mutual fund. I might get lucky on LULU and turn 25 grand in to a quarter million in 2 years though. I've got a shot.

QUIKAG

sahtt,

I'd rather invest my time into my job where I can make a guaranteed large salary for a long, healthy career while investing in a nice blend of mutual funds returning 10-12% a year.

At some point, your ROI only matters so much. It's the amount of principle invested that will guarantee a comfortable retirement.

Basically, I'd rather put $30k/yr into retirement at an average return of 10% than put $10k/yr into retirement and hope for 20% returns.

cdelena

CWGIX is a basically a large cap value fund... I have less than 10% of my portfolio aimed at this segment, but use VTV (Vanguard ETF) to do it at a lower cost with comparable performance.

cthree

Retirement is overrated. Talk to Warren Buffet, Sumner Redstone or Rupert Murdock about their retirement portfolios. Rich people don't retire.

Retirement is a middle class concept. It's an idea based on an eventual freedom from life's toil. You spend the best years of your life busting your ass to build wealth and privilege for someone else and then at the end you are rewarded with not having to do that anymore. You can spend your days tending to your property, travelling, golfing, cruising the Mediterranean on your yacht; the same things the rich people you're been working for all these years have been doing most of their lives.

I don't subscribe to living on a fixed income, regardless of how big it is, after age 65. I'm much more interested in wealth building today and tomorrow. I plan to pass 65 (if I live that long) wealthy. I don't plan on getting a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, I plan on taking my pot of gold to the end of the rainbow with me.

It's just a matter of perspective.

SD_S2K

I may never buy an individual company stock in my life again, but I appreciate reading and contributing to conversations about investing and money in general.

Bouncing ideas of others is a way to learn and grow your knowledge, regardless of your individual standpoints.