Part 8: More on Investment Vehicles

In the early 1950s, my mother and father decided to buy some property near Pittsburgh Pa. and build a three bedroom house with an internal garage and basement. My father convinced my mother that they can build it themselves. All they needed was to get a loan to purchase the materials needed. By the end of 1954, the house was complete, spending about $8,000.  If they would have hired a general contractor to build that house, the general contractor would have hired several contractors to do the brick, electrical, plumbing, yard, and etc.  So instead of the house costing $8,000, my parents would have spent about $36,000. Why, because they would have had more levels of management and more laborers in the equation. When dealing with investments, we are talking about the cost of building your account. The more people in the equation, the more the management of your investments will cost.

Here is the reason why I am for using online brokerage firms instead of full service brokerage firms. You pay for the service with full service brokers even when you don’t use them. I don’t like using mutual funds because someone must manage the funds and you pay for that by way of fees. Most of these fees you never see. I am sure if you work for a company or government that allows you to have a 401K; they give you a choice of mutual funds. These funds may not be free as advertised. They just have hidden fees that you pay for by way of fewer returns by the fund. That is why I say, if your 401k does not give you matching funds, don’t use it. Instead open an IRA with an online brokerage firm and buy discount corporate bonds or stocks that give high yields. 

Most investment experts try to sell you on mutual funds based on what they did in the late 20^th Century. But finance like the economy goes in cycles. From the 1930s to 1950, stocks went no place. From 1954 to 1970, stocks made big gains.  From 1970 to 1980, the stock market stayed in a trading range. From 1980 to 2007 the stock market went to the stratosphere. In 2008, the stock market crashed just like in 1929.

So investing in the stock market is speculative at best. Do you really want to take chances with your retirement money? If you are young, maybe, but if you are in your 40’s, 50’s, or 60’s think twice before you do.

As I said, some of you are in company and government 401K programs so we are going to go over classes of mutual funds.

Aggressive-Growth Funds seek big profits by investing in small to medium-size companies, developing industries, or other securities that show rapid growth and strong increases in stock value. This type of fund seldom pays dividends. These funds carry high risk compared to other funds. Management of this type of  funds does a lot of buying and selling. That involves paying commissions.

Long Term Growth Stock Funds seek long term capital gains, usually by investing in larger companies than most aggressive growth funds. These funds are supposed to keep up with inflation over the long term. However portfolio managers are not concerned with dividends.

Growth and Income Funds emphasize growth, but are more conservative than long term growth funds. They invest mainly in established companies, many of which pay dividends. This type of fund seems to be less volatile than most other stocks funds.

International and Global Stock Funds buy stock in companies that are based outside the U.S., giving investors a chance to take advantage of growth opportunities in other parts of the world. Global funds sometimes include U.S. stocks but they vary in just how much they keep invested in the U.S. These funds have risks such as foreign political upheaval, looser regulatory environments, and currency risk. 

Socially Conscious Funds make their investment choices with an eye toward environmental awareness, or non-polluting companies. Others avoid investing in weapon makers, cigarette companies, nuclear-energy production and etc. Some look for conservative or Christian values.  

Sector Funds concentrate their holdings in a single industry sector such as transportation, energy, healthcare, or precious metals. As a result, these funds are more volatile than diversified funds. They are for people who want to speculate and trade funds instead of investing in them.   

 

High Grade Corporate Bond Funds invest mainly in bonds issued by top rated companies. Some specialize in short term bonds, some in intermediate bonds, yet some invest in long term bonds. Some funds invest in Zero Coupon Bonds. Look for the phrase “target maturity” in the name of the fund.  High Grade Bond Funds are safer and less volatile than most funds but your return may be less than inflation in low inflationary times.  

U.S. Government Bond Funds buy U.S, Treasuries and other types of bonds issued by the federal government or its agencies. They specialize in short, intermediate and long term securities. Traditionally, these funds do not keep up with inflation but are the safest funds that you can invest in.   

 Mortgage Back Securities Funds are more commonly known as Ginnie Mae funds. They invest in securities issued by the Government National Mortgage Association or GNMA. However they do buy other bonds from other government organizations. Mortgage funds are more volatile than bonds funds because of the movement of interest rates and homeowner refinancing. 

Index Funds are design to do just as well as the market that it is design to match such as the Standard and Poor’s 500 Stock Index, Small Company and International Stock Indexes, the Bond Index, and etc. Index funds are conservative in relation to stock investing because it matches the markets exactly.  

 High Yield Bond Funds are funds that invest in corporate bonds with a Standard and Poor’s Rating of “BBB”, “BB”, “B”, “CCC” and below. In other words, they invest in low grade securities. This means that the fund has a higher risk than High-Grade Corporate Bond Funds but you get paid well to take the risk. They pay a high dividend. This is the type of fund that could be used to accumulate high returns over time, far better than inflation.     

A Special Note for all my reader’s around the world!  

Hi my loyal readers around the world. I just finished making my final plans of my life. I will be retiring in a few short years and moving into my luxury retirement home. I will spend most of my time getting my seven year old grandson ready for the 2028 Olympics. I have no idea what my younger grandson is going to do. As of now, I would say it has something to do with electrical engineering because at 1 years old, he knew how to operate an IPad. But whatever it is, I will be around to lend assistance to his education.


My plans also involves my readers. I am starting an online stock club design to give my loyal readers as much as one million dollars, maybe more depending on when you start my plans. That money will be to remember me by.


Please read the blog below and follow my instructions if you want a chance to get one million dollars.

http://bondinvestments.blogspot.com/2012/06/how-would-you-like-to-have-over-one.html

The younger you are; 35 and below, the greater the chance of getting over one million dollars. If you are starting at 60 years old, chances are you will only make it to $100,000.



I started out at age 23 and spent a lot of time laid off and giving money away to my children for cars. I bought 3 homes. One home was paid off in full. The other I bought in a partnership paid in cash. All my cars since 1971 were the current year and I have not had a car note since 1983. I even gave two girlfriends a car each. That is why I don’t have a million dollars today. But if you become one of my “Greedy Friends” I am sure with my instructions, you can get that million.