34 minutes ago, Chormeister said:

Question for all of you investors out there.

I have had investment accounts for retirement for almost 20 years now (401(k); 403(b); IRA), but I’ve never dabbled in stock market investing outside of that. I’m thinking of starting a small brokerage account and managing it on my own. I’m not interested in day trading, risky speculation, or anything fancy. Just mutual funds, maybe index funds or ETFs, and wouldn’t mind trying some individual stocks, depending on account balance requirements, etc. The goal is to start out small and invest a little each month, while reinvesting any gains earned in the account.

Any advice on a good way to get started with this? The easiest for me would be to go the Merrill-Lynch self-managed account route, but I’m open to other options. Thanks!

It sounds like you have the retirement side covered, so I think you would be fine with a regular brokerage account.  Just don't get crazy on the buying and selling, because taxes suck.  Roth IRA is a descent approach if you are staying under the annual contribution limits and are fine with the money being locked for the long haul.

I use Vanguard as my main non-retirement account and have had nothing but positive experiences with them.

Thanks for all the thoughtful responses so far! I plan on going with a Roth IRA at some point (already have a Roth account in my 403b), but this new account will be focused on short to mid-term goals instead of retirement. I might actually just do both at the same time.

Question for all of you investors out there.
I have had investment accounts for retirement for almost 20 years now (401(k); 403(; IRA), but I’ve never dabbled in stock market investing outside of that. I’m thinking of starting a small brokerage account and managing it on my own. I’m not interested in day trading, risky speculation, or anything fancy. Just mutual funds, maybe index funds or ETFs, and wouldn’t mind trying some individual stocks, depending on account balance requirements, etc. The goal is to start out small and invest a little each month, while reinvesting any gains earned in the account.
Any advice on a good way to get started with this? The easiest for me would be to go the Merrill-Lynch self-managed account route, but I’m open to other options. Thanks!

I’m not a financial advisor but Fidelity + VOO or VTI is a solid combo.


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2 hours ago, Chormeister said:

Question for all of you investors out there.

I have had investment accounts for retirement for almost 20 years now (401(k); 403(b); IRA), but I’ve never dabbled in stock market investing outside of that. I’m thinking of starting a small brokerage account and managing it on my own. I’m not interested in day trading, risky speculation, or anything fancy. Just mutual funds, maybe index funds or ETFs, and wouldn’t mind trying some individual stocks, depending on account balance requirements, etc. The goal is to start out small and invest a little each month, while reinvesting any gains earned in the account.

Any advice on a good way to get started with this? The easiest for me would be to go the Merrill-Lynch self-managed account route, but I’m open to other options. Thanks!

For your retirement accounts from former employers, I would recommend that you roll them over toe Merrill Edge and get their sign-on bonus.  Last year, I was able to get $1,200 for a $200K transfer. Then over time, convert these assets to Roth and pay the tax ... especially if you believe that your future tax rate when you retire is likely to be higher.

As for your taxable investments (e.g., non-retirement), I would recommend using the Vanguard platform.

Consider general market ETFs and a sector ETF like VGT.  Try not to use mutual funds if there's an ETF alternative (tax reason).  If you prefer greater exposure to specific stocks, then you could add them as well.  I like AAPL, FB, AMZN, GOOGL, MSFT, BAC, JPM, TMUS.

Re. retirement investment, try to max out contribution at work and IRA if you are able to.

Also, don't try to time the market.  Instead, if you have time,  for each company you are interested in, read the annual reports, quarterly filings, research reports to get an idea of the business prospects.

 

Edited May 12, 20214 yr by cambridge02138

7 minutes ago, cambridge02138 said:

...Also, don't try to time the market...

This is where I usually go wrong.

HERTZ so good.  bought Hertz Global (HTZGQ) at $1.61 when they were bankrupt and smart money wouldn't touch it.    shareholders are going to end up getting $8 a share out of this when all is said and done with the new  deal.  already up 50% today almost to $6 but it will make it to $8-9 in the next few days i believe.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 12, 20214 yr by cladner

I can't believe no mentioned Robinhood! Cryptocurrency trading can't be any easier. 

Dogecoin to the moon!

I can't believe no mentioned Robinhood! Cryptocurrency trading can't be any easier. 
Dogecoin to the moon!

If the moon is beneath your feet, then yes, DOGE is headed that direction. Shiba Inu is following the dive after the founder of ETH dumped something like 20 trillion tokens.

The game is clear at this point—if you want to follow the pump (or cause one) have someone hype a token and ensure it’s easily buyable by retail consumers and magically know when to cash out or transfer to a stable coin. Long term holds like BTC, ETH, or even ADA are a different game but how long the market plays it isn’t clear.


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32 minutes ago, freakchem said:

I can't believe no mentioned Robinhood! Cryptocurrency trading can't be any easier. 

Dogecoin to the moon!

 

 

Im so interested in crypto but everything seems to be flowing to get rich and bitcoin might take a dump with elon pulling out.

Im so interested in crypto but everything seems to be flowing to get rich and bitcoin might take a dump with elon pulling out.

Everyone will be pulling out as the environmental impact gets measured in the calculation and it’s a huge factor. Marginally there is the fact that crypto is literally backed by nothing( even fiat has this) and has zero intrinsic value which gold and silver have. Elon finally showing his scientist roots and that he gets it.


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11 hours ago, Chormeister said:

The easiest for me would be to go the Merrill-Lynch self-managed account route, but I’m open to other options.

I've been using a Merrill Edge self-managed account for 10 years now for a Rollover and Roth IRA, the nice thing there (perhaps you know) is that the balance invested there counts towards your Bank of America Preferred Rewards balance to get that sweet sweet extra cashback on your BoA Customized Cash Rewards credit card (they just changed the name so now it's dumb) but the extra 25-75% cashback bonus is not dumb. I'm up to bonus 50%, so 4.5% on the selected category - online purchases (only $2,500 per quarter, but still 1.5% after that)  

I have dinked around with individual stocks some, but mostly sold them off because I make terrible choices and invested in larger scope ETFs like VTI and SCHG.

Finally sold my $7 AMC stocks for $14.

Next round of tap water is on me...

Hertz Global (HTZGQ) up another 8% after yesterday's monster 50% rally.  nothing really to stop this from getting to $8-9 in the next week.  the greed is strong with this one.

 

Not sure where to ask this but I hope to get any advice.  Or direct me to correct forum.  Since my sales were so high last year need to file taxes on it. May need to file extension.  I use TurboTax.

Does anyone use TurboTax for their Lego sales? I’m stuck with having to put a single date for multiple sales.  I was able to click “various” for date acquired but not for sale date.  I’m filing them under investments/collectibles as I sell retired sets. I have an excel sheet with 8949 it’s form data.  Any help on how to file taxes on these would help.  I think next year I’ll have to get an accountant. 

On 4/28/2021 at 1:37 AM, donbee said:

Try T
It’s safer.

Well there goes our 7% dividend.

On 5/14/2021 at 12:50 AM, thelovemachine said:

Not sure where to ask this but I hope to get any advice.  Or direct me to correct forum.  Since my sales were so high last year need to file taxes on it. May need to file extension.  I use TurboTax.

Does anyone use TurboTax for their Lego sales? I’m stuck with having to put a single date for multiple sales.  I was able to click “various” for date acquired but not for sale date.  I’m filing them under investments/collectibles as I sell retired sets. I have an excel sheet with 8949 it’s form data.  Any help on how to file taxes on these would help.  I think next year I’ll have to get an accountant. 

I also ran into this problem this weekend using H&R Block's program. Same exact issue. I just put 12/31/20 and moved on.

APPS (Digital Turbine) looks like it want’s to breakout 🙃

Sold some CCIV / LCID yesterday for a profit. Used the proceeds toward CCIV+ warrants. The warrants @ $7.80 per was a $1+ discount over the common stock at the time ($19.83). Now shareholders just need the merger to complete & start having cars roll off the assembly line…

Finally sold my $7 AMC stocks for $14.
Next round of tap water is on me... [emoji14]

Did you buy back in before the recent/ current run-up?

2 minutes ago, jaisonline said:

Did you buy back in before the recent/ current run-up?

I was waiting for another sub $10 to rebuy.  Then I went on vacation did not pay attention to the market.  Between AMC / wsb run & the happenings with crypto, I picked the worst time to go on vacation

On 5/13/2021 at 2:17 PM, Darth_Raichu said:

Finally sold my $7 AMC stocks for $14.

Next round of tap water is on me...

lol.

On 5/29/2021 at 4:19 PM, Leopard said:

lol.

Story of my life.  I am ok with 2x while others are doing 5x  (This is also why I rarely recommend things to buy, my predictions suck )

5 hours ago, Darth_Raichu said:

Story of my life.  I am ok with 2x while others are doing 5x  (This is also why I rarely recommend things to buy, my predictions suck )

I like train stocks because trains go choo choo 🤤

I recommend selling AMC calls at this point. September or later expiration. 

AMC is different than other speculative buys or meme stocks in that they have not presented a credible way to change the trajectory of their company.

GME is transitioning - new board members, new NFT platform, they may emerge as a different company with all the new cash.

Crypto - We all know the potential....

AMC was sub 10$ before covid despite the insane roaring market of 2016-2020. A real dog that defied the rising tide that lifts all boats. Trends are obv against them with increased home viewership by the day. New 8k screens and mega screens cheaper by the day. Yes ppl will always go to theaters. I get it. But they were losing 100's millions before covid. Covid 2020 added 4 BILLION in losses. So somehow we are 6x the pre covid price? Lunacy. Yes I get that its a meme stock and that the insanity can linger. Thats why selling far out calls is the correct move here IMO. Selling an ATM spread should be a winning move.

obv. do your own DD I am not a legal financial advisor etc. etc..

Edited June 1, 20214 yr by Bricklectic

On 5/27/2021 at 11:48 AM, Foreman Porgy said:

APPS (Digital Turbine) looks like it want’s to breakout 🙃

New price target of $132.00.