OKAY

If he did what the whistle blower claims, he did commit a crime.
It would be good, IMHO, if trump is out of the race and somebody like Rubio gets the nomination. I think there would be less of a chance that we'd have a democrat win in 2020.

So says our in house conservaliberal. Give you high marks for consistancy! lol

Ken, I have a different view of mutual fund investing; my approach has allowed my wife and me to retire at a fairly young age. Not counting an annuity we just bought, nearly all our investments are in mutual funds--stock, bond, and money market.

I don't mind paying an average of a point or so for a money manager to do the stock research and picking for me. Sure, they'll pick some losers along with the winners, but so would I--and so did I, when I tried directly investing in stocks.

Twice I've had stocks in my portfolio fall to zero. 100% losses, never recovered. That's never happened to me with a mutual fund. Biggest loss I took on a fund was maybe 60 percent back during Bush's Great Recession. That loss was realized when I locked in my loss by selling when it was down.

I study and pick mutual funds the way you do stocks, Ken. Keeps my attention for a while, which is remarkable, since it's only money, not a subject that's intrinsically interesting.

If you keep most of your assets in tax-deferred accounts, capital gains are not an issue. And with all the tax cuts, capital gains aren't the bite they once were.

Jim

Only the House votes on impeachment. It is like a grand jury indictment.

Only the senate holds a trial and votes to convict or not.

But even if the House votes to impeach and the Senate votes to convict, it is still possible for him to run for re-election. Only if the Senate ALSO votes to disqualify him does a question arise about re-election.

Did you hear that, Republicans? Wake up! If you would only nominate a decent man of whatever conservative principles--so long as he does have principles. Even give me Ted Cruise, over Orange Man or the Socialist gun-grabbers of the Democratic party.

Jim

Ken, I have a different view of mutual fund investing; my approach has allowed my wife and me to retire at a fairly young age. Not counting an annuity we just bought, nearly all our investments are in mutual funds--stock, bond, and money market.

I don't mind paying an average of a point or so for a money manager to do the stock research and picking for me. Sure, they'll pick some losers along with the winners, but so would I--and so did I, when I tried directly investing in stocks.

Twice I've had stocks in my portfolio fall to zero. 100% losses, never recovered. That's never happened to me with a mutual fund. Biggest loss I took on a fund was maybe 60 percent back during Bush's Great Recession. That loss was realized when I locked in my loss by selling when it was down.

I study and pick mutual funds the way you do stocks, Ken. Keeps my attention for a while, which is remarkable, since it's only money, not a subject that's intrinsically interesting.

If you keep most of your assets in tax-deferred accounts, capital gains are not an issue. And with all the tax cuts, capital gains aren't the bite they once were.

Jim
^ That is how I play the game also. I don't have the time or want to take the time to pick/play and follow each day as an investor. I don't want a FA or want to pay for one, so I have control over much of the decision making.

Absolutely right about the capital gains in a tax deferred account............but you can't write off any losses either.

I understand that a lot of people would rather hire professional management. That makes sense in some cases. I also think that with mutual funds it will take a longer time to achieve results than it does with single stocks.........as long as you choose wisely.

That really surprises me to hear you had two 100% losses. Thinking back I cam hard pressed to remember what those could have been. I remember ValuJet after the Everglades crash and Lehman Brothers. But there were a lot of small drillers who are still struggling due to low oil prices and of course Transocean after the Deep Water Horizon. Those types of companies have sure seen drastic reductions in their stock prices..

One hard & fast rule for me is NEVER invest in a stock under $10.00. Most that drop under $5 never recover

I could never support Rubio. EVER ! Cruz maybe but I think if Rubio was the nominee a Dem would win in a walk.

I like to micro invest in single stocks sometimes but it’s pennies. To me that’s basically gambling. In my world mutual funds are the only way to go for long term investing. I am not good at math and I don’t have time to thoroughly vet each stock. My hard earned money is too important, I can’t afford to risk picking a loser, so I pick mutual funds with 30 year or longer records that have averaged better than the S&P 500.

It’s a tortoise and hare situation to me. Single stocks can make you richer, faster, but you just might lose your butt. Mutual funds are slower generally but you have a professional that does nothing but pick funds all day every day. I’m a roustabout, an oilfield worker. I hire a professional to do my taxes, work on my cars, give my children medical care, etc. so why wouldn’t I want a professional picking my investments?

I am certainly not a fan of cruz, but I'd vote for him before giving another to trump.
Whtie, if Rubio were the rep in the race who would you vote for?

That makes sense to me Bob. Everyone's situation is different. If i was ever inclined to invest in a fund it would be an index or two.

But remember that you can make money regardless of which way the market moves,if you have the flexibility of calling your own shots. With a mutual fund you can't do that USUALLY....unless you buy into a short only or a long/short fund. And USUALLY the fees on those are even higher.

But the bottom line is you have to have the time and the interest to put in the work. Most people don't. Most people's eyes glaze over when reading a prospectus or a chart of probability distributions. I get it.

Tough question. I have no answer.

If if and buts were candy and nuts we'd all have a merry Christmas. Trump is the candidate unless he is impeached AND convicted.

Rubio would have never beaten Clinton and Cruz would have only stood a slightly better chance.

In this political climate one votes for the lesser of two evils, waiting for the perfect candidate means never voting again.

With today's new tax rules if married and filing jointly and your taxable income federally is below 75 K your capital gains tax are zero, yes zero and then 10% and a max of 15% while income tax is 12% then 22%.
Due to the major shift in the loss of personal exemptions and the raise to for elderly to 26,000 for itemized deductions that has changed our tax management considerably. We always had high itemized but not over 26K and when we lose the 8 K of personal exemptions we would pay more tax. Now we have a lot of our RMDs mailed directly to our charitable organizations and that helps keep our taxable below the 75K.

We are actually looking at re-characterizing our deferred accounts so we can pay more capital gains tax and not the 22% federal income tax. I don't know what will happen after the 7 years of this new personal tax law is done but I will take advantage of this while it is here. As one's deferred accounts grow there are tax benefits but one pays the federal and state rates on the gross amount as income and not capital gain from a tax perspective. We saved income taxes by buying those accounts and will pay income tax when withdrawn. With all the tax changes and other aspects I have found that we are on average a higher bracket retired than while working and that makes a large amount of deferred facing more tax and certainly for our children if they inherit any of that versus other assets. One gets a stepped up basis on death with non deferred assets, but not with deferred.

Bryce

USMCA needs to pass congress. It would be good for our businesses and our stock market

[quote=white17]



Only the House votes on impeachment. It is like a grand jury indictment.

Only the senate holds a trial and votes to convict or not.

But even if the House votes to impeach and the Senate votes to convict, it is still possible for him to run for re-election. Only if the Senate ALSO votes to disqualify him does a question arise about re-election.[/quote]

This part is incorrect. The constitution says "The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors." If he's convicted, he has to be removed from office, there is no other punishment. It also says "Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States; but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law. " So he could not run for re-election. But he could be tried in a regular criminal court.

Should someone get a mutual fund now or wait?
I'm thinking of getting a mutual fund but I'm a little nervous seeing a few things 1) if the potus is's impeached markets will take a big hit and 2) if any Democrat becomes the potus in 2021 there will be a recession. The market will fall fast.

It depends on how old you are. If you are young you might want to get in now.
I know a couple guys who kept talking about investing in some form since I started buying stocks. They still haven't done it. In the mean time my money has continued to grow and allowed me to retire a couple years early with everything I own being paid for.
Lots of folks decide to wait and never get around to it.