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Posted: 3/12/2024 8:54:16 AM EDT
I manage my own 401k and 2 roths, and am familiar with "some" investing.
I have a fidelity account and want to try stocks. This is just to start tinkering with, no large amounts of money, if I lose a few hundred bucks screwing up it's cool. Any practical advice is appreciated. Thanks |
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"I got this. We'll skip the dicks" DK-Prof 12/7/21
Fuck sugar |
Here are a couple of good educational sites with basic investing information. A little reading will help you know what you’re doing.
https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/ https://www.fool.com/ |
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Originally Posted By SideCarGT: Here are a couple of good educational sites with basic investing information. A little reading will help you know what you’re doing. https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/ https://www.fool.com/ View Quote Thanks |
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"I got this. We'll skip the dicks" DK-Prof 12/7/21
Fuck sugar |
I mess around with my taxable account a bit. Most of it is in boring stuff and about 30% is in cash or riskier stocks.
Its really hard to beat the S&P 500. |
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"What have you given us Mr. Franklin?" "A Republic, if you can keep it."
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At fidelity you can select your "core position" which is where any cash balance is kept. You want your core position to be spaxx which is fidelity's money market fund that is paying about 5%. Other options pay less.
You can set each account differently, so make sure you set it for all your accounts. What/how to invest is an awfully large topic and people make careers on it. If you're decades from retirement a good starting point is low fee index funds. |
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Thanks guys.
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"I got this. We'll skip the dicks" DK-Prof 12/7/21
Fuck sugar |
I'm in the same situation as OP.
I started a Fidelity account and bought a couple stocks, but since then and after reading and reading and more reading, I bought the S&P 500 index and some US Treasuries. Been keeping all my emergency cash in money market fund SPAXX, but switched it to FDLXX since my state has income tax (Land of 10,000 Taxes is what I call it, not Land of 10,000 Lakes) As far as index funds, is a mutual fund or a ETF better for a brokerage account? Aren't ETF's a little more tax efficient? |
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Use the watchlist feature to track things you didnt buy. I've not used Fidelity but I assume it's got the same features as the competitor that I use.
You choose securities and enter a realistic amount that you might have purchased. It'll track that list as if it's an active portfolio so you can see how your choices are doing. That way you'll know you should have bought NVDA when you added on 1/24/23 that went up 400% since then |
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Originally Posted By DV8EDD: Use the watchlist feature to track things you didnt buy. I've not used Fidelity but I assume it's got the same features as the competitor that I use. You choose securities and enter a realistic amount that you might have purchased. It'll track that list as if it's an active portfolio so you can see how your choices are doing. That way you'll know you should have bought NVDA when you added on 1/24/23 that went up 400% since then View Quote |
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"I got this. We'll skip the dicks" DK-Prof 12/7/21
Fuck sugar |
Originally Posted By Kanin: I'm in the same situation as OP. I started a Fidelity account and bought a couple stocks, but since then and after reading and reading and more reading, I bought the S&P 500 index and some US Treasuries. Been keeping all my emergency cash in money market fund SPAXX, but switched it to FDLXX since my state has income tax (Land of 10,000 Taxes is what I call it, not Land of 10,000 Lakes) As far as index funds, is a mutual fund or a ETF better for a brokerage account? Aren't ETF's a little more tax efficient? View Quote typically fees will be a bit higher with MF since they are actively managed. ETFs tend to track indexes. MFs are priced at the end of the day where ETFs trade like stock so you get the price in the moment. There are capital gains benefits to ETFs over MFs as well. I have some of both, not sure enough to realize any huge benefits of one over the other honestly. Some of the usual ETFs you see posted in this forum might be a good place to start. |
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Originally Posted By rtlm: View Quote l I know lol. My watchlist is at 85% gain right now. Some items in there I did buy, other I did not. I started watching NVDA, SOXX and QCOM closely when I was building a PC and needed a GPU. yikes. I ended up with a little QCOM which is up about 30% since purchase. Both SOXX and NVDA went wild, Can't win them all. |
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Originally Posted By Kanin: Been keeping all my emergency cash in money market fund SPAXX, but switched it to FDLXX since my state has income tax View Quote I recant my post. Are you saying FDLXX interest is not subject to state tax just like treasury bills? ETA: I checked spaxx, it says it's about 60% in treasuries but all the interest it pays is taxable. |
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Originally Posted By Morgan321: I recant my post. Are you saying FDLXX interest is not subject to state tax just like treasury bills? ETA: I checked spaxx, it says it's about 60% in treasuries but all the interest it pays is taxable. View Quote According to Fidelity's report, 2023 Percentage of Income from US Government Securities FDLXX is 90.39% |
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My one piece of advice would be to always self-reflect, and never think you know more than you actually do.
My greatest failures financially originated in a pious conception that I knew more than I actually did. It was false confidence, and I could not see my way out of it in the moment. Constantly seek mentoring, and always second guess yourself. Choose mentors wisely. If you are ever going with your gut, that means you are speculating. Don't let the doomers infect your methodology. |
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Originally Posted By FALARAK: My one piece of advice would be to always self-reflect, and never think you know more than you actually do. My greatest failures financially originated in a pious conception that I knew more than I actually did. It was false confidence, and I could not see my way out of it in the moment. Constantly seek mentoring, and always second guess yourself. Choose mentors wisely. If you are ever going with your gut, that means you are speculating. Don't let the doomers infect your methodology. View Quote Good info. I will admit that picking stocks is nothing that I know anything about. Got a bit overwhelmed while shopping, so just bought into some funds I resesrched. |
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"I got this. We'll skip the dicks" DK-Prof 12/7/21
Fuck sugar |
Originally Posted By rtlm: This is just to start tinkering with, no large amounts of money, if I lose a few hundred bucks screwing up it's cool. View Quote Based on the above, strongly suggest you avoid https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/ If you attempt to deviate from the 3 Fund portfolio you better watch out. Most of the replies will be related to "Why??!!!?!?!?!?!?" "You can't beat the market" "Why waste money" "Put it in an index fund you idiot." But feel free to post anyway. Just let us know how it goes. |
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I can't think of anything to say. Nada, zip, nothing.
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Originally Posted By rtlm: I manage my own 401k and 2 roths, and am familiar with "some" investing. I have a fidelity account and want to try stocks. This is just to start tinkering with, no large amounts of money, if I lose a few hundred bucks screwing up it's cool. Any practical advice is appreciated. Thanks View Quote I have Fidelity 401k for my current job. The fund selection is limited, but the "US Growth" has been very good and fees are low. Learn as much as you can about the options in your plan. You may be able to use Brokeragelink to buy whatever your heart desires. Word of warning, navigating fidelity after you enable Brokeragelink is tedious and confusing. |
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Proud millennial.
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