Thinking About Investing

[amastewa93]

My grandfather was a big investor. There was nothing he loved to do more than to watch his stock rise (and sometimes fall). His wife, my Meemaw, also enjoys the stock market and has stock in Disney. She always talks about how great the stock is and I've been thinking about buying into Disney myself, especially before the release of the new "Star Wars" movie.

Is this a good idea? You can "pull out" of the stock market any time you want, right?

[rennigade]

What does your heart tell you? You must believe.

[feh]

My grandfather was a big investor. There was nothing he loved to do more than to watch his stock rise (and sometimes fall). His wife, my Meemaw, also enjoys the stock market and has stock in Disney. She always talks about how great the stock is and I've been thinking about buying into Disney myself, especially before the release of the new "Star Wars" movie.

Is this a good idea? You can "pull out" of the stock market any time you want, right?

Before investing, make sure your personal finances are in order. Click on the link in my signature for further information.

If your personal finances are in good shape, start learning about investing here: https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Bogl...g_start-up_kit

[amastewa93]

Thanks for your help. I guess I will wait until after student loans are completely paid off to start investing in companies, though I was excited about possibilities with investing in Disney.

[Jluke]

Thanks for your help. I guess I will wait until after student loans are completely paid off to start investing in companies, though I was excited about possibilities with investing in Disney.

So invest $1000 to start, then do automatic buys at say $50-100 per month (or whatever $ amount/timeframe you're comfortable with) and don't look at it for 10 years...

[Drake3287]

I'm also a Disney stock holder and I've made over 400% since I bought it. Right or wrong I tend to buy stock in products/services that I like, use and will be around for ever. Starbucks is another one, up almost 300%.

As for most stock investors, you have to be prepared for the long term investment and not get scared when things go south. I also don't put all my money in the market.

[amastewa93]

Thank you for the information. I am thinking about the recurring payments monthly into the stock. Disney is a great stock to have I think and is truly a brand that I believe in. I think I may go ahead and buy stock in it.

[Drake3287]

I'm certainly no one to give stock advice but Disney is certainly a low risk, sold stock and of course Star Wars is only going to help down the road.

My two daughters are also at Disneyland today so I'm guessing my stock will get a little boost today!

[feh]

Thank you for the information. I am thinking about the recurring payments monthly into the stock. Disney is a great stock to have I think and is truly a brand that I believe in. I think I may go ahead and buy stock in it.

Don't buy stock in individual companies, especially if you are new to investing.

Please read the page I pointed you to above.

[amastewa93]

Is buying stock in an individual company that bad?

[feh]

Is buying stock in an individual company that bad?

Please read the page I provided. If you have questions after spending some time educating yourself, come back and ask them.

[creditcardfree]

It's not bad, just riskier. All your money in one basket so to speak. Mutual funds are a collection of company stocks thus your investment and risk spread across many companies.

[Jluke]

Is buying stock in an individual company that bad?

Absolutely not. The caution about investing in individual stocks is real, but do not set yourself up to experience a huge loss if things go south for any one company. You have to be prepared to ride the highs and lows.

Assuming that you have a 401k, you are already investing in index/mutual type funds already with probably no opportunity to pick/choose individual stocks.

So why not buy a company or two outside of your 401k in a ROTH (preferred) or a taxable account?

The mindset has to be that whatever you invest could be lost. I usually do $750 to $1000 as initial investments, and will add to my position when desired at $300 per buy. The dollar cost averaging and low amount will not hurt me if I lose it.

I have ETFs (SPY, IYE, VTI, VYM, etc), individual stocks and a mutual fund outside of my 401k.

My best performers are the individual stocks - GOOG, GOOGL, AAPL, SIRI, even IBM. They blow away the ETFs, and I rode SIRI from $4 in 2004 down to $0.05 and now back to $4 - just wish I had added more sub $1.

The risk is real, but so are the rewards. Proceed cautiously but don't rule out individual stocks entirely.

[amastewa93]

I definitely understand that there are huge risks in taking stock in any company. I watched my grandfather lose a ton of money through stocks, but he also gained a lot. It is obviously something you've got to be able to stick out.

[Jody Lynn]

I am hesitant to begin with, even until this moment. I just thought if I do not start, my potential earnings would not start as well.