• Trouble logging in? Send us a message with your username and/or email address for help.
New posts

SHELLY

SoWal Insider
Jun 13, 2005
5,770
802
I say now is a good time to thank Shelly! I thank you for teaching me to never use the term, "now is a great time to buy." I also find myself smiling when I hear other people use it.

...an angel just got his wings!

I understand the RE markets are turning around faster in California than in Florida...good luck on your brighter future.

Shel.
 

Carol G

Beach Fanatic
Jan 15, 2007
1,933
220
Point Washington
Individual stocks SHOULD NOT be purchased by folks who:

don't have a 8-12 month emergency fund;

carry a monthly balance on their credit cards;
don't have adequate life/disability/medical insurance;
have a high-interest car loans;
don't have a fully-funded 401K/ROTH IRAs in broad market index funds;
don't have at least a 5-year horizon for the invested cash;
and don't have a slush fund to use for fun vacations, experiences and adventures with their families each year.

Even with the most conservative, dividend-paying blue chips, the risk is too high if you have all that other stuff hanging over your head. The way I look at investing in stocks (or any investment vehicle), with all the above elements in place--and after doing due diligence--I simply ask myself, "Can I afford to lose all this money and still maintain my lifestyle?" If the answer is "yes," then I'll pull the trigger.
.

Thank you SHELLY, for making me a bit less hapless. The above is the best simple investment advice I have ever heard, and I really wish somebody would have said it to me a long time ago. I think it also applies to buying a home. I listened to everyone else, spent everything I had and bought when it was "a good time to buy" (not for me!) and it is only through incredible luck and actually selling when NOTHING was selling that I am not now carrying huge debt. Starting over with nothing at midlife is difficult enough, digging myself out of a giant hole and then starting over would be too overwhelming for me to even fathom right now.
 

gmarc

Beach Fanatic
Jan 19, 2009
506
65
I would expect nothing less for you to have bought the lows in 2009 and bought before the exact bottom. many stocks went down 90%,the end of the world was here, and mr/mrs negative bought stocks? i say the chance of that are not 1% but ZER0.i promise you with your massive negativy if you actually ever have bought a stk in your life you would have scared out in days or you would actually have taken a 5% or less profit scared to death the mkt was going to zero. why i know your fibbing is i assure you no person as negative as you would ever hold stks up huge 1 1/2 yrs.Take it from a person who knows more in 1 finger about the market than you'll ever know. and your hero buffet
was going to wiped out if our dishonest gov't didn't pour trillions into the mkt
 
Last edited by a moderator:

SHELLY

SoWal Insider
Jun 13, 2005
5,770
802
I would expect nothing less for you to have bought the lows in 2009 and bought before the exact bottom. many stocks went down 90%,the end of the world was here, and mr/mrs negative bought stocks? i say the chance of that are not 1% but ZER0.i promise you with your massive negativy if you actually ever have bought a stk in your life you would have scared out in days or you would actually have taken a 5% or less profit scared to death the mkt was going to zero. why i know your fibbing is i assure you no person as negative as you would ever hold stks up huge 1 1/2 yrs.and your hero buffet
was going to wiped out if our dishonest gov't didn't pour trillions into the mkt

...my, my, my--thou doth protest too much.

Take it from a person who knows more in 1 finger about the market than you'll ever know.

And from the vibe I'm getting from your post, I can guess with 100% accuracy which finger that is.



.
 

SHELLY

SoWal Insider
Jun 13, 2005
5,770
802
Thank you SHELLY, for making me a bit less hapless. The above is the best simple investment advice I have ever heard, and I really wish somebody would have said it to me a long time ago. I think it also applies to buying a home. I listened to everyone else, spent everything I had and bought when it was "a good time to buy" (not for me!) and it is only through incredible luck and actually selling when NOTHING was selling that I am not now carrying huge debt. Starting over with nothing at midlife is difficult enough, digging myself out of a giant hole and then starting over would be too overwhelming for me to even fathom right now.

I saw too many good folks get crushed financially during the RE frenzy (even though I tried my darnedest to convince them to slow down and think things through). Their only mistake was putting all their trust into people who passed themselves as "consummate professionals" in their fields (some Realtors, Mortgage Brokers and others of their ilk) when in reality these "pros" were run-of-the-mill commissioned salespeople who have no fiduciary responsibilities to their clients whatsoever--think car salesmen.

I'm so glad you were able to get out with your finances still intact and are alert to the folly of the salesmen's siren song of "Now is a Great Time To Buy."

.

.
 

ASH

Beach Fanatic
Feb 4, 2008
2,156
443
Roosevelt, MN
Shelly, you have my permission (not that you needed it) to keep talking sense in these doom and gloom days we live in from an investment perspective. I've personally made changes to my own $$ based on things you've said with positive results.

There are those who would prefer to shut you down because their own financial stability is based on people being duped into buying something they don't really need, can't really afford and certainly don't understand.

Convincing people to spend money they don't have on anything in the hopes that it will soon increase in value is not how you fix this economy. Solid jobs, American jobs creating things you can actually hold in your hands is what will get this economy moving.
 

SHELLY

SoWal Insider
Jun 13, 2005
5,770
802
Shelly, you have my permission (not that you needed it) to keep talking sense in these doom and gloom days we live in from an investment perspective. I've personally made changes to my own $$ based on things you've said with positive results.

Well bless your heart, I'm all verklempt.

Convincing people to spend money they don't have on anything in the hopes that it will soon increase in value is not how you fix this economy. Solid jobs, American jobs creating things you can actually hold in your hands is what will get this economy moving.

As much as I would love to see more manufacturing come back to the US, I'm not going to hold my breath. I treasure the stuff I still own that says "Made in the USA" (a Bostitch stapler, a set of Revere cookware, some dishes, flatware, a US flag, to name a few) mostly because they're quality stuff that after several decades of use haven't broken, unraveled or fallen apart like the cheap Chinese junk they're cranking out today.
 
Last edited:

Chip and Dale

Beach Lover
Jun 7, 2006
52
7
WaterColor
Shelly-

Why do you keep referring to them as hapless buyers?

Psych 101 was a long time ago, but I think it's called psychological projection.

Just like the recurring St. Joe stock theme ... I'm thinking s-he probably owned just "a little".
 

SHELLY

SoWal Insider
Jun 13, 2005
5,770
802
Psych 101 was a long time ago, but I think it's called psychological projection.

While you were in Psych 101 class trying to guess what goes on in peoples' minds, I was in Finance and Economics classes learning stuff that really matters--like GCT + SS ≠ $$$^5.
 
Last edited:
New posts


Sign Up for SoWal Newsletter