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Over the years I have saved over a few thousand dollars but the money is sitting in my checking account i.e. the money is not growing at all, its a lazy asset :-( I could put the money in the savings account but the APY on that is really low these days and I don't like money markets much. I have tried investing $8K with Vanguard LifeStrategy Conservative fund but it's almost like investing in bonds (mostly) and the money has grown really slowly over the past few months. The stock market is really shaky and investing in stocks can potentially be extremely risky given the market and global conditions. I am not even thinking of investing in options- that's crazy.
1) I want to know where's the best place to invest that diversifies my funds at a low cost to me without much risk (Vanguard is one I have already invested but looking for more options). I have looked at Betterment, Wealthfront, Personal Capital (ruled out since they require a minimum of 100K investment) and Vanguard. When I started researching, it seemed to me that Vanguard was the best given their low fees and better returns than bonds or savings account. But the returns are low with Vanguard than a lot of other investment vehicle. Betterment is nice too as they periodically re-balance but they are untested, new and mirror mutual funds like Vanguard LifeStrategy funds in terms of simplicity albeit at a higher management fees. I have read reviews regarding Wealthfront and it seems they offer nothing new. What is your opinion regarding all these new investment vehicles?
2) What is the best place to invest so that I can hedge against inflation, invest in commodities and provide the international exposure my investment and diversification needed by my investment?
3) I want to also diversify by investing in the real estate market. What is the best place to look for real-estate investment?
4) Where can I get more information and opinions about personal investment? I want to read reviews, opinions and people's experience.
1. Vanguard offers many different funds. You could switch the money that is in your current fund into a different one that satisfies your risk reward appetites.
2. There is no best "place" to invest to hedge against inflation. You want to diversify to hedge against inflation, deflation, market swings, etc.
3. You can throw some money into a REIT. Unless you have a lot of money, RE isn't something you can invest in yourself because you need enough money to buy RE.
4. The internet. WSJ, YahooMoney, investopedia, etc. The only downside is there are thousands of "experts" out there, but most of them don't know what they are talking about.
When you complain about your fund growing slowly over the past few months, well that tells me you're very impatient. That fund is up 4.32% year to date as of 4/25. That is a decent rate of return for a 5 month period.
I will say, however, that a better Vanguard fund that has a similar investment objective as the Conservative LifeStrategy fund would be Vanguard Wellesley Income. The returns for Wellesley Income are more than a percentage point better in both short and long time periods. It's up 5.49% as of 4/25. It has beat out the LifeStrategy fund by almost 2 percentage points over the last 15 years. Those extra percentage points really adds up to a lot over that length of time!
1) Vanguard and Fidelity are probably your best options. You seem to have a stock mindset though. Your returns so far are great for these kinds of investments. If you want higher gains, you'll need to take more risk.
2) Gold is generally a good place to invest if you are worried about inflation. The key to limiting risk would be diversification.
3) You don't have enough money to buy your own real estate. You might want to try something such as WRI, which owns and leases out commercial real estate with anchor stores.
4) I find most of my research by googling. For example, you can type, "best REIT to own" and you'll come across top five with the author's reasonings and if something sounds good, you can research that specific "thing".
1) Vanguard and Fidelity are probably your best options. You seem to have a stock mindset though. Your returns so far are great for these kinds of investments. If you want higher gains, you'll need to take more risk.
2) Gold is generally a good place to invest if you are worried about inflation. The key to limiting risk would be diversification.
3) You don't have enough money to buy your own real estate. You might want to try something such as WRI, which owns and leases out commercial real estate with anchor stores.
4) I find most of my research by googling. For example, you can type, "best REIT to own" and you'll come across top five with the author's reasonings and if something sounds good, you can research that specific "thing".
This is a short and simple explanation of an ETF. They basically attempt to replicate their index's performance, rather than trying to beat it. GLD tries to replicate the price of the gold bullion. An ETF is more simple than many other instruments because it is traded like a stock.
GLD (SPDR Gold Shares): The investment seeks to replicate the performance, net of expenses, of the price of gold bullion. The trust holds gold, and is expected to issue baskets in exchange for deposits of gold, and to distribute gold in connection with redemption of baskets. The gold held by the trust will only be sold on an as-needed basis to pay trust expenses, in the event the trust terminates and liquidates its assets, or as otherwise required by law or regulation. (Yahoo Finance)
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