Any referrals for basic investing. (bond, E-Trade, mutual funds, credit card)

[malex227]

I am 48, some savings, most of which I lost in stock because I did not have a balanced portfolio.

I am not working, but I don't want to touch the little bit I have.
Any input as to what balance I should have in
stocks,
bonds,
bank accounts.

Also, any input on how to manage what I have with books and/or websites.
Thanks

[StealthRabbit]

I have been impressed with these investment sites for free information:
Bogleheads Investing Advice and Info
Fool.com: Stock Investing Advice | Stock Research
INO.com - The Web Center for Stock, Futures, and Options Traders. Commodity Prices, Charts, Stock Quotes, Equities, Mutual Funds, Precious Metals, FOREX
Stock Market News, Opinion & Analysis, Investing Ideas -- Seeking Alpha
Balanced ETF Portfolio

Also Fidelity and Vanguard sites

Read the recommended list at BobBrinker + when / if you are ready to pay, consider eIBD. (pretty stock specific, but good financial reporting and a list of rules you can learn, then modify to suit your success)

Get a plan and stick with it; or have a good reason for changing. Don't listen to every joker, and always be learning.

[Teak]

A balanced portfolio means more than just your mix of stocks. It should also include things that are not as closely correlated to the stock market. Example,

Real Estate (house, land, for living or speculation)
Bonds -Emerging market, U.S. Treasuries, U.S. corporate
Commodities - hardest to invest in directly; some ETF's (exchange-traded funds) can be used
Gold/Silver - physical possession or else through an ETF
Foreign Stocks (through ETFs or closed-end funds)

For stocks, you should look at the various sectors and choose one or two that best reflect that sector, meaning that they are the #1 or #2 company within that sector. Sector ETFs can also be used, but will include the losers with the winners.

Sectors
-------
Energy (oil, gas, electric generation, pipelines: e.g., CVX, ENB)
Consumer staples (what we need to buy every week: PG, CLX, KMB, MO, PM)
Consumer discretionary (what we rarely buy -TVs, cars, etc.-: F)
Pharmaceuticals (drug producers & medical devices: MRK, ABT, JNJ)
Industrials (very broad category, but basically industrial equipment: GE, KMT, PH, ETN, EMR)
Agriculture (fertilizers, seeds, chemicals, aggregators: ADM, MON, POT, DD)
Financial Services (banks & others of their ilk: C, USB, BOA)
Technology (also broad, includes computer services, telecommunications, etc: T, VZ, MSFT, HRS)
Foreign stocks (e.g., EWZ for Brazil, TDF for China, IFN for India, etc.)
Bonds (best to use bond funds or ETFs)

There are many other sectors, but these are the major ones that come to mind. Studies have shown that picking the correct sector may be more important than the correct stock within a sector. But, since you want to take a long-term approach, all sectors will eventually go up and down, so pick the winners from each of several sectors and go with that.

With such a mix (except that I hold no gold, silver, or consumer discretionary), my portfolio has weathered the past year quite well. I am UP overall since last October, when the market began to go DOWN, and has yet to recover to that level. Yes, you read right, I am UP overall since that time. Dividend-paying stocks work wonders for stabilization of portfolios. And it helps to be in it for the long haul. Time invested is the most important metric to successful investing.

Best book (and I have read most) is: The Future for Investors by Jeremy Siegel. It summarises about 100 years of research into stock market returns. It is NOT a collection of anecdotes which is what a lot of books end up being.

The #1 returning stock over the past several decades? Altria (MO: formerly the Philip Morris Company). Maker of cigarettes. Addiction pays those who invest in it, but do not partake.

[BucFan]

Make sure you can pay all your credit cards, bills before you start to invest (possibly lose) money in any risky market (mutual funds, stocks, etc).

From your brief post, it appears you may be the last person to be considering stock market investing.

Get a job, establish a reserve fund for emergencies, then consider dollar cost averaging into stocks of your choice of a index fund.

[Teak]

Here is a good analysis about the current market by Dr. Jeremy Siegel. It is an analysis based upon data and the historical record. It is NOT a telling of anecdotes as what some other sites pass off as investment advice.

Yahoo! Personal Finance: Calculators,Money Advice,Guides,& More

Of course, one does well to take into account several opinions and analyses before making investment decisions.

[Texas User]

Originally Posted by BucFan

Make sure you can pay all your credit cards, bills before you start to invest (possibly lose) money in any risky market (mutual funds, stocks, etc).

From your brief post, it appears you may be the last person to be considering stock market investing.

Get a job, establish a reserve fund for emergencies, then consider dollar cost averaging into stocks of your choice of a index fund.

You can do both at thes same. This depends on the interest one is paying the CC vs the Profit on the investments.

[lumbollo]

Originally Posted by Texas User

You can do both at thes same. This depends on the interest one is paying the CC vs the Profit on the investments.

No doubt, but this kind of advice ranks up there with hiding in caves because of the potential of getting hit by a meteor. For the vast vast vast majority of people, their number one priority to any investing plan is to first get rid of the credit card debt. If you run a balance on a credit card, the, banks have a legal license to rob you like loan sharks and they will take as much advantage of you as they can.

In the case of the OP and anyone else reading this, you should work towards the goal of having no debt a early as you can in your life after paying for a place to live. Do this, and your options for getting ahead are endless.

[tortoise]

Morningstar

[smilinpretty]

My head is spinning right now. I read one financial article and the next financial article disputes that. So many experts, so much advice. Thus far, I receiving 3.5 percent on our money. I am even with inflation.

=

[tortoise]

Originally Posted by smilinpretty

I read one financial article and the next financial article disputes that.

Those seeking "consensus" and lacking analysis comprehension should probably avoid investing and stick with savings accounts . . accepting the lower returns as a trade-off for not putting the principal at risk.