Fell on ice today - we're having the coldest spell in Ireland in nearly the last 30 years - it's going to be minus 10 celsius tonight which is very very unusual.
Anyways my right wrist had a dull ache after the fall - now (8 hours later) it is throbbing - go figure ! Hope it's better tomorrow !
My latest financial musings concern my debt-free budget in April: Should I fully fund my Emergency/Opportunity fund first and then invest in the Stock Market or should I do both at once ?
If I do both at once, I can invest in ETFs sooner rather than later and give them that extra year to grow (magic of compound growth).
If I throw all my resources at the Opportunity fund it will obviously be funded sooner - I'm aiming to save 15,000 in a high-interest secure Deposit account.
My knowledge of the Stock Market is not satisfactory and if I build up Deposit account first, then I will have a year or so to learn before I start buying the ETFs.
I was thinking about seeing a Financial Advisor but I've read several poor reviews of these guys and a lot of people recommending educating yourself and making your own decisions.
What do you think ?
One-handed typing
January 1st, 2010 at 11:31 pm
January 1st, 2010 at 11:54 pm 1262390076
I'm similarly torn about financial planning. How do you know you're getting good advice just because someone calls themself an expert? On the other hand, there's so much I don't know that a true expert could help me with (but who to trust?).
See how much you can learn before April, and then if you feel a bit more educated, go ahead and do 25% to stock market/75% to savings, or some such split. If you still don't feel ready, 100% to savings until you do.
I keep putting off really paying attention to investing because paying down debt is so pressing, but I'm not getting any younger, despite my fervent wishes, so I've got to deal with it soon!
January 2nd, 2010 at 12:38 am 1262392726
I will try to educate myself before April.. I'm planning to invest in ETFs as opposed to individual stocks so I really just need to pick out say 3/4 ETFs and split my monthly contributions among them.
Saw a Youtube video of Charlie Munger (VP of Bekshire Hathaway) giving his 4 simple rules of investing - he said the reason why colleges don't just teach the simple correct way to investing is that they wouldn't be able to fill a semester with it. He makes it sound so easy ! lol
January 2nd, 2010 at 07:04 pm 1262459075
Educate yourself, definitely!
January 31st, 2010 at 09:21 pm 1264972862
Jerry