biga27110

Hi guys,

I just opened a td ameritrade account with 500 dollars i want to start investing. I started with a small amount of money as i know there is a learning curve.

I know you have to learn to play stocks, however, i think i read there is something like an index fund or mutual fund or something. I would like to start dumping good amount of money in that since i i think its low risk low return.

What or where do i find these funds to invest

thanks guys i know its a really broad noob question but i need some guidance.
or should i stick with a CD

WyattH

Forget the CD.
In this game, it takes money to make money. So You can't expect much with only $500 invested. Even if you get a return of 15% - - whoop D, you made 75$. Which is then about $55 after your commissions, assuming you dont diversify at all.

A CD might not be a bad idea now, until you can gather a few more dollars to invest with. There is a load of information at your fingertips. Have fun.

IcebergS2000

Well I am pretty new myself and have yet to open an account... First off I suggest that you pick up some books on investing, I am currently reading Investing for Dummies and find it interesting. It will really help with understanding the jargon. Once you have read some books, look through some investing webpages such as money.cnn.com or www.thestreet.com also www.fool.com might also want to look at www.bloomberg.com

That way when people more knowledgeable than myself give some advice you can can understand the "why" they are giving it Good luck!!!

bat711

I would start with Morningstar I'm not sure what kind of research your account provides you with. I also like to check out Kiplinger.

People will say you need more money to make it worth your while, but if you are just buying and holding a fund and dumping money into it on a regular basis you would be OK.

I would recommend looking at no-load funds and ones with minimal fees. Index funds that you mentioned are right up this alley.

biga27110

thanks for all the info guys. The thing is i have a lot of money to invest. Problem is i dont know what im doing so i only deposited 500 to see how it works.

so whats a good index fund lol. Ima pick up those books u guys suggested today

bat711

I'm weighted towards international funds. An example is Vanguard's Total International Stock Index (ticker: VGTSX). Diversified, good performance, and very low expenses (.32%). One caveat is that international funds will have more risk.

cthree

You seem to have the cart in front of the horse. You've opened an account at a self-serve online broker yet you don't seem interested in taking any risk. I'm not clear on what it is you actually want to do both for yourself as an investor and as a return for your money.

You should probably speak with a financial advisor who can understand your financial situation and give you a range of options. I wouldn't blindly invest in a particular type of asset unless you are sure that's what you want to do and you understand the risks and rewards involved.

biga27110

im all about high risk high return at this point as long as i know what im doing because im only 22..

Im a gambling man i win and lose a lot of money so high risk in stock is nothing like putting a couple grand on golden state to ruin me in the 4th quarter

TestaRossa

since you're starting with 500, i suggest u start with stock, mutual fund is not a bad field but it grow way slower than stocks(but still way better than CDs).
well that's my personal opinion, coz i'm facing the same situation, even the same amount of money to play with .

philbert

what is "a lot" in this case? is this money just sitting in a checking/savings account at the moment?

i second the earlier recomendation to look at index funds, or other low-cost mutal funds. since you're 22, you have a very long time horizon to let compounding work for you. what may seem like a relatively small return today will turn out to be extremely large when it happens over and over again over the course of decades.

there's a difference between investing and gambling. at your age, you want to dedicate the bulk of your portfolio to investing, which is to say, make sound long-term oriented purchases of funds, and perhaps even some individual stocks, that will, over the long term, deliver a reasonable rate of return with low risk. consider the portion you dedicate to gambling, or short term trading of individual stocks, exchange traded funds, commodities, etc. as play money; that which you are prepared to lose.

depending on the answer to my first question, you may just want to visit a fee-based financial advisor, to have a basic strategy laid out. once you have that framework, you can manage your portfolio yourself, avoiding paying an annual % of your assets to someone to manage it for you. over those decades you're investing, the 1%+ you pay away to a broker/advisor could amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost earning potential.

cheers,
phil