More than half of Americans have less than $1000 in savings

a reply to: Ansuzrune

Savings accounts in some banks actually cost you money to keep it there.

Many people have a similar reply but I think the point of the article is that -

MOST PEOPLE ARE BROKE !

.. regardless of what sort of account it is in.

I highly doubt a person with less than $1000 in savings (not meaning savings account but - savings; can be in a checking account) have investments or anything else.

a reply to: nOraKat

Is most people being broke in this day and age kind of like how the drug war was acceptable to ruin inner cities, but only became a problem when it affected the middle class? That's the way I see it... nobody seemed to mind that the poor were suffering from these hardships decade after decade, but are seemingly quite upset about it now that it bled into the middle class' homes.

People typing about investments are simply trying to offer different paths to combat the separation of wealth... it has little to nothing to do with the actual value of savings. People can be good people all they want, but it doesn't offset what the super rich are clearly doing... slowly letting poor financial educations off themselves over a few generations.

Part of learning to invest is learning how to stand up to the 1%... teaching our kids that they may not have it now, but with hard work and determination, they too can see their way out of poor financial health. Part of getting to that level is stopping the bickering about what isn't in the pockets now, and get our butts to work learning this stuff.

Complainers rarely move forward, because their stuck in current dilemmas. Successful people don't stop to whine and complain, they decide, act on it, and move forward. It's really up to us as individuals to determine if we want to move or stay still. The article is about what isn't current... the people stuck within that dilemma have been left behind... it's a dog eat dog world. Take the step to invest in ourselves first and foremost, and the savings moves forward on its own. The people that invested see the article as a thing of the past at most... there's not enough time to heal the unwilling and wounded.

a reply to: ttobban

So where is a good place to invest?

originally posted by: nOraKat
a reply to: ttobban

So where is a good place to invest?

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Long story short, diversify with a mix of stocks and bonds and get a fiduciary. Stay away from actively managed accounts, index funds have lower fees and higher returns.

a reply to: nOraKat

Personally, I like dividends... and re-enroll them to the investment. Currently, one of my favorites is Arlington Asset Investment Corp. It hold a current 18.66% dividend, it trades for $12 a share, and it's in the low range of the 52 week average. The stock could drop $2.00 over the year, and you'd still earn at least something. The goal is to finish the year out with upwards of 30%.

There's a few others I like too, Toyota Motors being one, but its really about the journey of learning to save what we can now, to allow for us to buy what we want later. Without savings, it becomes a game of it being a necessity to save all we can as we spend... moving the savings back to the 1%. In the end, it's about learning to dance in the rain... not about trying to doge rain drops.

For me, I started with a few shares, learned that it's like learning a new language, and it's a very handy language to know as the economy operates on derivatives. Everyone is hedging bets... but there needs to be at least a few bucks in the game to learn. The learning of it all became more interesting than I first thought, and it naturally caused me to devote more energy and earnings towards it.

Any advice here that gets someone adding at least a dollar towards savings is good advice. Patience is the key. There's a Tony Robbins interview on the 1st couple pages on here... explaining how a man who never made more than 14k a year, saved 20% of his earnings because someone convinced him that we'd all make do if taxes were increased 20%... it would suck, would we would adapt. That settled in with that man enough to commit to 20% savings, and the savings grew to $70,000,000. Just amazing what the power of compounding interest provides.

This stuff has become a hobby of mine, and I would love to hear about people stories getting into investing in their selves. A Eutopia of this generation, in my mind, is one where poor people learn the tricks of the rich trade and match their wits and turn around and robin hood it right back to the people.

Speaking of Robin Hood... download the Robin Hood app. I'd strongly advise to trade their if possible. They offer FREE trades, where most brokers charge around $7 per trade. 0% fees means you can buy singles shares at a time, little by little, and not have to worry about it costing $7-15 to buy and sell a trade.

Last week for instance, I had a penny stock that had an impulse day... it jumped up 38% in one day. I got rid of them... let the impulse wave on the chart consolidate, and I bought back in when it settled down. The loss limits are set automatically. Say there's a 1,000 shares at $8.00 held. Say it jumps up to $10.00 for a day. It's not going to stay there, but there was a decent jump in percentage of what it was bought for. Ok, so I would cash that out at $10.00 and wait. When that consolidates, say it comes back down to $8.00 again. Well, I get right back in with the full $10,000. You can then buy 1,250 shares with that $10,000, and be right where you were just days prior. The stock can then go down 20% over the next few months when (not if), and there's still nothing to worry about. As long as the gains surpass the tax ramifications of the gain and the fees, I swing trade like explained. There's been a few occasions where the money increased upwards of 200-300% in a single day of magic. Getting just 2 or 3 days of trading like that change change someone's savings scenario pretty damn quickly once the language is learned. A few of those days per year also allow for quite a number of bad guesses at certain stocks... the end goal being to not get emotional about it, and learning to be settled when things get tense, much like race care drivers race at 200 MPH, but barely have an elevated heart rate... they are comfy in the arena is all.

I still always advise people to invest in themselves before anything else...

There's also stock market simulators and competitions that allow you to trade virtual currency against the live market like www.wallstreetsurvivor.com. They are actually more fun than a lot of non educational games I find!

a reply to: ttobban

There are quite a few checking and savings account offers that will give you $50 to $500 for just opening new accounts.
There are offers that will even fit an investment of less than $1000.
These are FDIC insured accounts so you can't lose if you follow the offer rules.

The statistics for male day traders who try to make money in the markets indicates that about 96.5% fail within a year.
That means 3.5% can make a consistent living off the others losses.
Some of the brokerages are offering $200 or free trades for a 90 day investment.

With the new T+2 settlement rules and a $25,000 balance you can day trade without restriction. There is about a 99% chance you can beat bank interest maybe more if you are female. Even if we had a down market in stocks for several months that completely negated dividends there are a lot of commodity and bear market ETF's that could be utilized. Gambling during periods of high volatility requires close monitoring for a self directed account.

Of course you might do better in the casino if you have a mentor?

a reply to: Cauliflower

Great clip and info! One of my favorite movies too! Yes, I am all about odd but limited loss investments. Canada is about to fully legalize cannabis and hemp production in June, and there's billions of dollars of funding flying north of the border right now. I am very much right there with it... as I see it as nearly impossible for the industry to go anywhere but up.

Check out Aurora Cannabis (ACBFF)... see what kind of gains are there. I also hit a good one on Rand Logistics the other week (RLOG).

Great advice on credit cards though... I use that too. I got a $70 check to get a 5% cash back at amazon card... 2% restaurant/gas, and 1% all else. I pay EVERYTHING through that card now, and clear the balance each month... making it to where I get paid to use a credit card.

Yes, when it all craps out, I flip to shorting. I trade charts only... rarely companies beyond stable grabs. I will day trade it if I am right, and swing trade it sometimes up to a few months if I picked it at a stall. One of those falls off a cliff, there's plenty more feelers out there to keep the ship stable.

I'm also the type that when buying a property, will 1st pay to get my real estate license and study for the license. Buying agents get a 2-3% commission on a close, which ends up being one self. A few hundred dollars and some time spent can gain a few thousand dollars of value on a buy. Or let acrage sit unused. I'd plant black walnut trees, wait 25 years for that lumber, harvest walnuts off them for the years in between, and grow mushrooms under the rows of shade they provide. 100 black walnut trees on a plot with about a $4,000-$5,000 bid on mature lumber... that's about $400,000 return on investment if trees make it to maturity... not including walnut harvests... from planting some seeds into Mother Earth!

a reply to: ttobban

Coffee futures have been sliding for months, I bought a 48 ounce can at Wally world for $8.48 which should last the winter.
Even just that can turn financial trading into a dangerous proposition.

a reply to: ttobban

Thanks for your suggestions. I'll look into them.

a reply to: nOraKat



I thoroughly enjoy this stuff, as I feel the language of learning financial health standards of wellness are way under valued. I lock onto motivational advice, use the wide array of free knowledge on the interwebs, and avoid buying into sales pitches.

If it costs any money to learn from someone, I'd avoid it. Just asking people you pass about their ideas of it will give you some of your own... people usually love to talk about their winning investments. That's how I found (AI), by asking someone that was happy to find that 18% dividend just prior.