55 and a lost regarding investing!

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Charlie T
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Jul 03, 2015 7:33 am

55 and a lost regarding investing!

Post by Charlie T »

Hi I am new to the group. I just picked up the Bogleheads Book and learned of this site.

Question: I am still working as an Electrical Engineer. My wife and I are 55. The house is paid off. Three cars (all paid). No credit card debts.

When I started working a "real job" at 25, my dad (very wise), suggested that I start saving and investing. Being a typical 25 year old, American, "knucklehead", I spent most of it on having a good time (women, wine, and song)....very little saving.

Anyway, now thirty years later, I have finally wised up. I head read approximately twenty-five investing books over the past two years on investing. The problem: there is so much contradiction: stocks, bonds, 60/40, 70/30, no stocks, no bonds, only TIPS, low P/E (three Chinese companies with low P/E, that I invested in, have gone out of business), low price/book, high cap/ low cap/ dividend, no dividend, low PEG (1), high ROI, low debt, high tech (I have lost almost 100K in 3 D printing stocks alone !!), low tech, high diversification / low diversification, managed / unmanaged....you get the idea....sometimes I want to scream!

I currently have a Fidelity IRA, and PNC investment account, with a mix of about a dozen stocks, and two mutual funds (Fidelity Spartan 500 index, and IVESCO Dividend fund). Any recommendations?

Tku,

C....
dbr
Posts: 46181
Joined: Sun Mar 04, 2007 8:50 am

Re: 55 and a lost regarding investing!

Post by dbr »

Congratulations on your efforts at reading to learn about investing.

I think you are a victim of too much of the literature in the field trying to tell people what to do rather than educate people in how things work so that people can make their own decisions about what to do. I guess editors probably don't let authors write a book that doesn't have twenty different recipes for portfolios that the reader is supposed to pick from based on what criterion I don't know.

It might help to go back and re-read two or three of those books that seem to contain the most explanation and take all the notes you can on the why's and wherefores rather than on the "recommendations." If you don't see good explanations for things, then that book might best go on the back shelf. Features to look for include the nature of risk and return, what a plan looks like, how things behave in retirement, and so on.

PS On this forum I try to avoid recommending to people what to do, but there are some excellent people here who will be more specific. For starters you might want to post according to the format here: http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtop ... f=1&t=6212
Grt2bOutdoors
Posts: 25625
Joined: Thu Apr 05, 2007 8:20 pm
Location: New York

Re: 55 and a lost regarding investing!

Post by Grt2bOutdoors »

Hello and welcome to the forum!
Please re-edit your question in the format show in my signature link - Asking Portfolio Questions. Your current post as written does not provide enough information to provide you with proper guidance. I would recommend you visit the wiki https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki
and search under Asset Allocation, Tax Efficient Investing, Investment Policy Statement. Holding individual equities, speculating in 3 emerging market equities and holding what appears to be a mish-mash of other holdings is not an investment plan. You're in luck though, you've come to the right place but first you have to provide us with the details. :)
"One should invest based on their need, ability and willingness to take risk - Larry Swedroe" Asking Portfolio Questions
niceguy7376
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Joined: Wed Jul 10, 2013 2:59 pm
Location: Metro ATL

Re: 55 and a lost regarding investing!

Post by niceguy7376 »

Welcome to the forum OP.
You were lost in the sea of books and contradictions but now reached your new found island. Hope you stick here and stay the course for the rest of your life.
To get the best well tailored info for your situation, please do post your info as per the format suggested in this forum. Please click on my signature link for that.
Do you have 401k at work? How about your spouse? Any IRA or 401ks? Kids? It will take some time to get all the info needed but it will help you in this endeavor.
user5027
Posts: 971
Joined: Sat Jun 16, 2012 8:54 pm

Re: 55 and a lost regarding investing!

Post by user5027 »

Three things...

1) Asset allocation is a personal decision.

2) Three fund portfolio. Getting there from where you are, if you have gains in taxable, may take time.

3) Reply to the thread with the poster looking for stock picks. :oops:
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ruralavalon
Posts: 26353
Joined: Sat Feb 02, 2008 9:29 am
Location: Illinois

Re: 55 and a lost regarding investing!

Post by ruralavalon »

Welcome to the forum :) .

It's great that you have no debt.
Charlie T wrote: I head read approximately twenty-five investing books over the past two years on investing. The problem: there is so much contradiction:....sometimes I want to scream!

I currently have a Fidelity IRA, and PNC investment account, with a mix of about a dozen stocks, and two mutual funds (Fidelity Spartan 500 index, and IVESCO Dividend fund). Any recommendations.
Instead of screaming, read "Bogleheads Investment Philosophy" on the wiki.

Then post all of your your account and fund details, as indicated in the post "asking portfolio questions". See link provided by niceguy7376 and Grt2bOutdoors.
"Everything should be as simple as it is, but not simpler." - Albert Einstein | Wiki article link: Bogleheads® investment philosophy
pkcrafter
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Re: 55 and a lost regarding investing!

Post by pkcrafter »

Welcome Charlie. I enjoyed reading your post because it typifies the web that investors can get caught in. I have no doubt that most of what you've read ends up benefiting those who suggested the various strategies. You stand out from the crowd because you have realized what a confusing mess investing can be. No one here is going to benefit from their suggestions; we've just learned that listening to all that noise lowers potential returns. Investing in a broadly diversified mix of low cost index funds eliminates all the confusion and it beats 80% of all active strategies over a 20 year period. That is due to the lower cost and the efficiency of an uncomplicated strategy.

Here's a starting point on indexing from our own Wiki --

http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Getting_started

Paul
When times are good, investors tend to forget about risk and focus on opportunity. When times are bad, investors tend to forget about opportunity and focus on risk.
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