'Play' Money

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EternalOptimist
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'Play' Money

Post by EternalOptimist »

Do any Bogleheads have funny money or play money that they use to buy and selling investments that aren't part of their core plan. Curious about how much you have to play around with and how do you go about buying and selling things? Thanks.
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VictoriaF
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by VictoriaF »

I have some Monopoly money.

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EternalOptimist
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by EternalOptimist »

Hey this is serious business... :moneybag
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by VictoriaF »

EternalOptimist wrote:Hey this is serious business... :moneybag
Oops. I saw the word "play" and got into the mood. Sorry!

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youngindexer
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by youngindexer »

I have about 5% of my portfolio in "play money" due to surprising luck this year I have had to sell and rebalance into TSM several times. I currently have 6 stocks, 4 of which have been losers the last couple years. I'm quite dreadful at stock picking but I have too much fun researching and speculating.
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by goblue100 »

EternalOptimist wrote:Do any Bogleheads have funny money or play money that they use to buy and selling investments that aren't part of their core plan. Curious about how much you have to play around with and how do you go about buying and selling things? Thanks.
I'm not sure I'm a fully qualified Boglehead, but I invest all of my retirement money in passive accounts in which no market timing takes place.

I don't consider it "play" or "fun" money, but I have a Scottrade account with individual stocks in it. The vast majority of the money in there came from stock options I was granted in the late 90's that I managed to cash in on when my company was bought out in 2008. In the past I've used the PEter Lynch method of stock picking, namely the test of is it someplace we like to shop or eat. Also, I spend about $80 a year on a monthly newsletter from Motley Fool, Stock Advisor. They profile 2 new stocks every month. I pick the ones that I think make sense for me. Am I doing better than just adding it to my passive investing? So far, I would say yes. Am I doing better on a risk adjusted basis? I have no idea how to quantify the additional risk I am taking by being in individual stocks. Still, I know the risk and I accept it and I view it as a hobby for me.
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by nisiprius »

I do not have any play money. I probably am overly tight about this, but when I once went to a business convention in Reno, I did not put so much as a single quarter in a slot machine, because as I saw it there there were two possibilities. I would find out that I didn't enjoy it, which would be a bad outcome, or I would find out that I DID enjoy it, which would be a WORSE outcome.

EternalOptimist, you put the word "play" within quotation marks. It is my honest opinion that phrases such as "'play' money" and "fun money" are euphemisms, intended to trivialize something that is not trivial.

Everyone is entitled to use their own money toward the pursuit of happiness in their own way, and I guess people know fun when they see it. Here, though, the word "play" surely has overtones of what that word means in Las Vegas. I think myself that speculative investing can be an expensive kind of fun, and that it can be flirting with a kind of addiction.

Above all, I think that "fun" and "play" can be euphemism for a visceral thrill that is only triggered by the awareness that you are staking more than you can afford to lose.

Let's say you designate 5% of your portfolio as play money. The fantasy is that you might win big, which would be fun, and that the loss of 5% would hurt, but would be tolerable. The question is this. Let's say you do lose it. You may be an "eternal optimist," but what if you lose it. What do you do then? Do you say, "Well, that was fun" and never do it again? Or do you "rebalance" as it were, designating a fresh 5% of your portfolio as new play money, and try again in hopes of recouping your loss? In real life, I for one would find it very hard to resist the temptation to try to recoup my losses. This is particularly true if a family is involved--I find it hard to imagine saying to my wife "Oh, by the way, I just lost 5% of our retirement savings, heh heh well, I sure had a good time, easy come easy go, and I guess we'd better defer that trip we'd planned..."

Make speculative investments if it is your way of pursuing happiness, but don't call it "play money."
Last edited by nisiprius on Thu Dec 26, 2013 1:29 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by leonard »

EternalOptimist wrote:Do any Bogleheads have funny money or play money that they use to buy and selling investments that aren't part of their core plan. Curious about how much you have to play around with and how do you go about buying and selling things? Thanks.
Money is either spent on something you really want, need and can afford - or gratification is deferred. No "play" category that I can see in this process.

I think "play money" is a term created to rationalize what people know are non-optimal investing decisions. Why precisely would someone do what they know to be non-optimal. If it's the excitement (of losing money) - then skydiving, racing, snowboarding, and many others provide excitement without knowingly making an irrational financial choice.
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Redstorm
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by Redstorm »

I went to indexing with all bar some funds I'd been trading in the stock below with and let it ride for the last 2 years. This was my 'play money'.

I add to my index funds each 1/4

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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by Abe »

I generally look at money as money, and don't look at some portion as play money and some portion as real money. If I invest in a more risky investment, that money is just as important to me as money I invest in any other investment. I may make a distinction as far as limiting the amount I put in, but I don't think of it as play money.
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by user5027 »

During the last 11 months I have taken $10k in my IRA and tried to "time the market." I would have been better off leaving it with rest (3 fund portfolio). :oops:

I'm just doing it to assure myself it cannot be done.
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by EternalOptimist »

Sorry if I used a poor choice of words. I was looking for a side pool or 'extra' money that was used to have some fun/speculate with as opposed to the 'serious' money that the family is reliant upon. BTW, I don't do this, just curious if/how folks do it.
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user5027
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by user5027 »

It is not a significant portion of the portfolio and have not generated a loss.

I have a gain, just not as much percent wise as the balance of the portfolio.

I used the IRA money so I would not be generating any taxable gains.

I feel I have educated myself that you cannot time the market.
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by placeholder »

No because I don't find speculating or gambling to be fun in the least.
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by bamajames »

I use one percent of total portfolio and invest short term when I see what I perceive
as an opportunity. It is fun to do the research but I treat this seriously.
Have fun,

BJ
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by dmcmahon »

I've put some money into new ventures but it's less than 1% of my assets and I'm doing it mainly for social reasons rather than thinking they're likely to produce a better risk adjusted payoff than, say the Russell 2000. Ditto some loans to family members - no expectation of making a profit but the IRS rules will be scrupulously followed.
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by HopeToGolf »

I do. Part of my "allowance" is intended to be used for hobbies, fun money, entertainment, etc. Even with this I LBYM and have more than I need. Once or twice a year the extra goes into the market. The funny thing is most of it is in a broad market ETF. Yes I consider it play money but it is mostly invested in a boring way. However, I do time the market since the money is intended for short term cash needs and instead it is invested 100% equities. If I lost it all it would mean that I have to stick to that year's "allowance."

The more interesting part about this for me is why can't I just spend the money as is planned. The market making it bigger is not helping. I guess I could cut the budget and save more for retirement but the extra amount is not great compared to current income and savings.

I wish I would have purchased Twitter or Tesla with this play money instead of index funds.
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by Blues »

Why not use the "play" money, (if it's truly not anticipated to be needed for making ends meet now or in the future), to do nice things for yourself, your loved ones and those in need instead of just salting it away in additional, (and possibly riskier), investments?

At some point, it seems to me, the object is to enjoy some of what you've earned via your discipline and patience.

Just a thought.
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by nisiprius »

I understand that it's a little hard to answer a hostile question, and since I don't "get" the concept of "play" money I can't conceal a certain degree of disapproval, but I really wish that the people who do use "play" money would speak to the nature of the "fun" they get from it. Am I setting up a straw man, or is there some truth what I think?

a) I think that word "fun" is a euphemistic word for "a visceral thrill that comes from knowing that you are staking more than you can afford to lose." It seems to me that the "fun" must be related to the presence of authentic financial danger. If it were just the "fun" of testing your predictions against the future, it wouldn't be necessary to commit real money at all. Since the "fun" is obtained only by means of real danger, it can't really be a prudent use of money. Discuss.

b) I think that the idea of "staking no more than you can afford to lose" is dangerous, because it does not speak to what actually happens in the real world if you do lose it. Do you really write it off, give up, and never do it again? Or do you commit a second fresh stake and try to recoup? Discuss.
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by SP-diceman »

leonard wrote:- then skydiving, racing, snowboarding, and many others provide excitement without knowingly making an irrational financial choice.
This is just "play" rationalization.

I'll take a small stock investment over skydiving any day of the week.
(difficult to hit the ground at terminal velocity)
If it's the excitement (of losing money) ]
...only allowed with a larger car or, a longer, more elaborate, vacation.
:happy
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by Silverado »

Interesting reactions to the question. Here is how I took it. I look at play money as money for entertainment. If I allot myself $1000 for entertainment in a week or month or year, I sometimes like to buy some shares of a stock in a company I like. I get continued residual entertainment in the years to come seeing how the company does. Much larger chunk of fun than a pair of shoes, new phone, or the like in most cases. But not as large a chunk of fun as some vacations we have taken, and the new Sonos system looks to provide entertainment for years to come.

A lot of folks have said they don't believe in play ( or "play") money. Never a night out? Never some consumer good that is a want not a need? Never a vacation? Trading dollars for enjoyment is play. Slots, stocks, wine, RC car all similar.
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by VictoriaF »

Silverado wrote:Interesting reactions to the question. Here is how I took it. I look at play money as money for entertainment. If I allot myself $1000 for entertainment in a week or month or year, I sometimes like to buy some shares of a stock in a company I like. I get continued residual entertainment in the years to come seeing how the company does. Much larger chunk of fun than a pair of shoes, new phone, or the like in most cases. But not as large a chunk of fun as some vacations we have taken, and the new Sonos system looks to provide entertainment for years to come.

A lot of folks have said they don't believe in play ( or "play") money. Never a night out? Never some consumer good that is a want not a need? Never a vacation? Trading dollars for enjoyment is play. Slots, stocks, wine, RC car all similar.
A $1 lottery ticket provides the same entertainment.

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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by HopeToGolf »

nisiprius wrote:I understand that it's a little hard to answer a hostile question, and since I don't "get" the concept of "play" money I can't conceal a certain degree of disapproval, but I really wish that the people who do use "play" money would speak to the nature of the "fun" they get from it. Am I setting up a straw man, or is there some truth what I think?

a) I think that word "fun" is a euphemistic word for "a visceral thrill that comes from knowing that you are staking more than you can afford to lose." It seems to me that the "fun" must be related to the presence of authentic financial danger. If it were just the "fun" of testing your predictions against the future, it wouldn't be necessary to commit real money at all. Since the "fun" is obtained only by means of real danger, it can't really be a prudent use of money. Discuss.

b) I think that the idea of "staking no more than you can afford to lose" is dangerous, because it does not speak to what actually happens in the real world if you do lose it. Do you really write it off, give up, and never do it again? Or do you commit a second fresh stake and try to recoup? Discuss.
nisiprius-

Whenever I hear the concept of "play" money I view it as money that I do not use to save for retirement, future expenses, current expenses, emergency funds and other productive uses (assuming spending on wants is not productive). Maybe it is just mental accounting and maybe my thinking on play money is not what you meant here but this is just one point of view.

In my case the play bucket comes from under spending from a different bucket....example....I have a golf budget that is part of my allowance (been the same number for many years), there were years where I played cheaper courses than originally budgeted. As a result, I had extra money that went into the play money fund and found its way into the market (100% equity which is different than my AA). There were also years where I played more expensive courses that exceeded the original budget. I had to make a choice to cut other things in my allowance or sell some of the stock represented by prior years' savings.

In my case in this narrow example, assuming I lost 100% of the play money now invested in the market (instead of cash), I would no longer be able to play at more expenses courses (unless I played less frequently or cut the budget elsewhere). The funny thing is if I kept the $$ in cash I would call it savings but since the market has risk and I am buying 100% equity, I call it play money. If bank accounts were paying 5% or more and stocks were returning 10%, I would have less in the market.

The play money does not get a new allocation every year, it results from saving on other expenses and is a small amount.

In a way, play money is just an entertainment expense, gambling addiction, etc. for most people.

In my situation, is there some sort of thrill I get by saving other places so I can invest at 100% equity....that is far too deep of a question for me.....on the surface, I do not think that way but subliminally it is possible.
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by Jfet »

I have just one play money account which was an IRA that was a rollover from a 401K. It got dumped into a broker account and was $1700 in 2001. Friday it crossed $40,000 for the first time. Not a bad gain for 12 years.
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by linenfort »

EternalOptimist wrote:Do any Bogleheads have funny money or play money that they use to buy and selling investments that aren't part of their core plan.
Yes
Curious about how much you have to play around with and how do you go about buying and selling things? Thanks.
It's quite a small percentage. I go about ignoring all the rules that govern the real portfolio.
For example: VBK (small cap growth etf), the so-called black hole of unrewarded risk.
iRobot and DDD (3D systems) were originally chosen on a whim. Now they constitute my long picks for the Bogleheads Hedge Fund contest.

Again, it's a small percentage. My wife and don't have any kids, and no one's going to suffer if we blow a little money on play-money investments. But hopefully they will turn out to be winners. This is not 'Brewster's Millions'. This is speculation.
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by midareff »

I have a "fun" or "play" money account besides my VG Boglehead core. It is probably 3.5% of total, or thereabouts, and is in a Roth I was rarely able to fully fund while doing my maximum deferred compensation, and then double up deferred. I managed the holding(s) in it by trying to pick a hot sector and ride it until it cooled, and so forth. When I retired I decided to drain it by RMD, to ease the load on taxable, and started pulling a rate of about 15+%. Hot news flash... if your going up 40+% drawing down 15% won't drain anything, so a change in philosophy was in order. Draw is now <4% but I keep picking sectors to ride. I had a flash quite a few years ago :idea: and rode Emerging Markets and Emerging Market Bonds @ FIDO and that did AOK. Once again it was :idea: and I dumped that for their Extended Market Index and Pharma. Now Pharma and something lese also shooting up. No crystal ball.. just blind luck. Have to be lucky at something , right? My birthday is today, 66 year's old.... my birthday gift to me is I just gave to Operation Smile to surgically repair 4 cleft palate children. I feel good. You want to feel good? Fix a child's life.
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by VictoriaF »

midareff wrote:My birthday is today, 66 year's old.... my birthday gift to me is I just gave to Operation Smile to surgically repair 4 cleft palate children. I feel good. You want to feel good? Fix a child's life.
Happy Birthday, Midareff!

And thank you for helping these children,

Victoria
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by Sriracha »

Nope, no "play investment money" for me. If I lost it all, that would be bad. If I lucked out and made any significant gains, I might want to increase the "stake," which also would be bad.

When I lived in NY, I used to go to Saratoga Race Course once or twice per year during the August meet. That was my fun/play money outlet.
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by abuss368 »

No play money, brokerage accounts, individual stocks for us.

Every time I think about opening a brokerage account to "play" with individual stocks, it dawns on me that if I can "afford" to do that, I can "afford" to increase my retirement contributions. That is usually what I end up doing. Then after a while, I am happy for that decision.
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by angelescrest »

EternalOptimist wrote:Do any Bogleheads have funny money or play money that they use to buy and selling investments that aren't part of their core plan. Curious about how much you have to play around with and how do you go about buying and selling things? Thanks.
I am a little surprised at how many are ripping on your question. I don't think of it as funny money for sure, but assuming people are satisfied with the level of money they are setting aside for retirement you shouldn't feel guilty for how you "spend" some extra money you've saved. I don't spend a lot of money on myself like luxurious vacations and expensive meals, so with some of the discretionary money I have (a small percentage) I do invest in individual companies. Many people seem to view that as gambling but it's nowhere near the same thing. What happened to how capitalism has functioned for so many years? I don't invest purely to make myself wealthy, I invest because I have an interest in the success of certain companies in this country and want to take ownership in what technologies, trends, and corporate forces win out. You can't do that by simply buying index funds although buying their products/services might be the most efficient way.

How to enter and exit though is probably a question not for this particular forum. Very difficult subject, and for me I tend to enter as early as possible in disrupting technologies and exit when they have achieved an introductory public saturation point. Again, I'm not solely interested in stock prices (although that tends to relate), but on the overall success of a company and their services/products. I guess if I had the capital (I clearly don't) I'd enjoy being an angel investor.
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by GerryL »

I have what I call "play around" money that I won't need for retirement and did not include in my AA. It consists of the company stock I've been gathering through stock awards and our stock purchase plan along with some stocks I inherited. I aim to keep my company stock below a certain threshold. When I sell it I either use it for a major purchase (e.g., funding part of a recent remodel) or add the proceeds to one of my taxable accounts (where it becomes part of my AA).

I've given some thought to using those funds to buy some other stocks or funds outside my plan, but I just don't feel that motivated to play the market with my play around money. I wonder how I will feel about that pot of money once I retire (in 18 months) and the company stock will no longer be coming in. Leave it at the threshold and continue pulling off the dividends or start pulling out of the stock? Guess that will depend on how I think the company's relatively new management team is doing. I do intend to use some of it for charitable donations, just don't know when.
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by leonard »

SP-diceman wrote:
leonard wrote:- then skydiving, racing, snowboarding, and many others provide excitement without knowingly making an irrational financial choice.
This is just "play" rationalization.

I'll take a small stock investment over skydiving any day of the week.
(difficult to hit the ground at terminal velocity)
If it's the excitement (of losing money) ]
...only allowed with a larger car or, a longer, more elaborate, vacation.
:happy
As long as we agree it's rationalizing.
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by bhsince87 »

My core investments have always been in a 3-4 fund type plan since 1987. But I also started a “play” account for individual stock investments a few years later. I looked at it as money I could afford to lose.

Now my 3-fund plan holds 60-65% of my net worth, and the “play” account holds the rest. It’s not play anymore! I hold about 40 individual stocks and 5-6 ETFs.

Over the past 25 years, my core holdings have increased about 6.5% per year, and the “play” funds over 14%.

And I’ve purchased 4-5 automobiles and made a large down payment on our house with money from the play fund.

I don’t recommend this approach for others. Maybe I'm just lucky. But I also have an unusual skill set and a work situation that allows me to work with literally thousands of different companies around the world.

And I literally read annual reports for fun when I was in high school! So what others might consider work, I consider play.

As I get closer to retirement, I move more and more over to my core holdings. I've always been aware that the play fund was riskier, but it was a risk I was willing to take. And I’ve been rewarded for it. But I’ve got less need for the additional risk or reward now.
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by linenfort »

leonard wrote: Why precisely would someone do what they know to be non-optimal.
This isn't Leonard Nimoy by any chance, is it? Don't forget, s/he is the Eternal Optimist, not the Eternal Optimizer.
by nisiprius » Sat Dec 28, 2013 10:30 am

I understand that it's a little hard to answer a hostile question, and since I don't "get" the concept of "play" money I can't conceal a certain degree of disapproval, but I really wish that the people who do use "play" money would speak to the nature of the "fun" they get from it. Am I setting up a straw man, or is there some truth what I think?

a) I think that word "fun" is a euphemistic word for "a visceral thrill that comes from knowing that you are staking more than you can afford to lose."
It seems to me that the "fun" must be related to the presence of authentic financial danger.
I can only speak for myself, but I think that (a) above is absolutely a straw man. Danger's got nothing to do with it, and staking more than I can afford to lose is out of the question. For me, the fun comes from looking at a few individual stocks like DDD, putting a small amount of money into them and seeing how they turn out. Why is that more satisfying than watching the same stocks without having some money riding them? I don't know exactly, except that I stand to make a real (not virtual) profit if the stock does well. If the gain as a percentage is high, that's exciting for me even if the gain in dollars is low. And, it's fun to read about individual companies, something that isn't necessary when investing in index funds.

I would like to skydive someday too but I can't, for the life me, understand why leonard would make a comparison between that activity and play money. The only link I can come up with is that being illogical is a part of being human, and humans will always do things that make other humans say, "Why would they do that? I wouldn't do that." That's fine, but the only danger here is to confuse token play money with taking all or most of your money and gambling with it, something that is not going on here.
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by Jfet »

One thing you can do with a 'play' money account is try to become filthy rich. That is how I am treating my account, started in 2001 with a $1700 IRA rollover from a 401K. I did make a rather huge mistake by not converting it to a Roth back then...oops.

Having grown it to $40,800 on 1/3/2014, I have managed a average return each year of a bit over 30% since 2001. If I can continue this trend for another 15 years, I will have a little over $2,500,000 in that IRA. I still try and think of it as just a $1700 investment, but that may get harder as the balance gets over $200,000. I did roll $2000 into a Roth in 2011, so I can never lose my original contribution.

All other accounts are index funds that I don't even rebalance but maybe once every year.
linenfort
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by linenfort »

Jfet wrote: Having grown it to $40,800 on 1/3/2014,...
.... I still try and think of it as just a $1700 investment, but that may get harder as the balance gets over $200,000.
hah! Of course it's a $40,800 investment, as you know. Nothing less.
By the way, congrats on the amazing record!
Jfet
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by Jfet »

linenfort wrote:
Jfet wrote: Having grown it to $40,800 on 1/3/2014,...
.... I still try and think of it as just a $1700 investment, but that may get harder as the balance gets over $200,000.
hah! Of course it's a $40,800 investment, as you know. Nothing less.
By the way, congrats on the amazing record!
Thanks...yes I know it is $40,800 but some of the option spread plays I make require me to fool myself into thinking it is only $1700 or I bail too early.
kaudrey
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by kaudrey »

I have a small percentage of my portfolio that I invest in small stocks with hopefully big potential. It is is my "fun" money when it comes to my investments. Have I gotten rich? No. Have I lost money in those investments? Not yet. The investments are small - less than a few thousand each, usually; but allow me to "take a chance" on somewhat risky stocks.

This will in no way affect my ability to retire early (on track for that), doesn't affect my enjoyment of other things, etc. But, like some others, I like to research stocks and look for trends/new breakthroughs etc, and then give them a shot. It is just one of my hobbies, and I enjoy it.
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by cheese_breath »

I use my play money to do things I enjoy, not to dabble in speculative 'investments.'
The surest way to know the future is when it becomes the past.
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by Jfet »

cheese_breath wrote:I use my play money to do things I enjoy, not to dabble in speculative 'investments.'
Why put down everyone who does have a play money account by placing investments in quotes? My current play money account holds Apple, Exxon, Microsoft, Corning, VWO, and Google. Exactly which one of these are deserving of quotes like they were casino machines?
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by KlangFool »

TS,

$5K to $10K for highly risky stock that I am aiming for 10X to 20X return or lose everything...

KlangFool
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by cheese_breath »

Jfet wrote:
cheese_breath wrote:I use my play money to do things I enjoy, not to dabble in speculative 'investments.'
Why put down everyone who does have a play money account by placing investments in quotes? My current play money account holds Apple, Exxon, Microsoft, Corning, VWO, and Google. Exactly which one of these are deserving of quotes like they were casino machines?
In my view there is no such thing as a speculative investment (without the quotes). I am either investing, or I am speculating. If you feel some individual stocks are good investments, I don't see how that conflicts with my statement.
The surest way to know the future is when it becomes the past.
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EternalOptimist
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by EternalOptimist »

"Play money" = funds that are not crucial for your current or future existence. This is not intended to make fun of anything. Actually it is a serious question about how serious investors use this portion of their assets.
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linuxizer
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by linuxizer »

Only read about 2/3 of the responses, but people seem to be in two camps:
1) Play money is dangerous. It leads you to a mental state that can taint your entire investment pool. Get your fun somewhere else.
2) Play money is fun, and it's only a few percent so it's ok.

There's a third view:
3) "Play" money isn't for fun at all. It's to get out the itch to do something when you think you have a great lead or are tempted to market time or whatnot. I think the "doing it for social reasons" allusion comes the closest to this meaning.
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by linenfort »

cheese_breath wrote:
Jfet wrote:
cheese_breath wrote:I use my play money to do things I enjoy, not to dabble in speculative 'investments.'
Why put down everyone who does have a play money account by placing investments in quotes? My current play money account holds Apple, Exxon, Microsoft, Corning, VWO, and Google. Exactly which one of these are deserving of quotes like they were casino machines?
In my view there is no such thing as a speculative investment (without the quotes).
That is an idiosyncratic view and conflicts with reality.
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dict ... investment
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retire@45
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by retire@45 »

If I see a "sure thing" I will buy individual stocks (for an "insignificant amount") but I do not consider it play money.
Jfet
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by Jfet »

retire@45 wrote:If I see a "sure thing" I will buy individual stocks (for an "insignificant amount") but I do not consider it play money.
Like GENC last summer trading below cash value at $6.81 (I think they had $92,000,000 in cash with a market cap of $84,000,000 and they were not even losing money). Today it sits at $9.50

Of course the regular market went up about the same % so it didn't make much sense to buy GENC unless you liked the feeling of that cash backup. They could always have done something stupid like pay too much to buy another company.
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by YDNAL »

EternalOptimist wrote:Do any Bogleheads have funny money or play money that they use to buy and selling investments that aren't part of their core plan. Curious about how much you have to play around with and how do you go about buying and selling things? Thanks.
Your OP is addressed to those that use some money, which is not part of their core plan, to "play".

Surprisingly, it seems that 1/2 the responses are from those that don't. :D All of our money is part of our core plan.
Landy | Be yourself, everyone else is already taken -- Oscar Wilde
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retire@45
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by retire@45 »

No. More like when I was an early user of AdWords and saw the huge potential in Google form "inside".
Jfet
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Re: 'Play' Money

Post by Jfet »

retire@45 wrote:No. More like when I was an early user of AdWords and saw the hughe potential in Google form "inside".
Yeah, that doesn't work for me. I thought MySpace was going to be the huge player back in 2008. I stick with net net. Things like buying $20 bills for $18 gives me a warm feeling.
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