|
|
|
A number of things make me include "Investing" in this "Betting" Site....
 | It is a gamble |
| So many of the Traders/Dealers etc.. that I've met - are gamblers (all day every day) |
| Both have opportunities for "fixing" |
This is where I come from......
| I've never liked Insurance and exclude that from what follows - because I know so little about it. |
| Aged in my 20's - spend, spend, spend - but also..Company Pension Plan plus also paying into the UK State Pension Scheme |
| Aged 30 onwards - try to be "independent" - get paid Gross and decide what pensions/investments I want to get into - Also family life required that we buy/sell houses |
| Aged 46 separate, divide assets 60% - 40% (guess who got the 40%!!) - work hard - play hard |
| Aged 56 onwards - retire and try to "invest aggressively" |
| Aged 61 onwards - beginning to think Fixed Interest is the way to go (old-age conservatism creeping on??) |
And these are the "general impressions" I have come to over the years.....
| I like the idea of having some Solid/reliable investments (maybe a pension or some Bonds) | ||||||||||||
| Together with some more "extreme" ones - e.g. Premium Bonds (wonderful), Lottery - where a small stake could win BIG!! | ||||||||||||
| Private Banking/Investment Houses/ Banks - are all in
business to make money - and they'll take their cut - before you get yours - so
if you use them - you're likely to be in for the "long-run" and may not make
much in the end. Examples of how it's weighted against us.....
| ||||||||||||
| The State Pension Scheme should be "ignored" - until retirement - and only rediscovered at that time - as some form of "little bauble, present" - of no great value - just an extra couple of Pounds/Dollars cash. | ||||||||||||
| Private Pension schemes - are also "not as great as we'd be
led to believe" - since...
| ||||||||||||
| Buying/Selling the family homes was the biggest earner for me - but was only really "realised" when going from "the biggest/best" down to "something less grand/large/costly" | ||||||||||||
| Bank/Investment House Personal Advisors/Investment Consultants - are about as useless as you and I are. In my experience they tended to show me an ever "going up" graph - saying "this is a good one to get into" - excuse me!! Buy Low - Sell High!! Not the other way round!! | ||||||||||||
| They would also suggest "a Balanced Portfolio" - some in
Equities, some in Bonds, this portion in one currency, that in another etc..
etc...
|
And in conclusion.........??
Think the best is......
| Do all your investing yourself - don't go to Advisors, Investment Houses, Banks etc... |
| Get into something solid and reliable (remember to check out the "intermediaries" - e.g. buy a Government Bond through a Bank - the Bond may be reliable - but is the Bank - will it go bankrupt/get closed down etc.??) and stay in for the long-term |
| Also have some small "flighty" investments - those with small premiums and the possibility of BIG wins |