fraud

[cc6pack]

I argue with financial advisors a lot. In 2008 my ira lost about 60k it started coming back in late 2009 and by 2010 I was about even in 2011 I'm up by about 12k . This is just the stock price I've been pulling my dividends out since 2007. I trust the stock market a lot more than the government.

I was having a conversation with one of the advisors a few week ago and he is concerned that all the money that is in all the IRA'S, 401K'S etc. that the government cannot touch or control are trying to figure out a way to to get their grubby hands on some of it. It's about 20 trillion. This bothers me more than the market going up or down.

 

[cyberdigger]

There's fraud everywhere.. that's why it sucks to leave the house.. as you can see, I have a hangover.. it was well worth it.. [8|]

 

[bostaurus]

ORIGINAL: NYCFlasks

I buy dividend paying stocks via a mutual fund (Vanguard Dividend Growth Fund is the current name).  Have done this for 30 years now, every month putting something in, reinvesting all dividends and capital gains.
I may never own the next Microsoft, but, those dividends add up folks, they really do.
They account for about 50% of the total return over time.
I like it when the market tanks, my dividends buy me more shares, which then pay even more.......

Our neighbor heads up the agency that deals with Wisconsin's pension fund, though he retires soon. Even with all the mess in the last couple years it has done relatively well. He told us the same information. Put your investment in good mutual funds and leave them there. Start early even if you can only put in a small amount. Do not panic when the market drops. Do not try to do it yourself.
He is very good at this and he said he would never speculate on individual stocks himself.

 

[suzanne]

So he is head of a mutual fund but wouldn't risk being in the stock market? Here's my experience with a mutual fund. It's sad really. See, with mutual funds, the fund manager makes a lot of money. Everyone else, not so much. That is because when the manager performs a trade on your behalf, he gets a commission. It doesn't matter if he uses your dollars to buy stock in a biscuit factory or bikini's in Alaska, he still makes money. My emplpyer, the IBEW, turns your pension money over to this big-ass mutual fund, in my case the money has been there 15 years. Sometimes it goes up a dollar. Sometimes down a dollar. The net result is it made nothing in all this time. IBEW members got mad and wanted to take their money out but of course they couldn't. The only good thing is that in the 2008 crash it didn't lose money.

The IBEW finally decided to let the electricians self invest their retirement money up to a point. The result was that a lot of them lost money. Some lost an unbelievable amount of money.

Did i say the situation with my pension is sad? I guess I should thank God on bended knees I still have one. The pipefitters fund manager embezzled the men's retirement funds and wasn't caught until they were half gone.

I also heard that various government entities are looking at ways to seize 401K's. Maybe I will look into this since at the moment I find myself with time on my hands. Glad I don't have a 401K.

 

[bostaurus]

No, he is not head of a mutual fund. He and his team build on what has been been done before them to manage the state's pension fund. He is a state employee just like the rest of his team. It has helped that the office is set up to be apolitical..no political appointments, no favors, etc. with hiring based on abilities and it has worked so far. Apparently over the decades the office has made wise choices in where to place the funds. While the pension fund has suffered along with everything else it is still strong and Wisconsin's very generous pensions are still well funded.
The reason he does not deal in the stock market personally, with individual stocks, is that he feels it is too much of a gamble. He relies on investment firms that have teams of experts that do nothing but research metals, manufacturing companies, healthcare, etc., companies here in the States and overseas and the interaction between them.