Where's your money?

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I had a meeting with my financial lady today, and she mentioned that I should talk with my friends to see what they are doing with their money (investment wise). I'm new to the whole investment scene, so I supposed to find out what my friends are doing, but since most of my friends are broke, I figured I'd ask here...that way, durring my next meeting with my financial lady, we'll talk about what I would like to do, and what would work well...that way, I can have a diversified portfolio that makes me money, with limited risks/headaches.

That said...how does your portfolio look? That might be a loaded question for some and a very personal question for others...so don't get *too* specific. I'm just interested in what type of investments people are making.

As of this moment, I've got a 5 year CD, 4 dedicated savings accounts (similar to a CD, but more versatile), a regular savings account, a stock purchase plan, and a 401k. All in all it's not making much money by itself (except for the stock purchase plan and the 401k), so I'm looking to diversify.

I've looked in to rental properties, but from what I've seen (my dad, brother-in-law, and 2 brothers all did it for awhile), it takes far too much work and hassle to turn a good profit...and too much money to get started, so I don’t think I’ll be going down that road.

Anyway, that's enough from me. Now it's your turn.

 

I have none. Any money I get paid gets swallowed up straight away. Boozing (mainly), bills, food. I'm slowly creeping further into my overdraft each month. Bad news really, at my age I should be saving money for later life. I'm sure I'll curse myself in a few years.

 

We max out our IRA's, 401K's and employee stock purchase accounts every year. We also have money in a CD, money market account, and a couple of investment funds. We just started a college fund for T3 and are making extra payments on our house (the goal is to have it payed off within ten years of purchase).

We also have no debt other than our mortgage.

 

BA, let me tell you...a little more than a year ago, I was in the same situation. That's about the time I first started going to my financial planner. It's a bit of a kick in the teeth when you find out that you're $25,000 in debt, and hardly have any money left over each month.
I got sick of feeling like I was trapped in a hole, so I did something about it, and now things have turned around. I still have a large portion of the debt, but it's going down steadily each month.

I get questioned about my work on a regular basis because they don't pay all that much as you start off...but what people don't realize that while I make a fairly modest hourly wage, my work offers a 15% discount on company stock, an excellent 401k plan, and 100% tuition payment. I'd rather take a lower salary for a few years than to have to pay back student loans for many more years.

T2 - What kind of fund did you set up for your kid? My dad's telling me that we should think about setting up some sort of savings account for any future children now...before we're even ready to start thinking of having kids. And for good reason too I guess since college tuition rates are going nowhere but up in the next 20 years.

 

Well, since I'm still underaged, I don't need to spend money, so I save most of it (well, more than half anyway, the 40%-30% I mostly use) on my account. Got a nice little backup there when I need to start spending money on my schooling.

 

Where's my money! I'd like to know, since I haven't seen it coming my way. So yeah, I'm broke.

 

Utah has one of the best 529 plans available (according to several sources). Out here we have a plan called Bright Start. Monthly payments is an excellent way to go.

www.uesp.org

 

First of all, a big thumbs-up to Kitrax for taking responsibility for his finances. That is increasingly rare these days and I encourage this discussion as I think it is very important for people to plan their finances these days when it seems to be so very easy to get into debt.

For me, I have been putting a small amount into some balanced share unit trusts every month for the last decade or so. I barely miss the money and it is now starting to build up into a handy buffer for emergencies (but hopefully more for retirement).

I also have a pension fund that I and my employer contribute to as part of my salary deductions.

But the bulk of my finances are tied up in our house, which still has a mortgage. In New Zealand, mortgage rates are reasonably high (7% - 10%) and are not tax deductible. So by far the best place for my money is to direct as much of it as possible to my mortgage.

Some new mortgage products have just come out here where you can use all your savings accounts and offset them against the balance of your mortgage to reduce your interest payments. This is simply brilliant because it means more of money is working harder for me.

 

Oh goody, I've started asking people this question to lately, so I'm anxious to hear more opinions.

Harbourboy said it right: get more of your money to work harder for you. Then you don't have to work so hard yourself. Ideally I want to get enough money so that the interest pays for anything I need. Of course, things are not going to be that rosy (hopefully it'll pay for a good percentage of my needs), but that's the general idea.

It's a good idea to start early for your kids. A savings account is the least you should give them. Slow growth, but no risk so there's nothing to lose.

 

I just came through a bankrupcy, and don't have a regular job. I don't have any savings and see some priority purchases coming up that will test my financial stability...

 

I am pretty much in the same boat as Harbourboy. I have bit in a tax deferred investment account, I have a small vested company pension plan entitlement and a bit in a company stock purchase plan but most of my savings have gone towards paying off my mortgage.

The rate or return that I have gotten on my tax deffered investment account has been lower than the mortgage rate so it is better for me to just pay down the mortgage given that mortgage interest isn't tax deductible in Canada. I am pretty close to having my mortgage paid off at which point I am going to have to look for some thing else to do with my money.

I will probably end up giving funds to my Dad to be pooled with his investment account His portfolio is actually big enough for him to have a good portfolio manager taking care of it and the rate of returns that he gets are far better than anything I have been able to achieve.

 

Same as JSBB and HB - most money is off-setting the mortgage so I don't pay interest on it (Currently at 6.5% APR). As we're intending to move about this time next year, most money will go into the next house.

Otherwise, I have a 3.5% company pension (crap), and some minor company shares. I'm also just about to set up a seperate personal pension to avoid paying the higher (40%) rate tax. (I'm going to let the financial advisor chose where to invest as I haven't time to follow the market).

 

This is a fantastic thread, by the way.

 

We're in the same boat as BTA, only times two and with the addition of a mortgage on a house that's about to eat up our spare cash, and a LARGE block of stock in a former employer that we're in the process of diversifying.

 

Well...my money is in:

*a regular bank account
*a savings account
*a "pre-marital saving" account. This one gets you very good interest...you can only deposit x amount of money per year and it stops at a certain age and then you get all the money, but it's really worth it.
*some two...err...share-holding programmes? With guarantee of the capital. I'm not so fond of big risks.
*several coupons bought when I was little=kick-ass interest compared to now. I get to cash them in now and then and then the bank invites me to reinvest the money...I always feel kind of out-of-place.

That's all I remember.

 

Since I'm still a student who lives at home and doesn't work, I have a saving account.

 

Any American money that is actually mine and not my husband's is sitting in a liquor glass with an etching of a pin-up girl on it. The Canadian money I have (re: pennies) ends up in 2 places: the pink plastic piggy bank from my mom or on a table.

I don't have faith in banks at all anymore. The last 4 I've had accounts with either froze the account without telling me or used the money in it to pay someone else's debts.

 

Student, therefore £11000 in debt, and what little money I have is in a current account.

I'm really bad at money. When I see finance adverts on TV, there's just a constant stream of abbreviations that mean nothing to me. There was a recent survey that said something like 60% of 16-20 year-olds don't know what APR means, and I'm in that category. I just find finances too boring and confusing to really care about.

 

Erm, it's in a bank, guarded by robots

Mine is in a student account, but now, as it's the end of trm, I'm about a hundred quid into my overdraft. Fun.