Charles Schwab, but similar structure. No fees or commissions. There is a small fee on stock buys and sells.
I keep looking at rentals, but I worry it may cut down on my slack time, which is highly valuable to me. My ROI on the vintage collectibles business is massive, and it is hard for me to divert money away from that in favor of something else. The taxes on collectibles are insane though(28% on capital gains), and it isn't something that you can scale. There are only so many large collections to buy at a given time. I like the potential consistency of rentals, but turning 5 grand into 10 grand in 6 weeks is awfully appealing.
It is a valid caution. It doesn't really take that much of my time, I only have a few units. But it nickels and dimes me with maintenance expenses, because I pay for tradesmen to do most of the work so that it doesn't take so much of my time. I also dabble in collectibles but the collectibles business is kind of volatile so I don't keep much money tied up in it. I can keep it small enough to classify it as a hobby. No business deductions or loss write-offs but I have few expenses and few losses, so I can keep most of it off the books.
I have some shares in a couple of banks but have never fooled around with the stock market so serious question. If you buy stocks and keep them how can you make money unless you sell them? Do they pay annual dividends like bank shares?
If you want to fool around, best buy an index ETF fund and ride with the market. It's good money over the long run, moderate risk, moderate gain. But if you want to get serious about letting your money make money for you . . . you have to get comfortable with risk. Both. Some stock pays no dividends and attracts you with growth potential, and yes, you don't make the money until you sell the stock. Other stocks have less growth potential but also less risk and will attract you with high dividends and interest payments. Yet others attempt to achieve both. It's all a matter of risk and reward. I try to keep some of each. Diversify the pile, spread the risk. Selling them is strategic. You sell when you need the money . . . or if you want to shift investments around . . . or when you need to take a loss for tax reasons. Otherwise you hold them, upgrade them, make money along the way, and a profit when you do sell. Or not.
so what red is saying is theyre all paper til you sell. this is something we discuss often amongst friends. thats why sweating the daily fluctuations is pointless for the long haul but gives you something to bitch about. or gloat. even if you have nothing to show for it.
Not exactly paper, but they are unrealized assets and subject to losses. I've lost $80,000 since February. But the run-up to that was insanely fabulous and in the long run my chart is steadily rising. So I just think of it as paper losses. You have to have tolerance for risk and for scary losses in order to make long-term profits and it does not come easy for anybody. But it gets better as time goes along and the pile gets taller. The day you realize that your money is earning more income than you are . . . that's a very good day.
The Dow surpassed 20k today....a record. But the main stories/headlines are about the wall, Chicago, the EPA. I am quite sure that if this had happened under Obama or Hillary, it would be non-stop celebration.
