Investment clubs

[socal78]

Just curious if anybody attends investment club meetings in the area or can recommend one.

Every year I run into the same man who keeps inviting me to his weekly group meeting Wednesday mornings at a financial institution. I've always said no, thanks. But it has got me thinking about it. I'm kind of interested in learning new things and talking to other people but also kind of afraid of walking into a booby trap with high pressure sales. I don't know what to expect, basically. I may attend one but not necessarily that one.

 

[snowblind40]

Not sure that investment clubs are all that necessary anymore.  With ETFs, investing is 100% easier than it was 6 years ago.  In the past it was required to have a decent amount of money so you could diversify your holdings across several different stocks and industries.  Not true anymore, you can literally put all your money into an S&P 500 ETF and with one investment you are fully diversified across the stock market and will see your investment rise and fall with the S&P 500. 

People used to join investment groups because they didn't have enough money to really diversify so they pooled their money to do so.  Also there was a legitimate desire to learn about investing.  Now, with ETFs it is not worth investing with other people you don't trust and there is no real need to learn about how to invest. 

My suggestion, put some of your funds into S&P 500 ETF, some into real estate, some in cash and some into a Bonds ETF and you would have a very well diversified portfolio that you would rarely have to manipulate.

 

[eyephone]

Just curious if anybody attends investment club meetings in the area or can recommend one.

Every year I run into the same man who keeps inviting me to his weekly group meeting Wednesday mornings at a financial institution. I've always said no, thanks. But it has got me thinking about it. I'm kind of interested in learning new things and talking to other people but also kind of afraid of walking into a booby trap with high pressure sales. I don't know what to expect, basically. I may attend one but not necessarily that one.

Sounds like a scam - watch out.

 

[homer_simpson]

Just curious if anybody attends investment club meetings in the area or can recommend one.

Every year I run into the same man who keeps inviting me to his weekly group meeting Wednesday mornings at a financial institution. I've always said no, thanks. But it has got me thinking about it. I'm kind of interested in learning new things and talking to other people but also kind of afraid of walking into a booby trap with high pressure sales. I don't know what to expect, basically. I may attend one but not necessarily that one.

If you read economy.com, you can get better info than most folks have on hand.  The chief economists of every bank I have ever worked at will typically only provide their guidance to the investment banking or wealth management clients.

So if you haven't tapped into this type of service from your broker, you should.  I know Merrill Lynch will make it available.  If you use Goldman Sachs, they are probably calling you with this info.

Agreed...

Socal, if you really want to learn... I can meet you at a local starbucks and go through a high level summary of what choices you have for investments... I'll even bring IHO along 

 

[socal78]

Socal, if you really want to learn... I can meet you at a local starbucks and go through a high level summary of what choices you have for investments... I'll even bring IHO along 

Thank you very much for the helpful offer, Homie! The only thing is Iho is deathly afraid of me.  ??? If we ever do meet it would have to be near a hospital, for his sake. Is this Starbucks in the hospital cafeteria??

 

[socal78]

Sounds like a scam - watch out.

Hmm. I hadn't considered it but I suppose it's possible. This guy has a "booth" set up on our school campus every fall along with some vendors during a special back-to-school type of day. It was a rather big name company, iirc, I just can't remember right now what it was. I'm sure I'll see him again in a couple months.