#bond and stocks

[i-am-a-fish]

GREAT NEWS

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[queenboimler]

so it's taken me almost a week to realize half of the 'movie' characters in Never Stop Blowing Up are inspired by real action movies😭

[artzee534]

Doodle request

Sonic chasing tails after he ate the last chili dog

[rosemarytrash]

I love your rose cuz of her big eyebrows 💔

trust that life is all about change and transformation, nothing will ever stay the same, even that which appears stagnant is slowly being corroded and degraded into new, fresh form, and the only constant in life is that what you have now is not yours forever

except for how I draw rose's eyebrows. that will never change

[mcdonaldspriteairconditioner]

#wip santo patron au or something . pardon my yaoi moment

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Emma Mae Weber at MMFA:

Right-wing media attacked Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic nominee for vice president, for not owning stocks, bonds, or real estate. While some have celebrated Walz’s portfolio, or lack thereof, some right-wing media figures have drawn absurd conclusions about Walz’s ability to understand the economy or his support of capitalism because of his economic standing.

According to recent financial disclosures, Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz doesn’t own stocks or securities. He also does not currently own any real estate. Walz and his wife Gwen Walz sold their most recent home and moved into the governor’s mansion in 2019 when Walz became the governor of Minnesota. Per the disclosures, the only investments Walz holds are his retirement, pension, and life insurance accounts. [The Hill, 8/7/24; The New York Times, 8/9/24]

It’s rare for elected officials not to hold financial assets, and some people are celebrating the modesty of Walz’s portfolio. Walz and his wife also reported no mutual funds, bonds, private equities, book deals, speaking fees, cryptocurrency, or racehorse interests. [Axios, 8/7/24; The Wall Street Journal, 8/12/24] 

Most Americans don’t own stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency. A Federal Reserve report on Americans’ economic well-being shows that just 31% of non-retirees in America own “Stocks, bonds, ETFs, or mutual funds held outside a retirement account.” The number only goes up to 35% for all adult Americans. The report also shows that 64% of Americans in 2023 owned a home, and that just 7% of Americans held or used cryptocurrency in 2023. [Federal Reserve, Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2023, 5/24]

As a member of Congress in 2011, Walz co-sponsored the STOCK Act in an attempt to combat insider trading. Signed into law in 2012 by then-President Barack Obama, the STOCK Act aimed to prevent lawmakers and congressional staffers from trading on non-public information. While pushing for the legislation, Walz spoke about the importance of “restoring faith” among Americans that their lawmakers are not in office only to enrich themselves. [USA Today, 8/9/24; Twitter/X, 8/7/24]

What will the right-wing media whine about this time in regards to Tim Walz? Having a financial portfolio of an average American, and one that doesn’t have any stock market or bond investments.

[bitchesgetriches]

Hi! I fully do not understand investing, but I’m going to follow the directions you and others give about IRA investments. The one thing that I totally do not grasp is the allocating the funs into an index. Isnt there a scenerio where the index loses money and by retirement age you check it out and it went completely under or something?

Hey kiddo! And welcome to the wide world of investing. You're on the right track by starting an IRA for your retirement.

Yes, there are people who lose money by investing their retirement fund. This happens when they retire at the same time a recession or stock market crash happens. And it's fucking unlucky timing.

If you invest $100, and the market falls to the point that it's worth $80, you will lose money if you pull your money out when it's worth $80. But after the fall, when the market recovers so your original investment is worth $120, and THEN you pull your money out... you will have made money!

In other words, timing matters. We explain exactly how this works here:

Wait... Did I Just Lose All My Money Investing in the Stock Market?

Now to address the second part of your question. You can avoid the risk of losing money by regularly adjusting your allocation. When you're young and many years from retirement, you can allocate your portfolio aggressively into higher-risk investments. Who cares if you lose money in the short term? As we explain in the link above, you don't actually LOSE the money until you take the money out of the stock market.

But as you get older and nearer to retirement, you want to lock in your gains by moving your money from high-risk investments like stocks to safer investments like bonds. That way when you get within a few years of retirement, you can kind of "protect" your investments from being overly affected by market fluctuations.

In other words: allocation is not a one-time activity. We explain this more here:

Investing Deathmatch: Stocks vs. Bonds 

This was a big oversimplification, but we go into detail about all of this here:

Do NOT Make This Disastrous Beginner Mistake With Your Retirement Funds 

If you liked this article, join our Patreon!

[phoenixyfriend]

Ko-Fi prompt from Isabelo:

Hi! I'm new to the workforce and now that I have some money I'm worried it's losing its value to inflation just sitting in my bank. I wanted to ask if you have ideas on how to counteract inflation, maybe through investing?

I've been putting this off for a long time because...

I am not a finance person. I am not an investments person. I actually kinda turned and ran from that whole sector of the business world, at first because I didn't understand it, and then once I did understand it, because I disagreed with much of it on a fundamental level.

But... I can describe some factors and options, and hope to get you started.

I AM NOT LEGALLY QUALIFIED TO GIVE FINANCIAL ADVICE. THIS IS NOT FINANCIAL ADVICE.

What is inflation, and what impacts it?

Inflation is the rate at which money loses value over time. It's the reason something that cost 50 cents in the 1840s costs $50 now.

A lot of things do impact inflation, like housing costs and wage increases and supply chains, but the big one that is relevant here is federal interest rates. The short version: if you borrow money from the government, you have to pay it back. The higher the interest rates on those loans, the lower inflation is. This is for... a lot of reasons that are complicated. The reason I bring it up is less so:

The government offers investments:

So yeah, the feds can impact inflation, but they also offer investment opportunities. There are three common types available to the average person: Bonds, Bills, and Notes. I'll link to an article on Investopedia again, but the summary is as follows: You buy a bill, bond, or note from the government. You have loaned them money, as if you are the bank. Then, they give it back, with interest.

Treasury Bills: shortest timeframe (four weeks to a year), and lowest return on investment. You buy it at a discount (let's say $475), and then the government returns the "full value" that the bond is, nominally (let's say $500). You don't earn twice-yearly interest, but you did earn $25 on the basis of Loaning The Government Some Cash.

Treasury Notes: 2-10 year timeframe. Very popular, very stable. Banks watch it to see how they should plan the interest rates for mortgages and other large loans. Also pretty high liquidity, which means you can sell it to someone else if you suddenly need the cash before your ten-year waiting period is up. You get interest payments twice a year.

Treasury Bonds: 20-30 years. This is like... the inverse of a house mortgage. It takes forever, but it does have the highest yield. You get interest payments twice a year.

Why invest money into the US Treasury department, whether through the above or a different government paper? (Savings bonds aren't on sold the set schedule that treasury bonds are, but they only come in 30-year terms.)

It is very, very low risk. It is pretty much the lowest risk investment a person can make, at least in the US. (I'm afraid I don't know if you're American, but if you're not, your country probably has something similar.)

Interest rates do change, often in reaction or in relation to inflation. If your primary concern is inflation, not getting a high return on investment, I would look into government papers as a way to ensure your money is not losing value on you.

This is the website that tells you the government's own data for current yield and sales, etc. You can find a schedule for upcoming auctions, as well.

High-yield bank accounts:

Savings accounts can come with a pretty unremarkable but steady return on investment; you just need to make sure you find one that suits you. Some of the higher-yield accounts require a minimum balance or a yearly fee... but if you've got a good enough chunk of cash to start with, that might be worth it for you.

They are almost as reliable as government bonds, and are insured by the government up to $250,000. Right now, they come with a lower ROI than most bonds/bills/notes (federal interest rates are pretty high at the moment, to combat inflation). Unlike government papers, though, you can deposit and withdraw money from a savings account pretty much any time.

Certificates of Deposit:

Okay, imagine you are loaning money to your bank, with the fixed term of "I will get this money back with interest, but only in ten years when the contract is up" like the Treasury Notes.

That's what this is.

Also, Investopedia updates near-daily with the highest rates of the moment, which is pretty cool.

Property:

Honestly, if you're coming to me for advice, you almost definitely cannot afford to treat real estate as an investment thing. You would be going to an actual financial professional. As such... IDK, people definitely do it, and it's a standby for a reason, but it's not... you don't want to be a victim of the housing bubble, you know? And me giving advice would probably make you one. So. Talk to a professional if this is the route you want to take.

Retirement accounts:

Pension accounts are a kind of savings account. You've heard of a 401(k)? It's that. Basically, you put your money in a savings account with a company that specializes in pensions, and they invest it in a variety of different fields and markets (you can generally choose some of this) in order to ensure that the money grows enough that you can hopefully retire on it in fifty years. The ROI is usually higher than inflation.

These kinds of accounts have a higher potential for returns than bonds or treasury notes, buuuuut they're less reliable and more sensitive to market fluctuations.

However, your employer may pay into it, matching your contribution. If they agree to match up to 4%, and you pay 4% of your paycheck into an pension fund, then they will pay that same amount and you are functionally getting 8% of your paycheck put into retirement while only paying for half of it yourself.

Mutual Funds:

I've definitely linked this article before, but the short version is:

An investment company buys 100 shares of stock: 10 shares each in 10 different "general" companies. You, who cannot afford a share of each of these companies, buy 1 singular share of that investment company. That share is then treated as one-tenth of a share of each of those 10 "general" companies. You are one of 100 people who has each bought "one stock" that is actually one tenth of ten different stocks.

Most retirement funds are actually a form of mutual fund that includes employer contributions.

Pros: It's more stable than investing directly in the stock market, because you can diversify without having to pay the full price of a share in each company you invest in.

Cons: The investment company does get a cut, and they are... often not great influences on the economy at large. Mutual funds are technically supposed to be more regulated than hedge funds (which are, you know, often venture capital/private equity), but a lot of mutual funds like insurance companies and pension funds will invest a portion of their own money into hedge funds, which is... technically their job. But, you know, capitalism.

Directly investing in the stock market:

Follow people who actually know what they're doing and are not Evil Finance Bros who only care about the bottom line. I haven't watched more than a few videos yet, but The Financial Diet has had good energy on this topic from what I've seen so far, and I enjoy the very general trends I hear about on Morning Brew.

That said, we are not talking about speculative capital gains. We are talking about making sure inflation doesn't screw with you.

DIVIDENDS are profit that the company shares to investors every quarter. Did the company make $2 billion after paying its mortgages, employees, energy bill, etc? Great, that $2 billion will be shared out among the hundreds of thousands of stocks. You'll probably only get a few cents back per stock (e.g. Walmart has been trading at $50-$60 for the past six months, and their dividends have been 57 cents and then 20.75 cents), but it adds up... sort of. The Walmart example is listed as having dividends that are lower than inflation, so you're actually losing money. It's part of why people rely on capital gains so much, rather than dividends, when it comes to building wealth.

Blue Chip Stocks: These are old, stable companies that you can expect to return on your investment at a steady rate. You probably aren't going to see your share jump from $5 to $50 in a year, but you also probably won't see it do the reverse. You will most likely get reliable, if not amazing, dividends.

Preferred Stocks: These are stock shares that have more reliable dividends, but no voting rights. Since you are, presumably, not a billionaire that can theoretically gain a controlling share, I can't imagine the voting rights in a given company are all that important anyway.

Anyway, hope this much-delayed Intro To Investing was, if not worth the wait, at least, a bit longer than you expected.

Hey! You got interest on the word count! It's topical! Ish.

[noblemalone]

12 pack of Costco brand elves 🧝

[makorragal-312]

Gotta admit, after last night's episode, I was completely lost as to what the conflict was gonna be between Buck and Tommy that was gonna lead to them eventually breaking up.

But now that I think about it, I think Tommy is going to finally make his feelings known (most likely without meaning to) that he's envious of the family dynamic within the current 118 and that he wants to experience it.

This will lead to Buck questioning how he never experienced it or made any strong connections with anyone if he was in the 118 through both Gerrard AND Bobby. And that's gonna lead to Buck finding out about Tommy's past behavior under Gerrard and how he treated Chim and Hen and then it's gonna make Buck confront Tommy about longing for that connection when he could've had it had he not been a bigot.

The two are gonna fight and then BOOM, breakup.

[hejkatie]

hey hey

just your casual up and coming stock queen

[chompe-diem]

ok i've listened to the latest ep now and u cannot tell me albin and sol are not qpr. sorry but they are bonded 4 lyfe like that. we already knew this but now it's finally canon. Do Not Ask Caldwell Or Murph but it's canon. i'm not crazy-

[femmesandhoney]

love chatting w my uncle bc hes so knowledgeable about finance and politics so we just spent like half an hr complaining together about trump and hes livid how stupid the american people are. and how misogynistic so many of them are, like he was reciting to me various elections he's lived thru and hes like every damn time the democrats have to come in and fix the disaster of an economy the republicans made 😭

[tennessoui]

in this airport trying my best to look like a guileless overwhelmed young woman traveling on her own for the first time so that middle aged men who are returning home from dropping off the daughters they just took to college for their first year will be compelled to look after me via buying me an espresso martini so I may survive this 10 hour layover

[spacepunksupreme]

I love in action movies when the hero gets captured and rendered unconscious by the villain and like wakes up in their lair the next morning having been changed into sleepwear. It’s such a funny affable villain thing to me.

Like it is kind of a power play to be like I could have done anything to you while you were unconscious but I choose not to hurt you (yet). But also it’s just so funny to me, it’s like “Oohh Im so evilly hospitable, I put you in pajamas mwaha doesnt that frighten you?” Man, no, it’s just a little weird

[bitchesgetriches]

Wait… Did I Just Lose All My Money Investing in the Stock Market?

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