Upon my Dad’s death in June, my sister and I became successor co-trustees of a portfolio. Now, I have no brain for this type of business, and I have certainly seen how Wall Street is doing these days. My Dad’s financial planner says it is a conservative portfolio, but 8 stocks make up over 50% of it! I don’t know if my heart is healthy enough to take any more 300 point drops in the Dow Jones. The rest IS conservative, and I am comfortable with the remaining assets staying where they are.
If you had over $100,000 invested in 8 stocks (example - Hewlett Packard, Honeywell, Conoco, Dupont, Agilent, Merck) would you consider cashing some out and going for a less volatile
investment? What would that be? How much of the stock would you hold on to?
I hear real estate is gonna be the new stock market. Thoughts or opinions on that subject???
No one can give you good advice without knowing them.
Are you planning to use the money to retire in 30 years? Ten years?
Are you trying to build an estate for your heirs?
IMHO owning your own home is generally a very good investment in most markets. Unless you consider yourself not risk-averse, specualting in real estate may be best left to the professionals. Income properties can be a good investment if: the property is in the right neighborhood, you are handy and have the time to do your own repairs and are willing to put up with all the hassles.
My goal is to build a retirement fund. I have no heirs and will most likely retire in 20 years or so.
I am not handy and have little patience for fixing-up a rundown house. However, the real estate here in Palm Springs is still quite reasonable (except for the mansions). I know people who own a second condo, and rent it out for 8 or 9 months of the year
(No one comes here in the summer, wonder why!) and make some nice bucks from the rental. The condo I own now has a mortgage of about $600 and in 1994 I actually did rent it out for 3 months @ $1400/month.
Gonna talk with a financial planner tomorrow. Thanks again.
Not good advice. Selling when the market is at or near its low is the last thing you should do. (Buying now arguably makes sense.) And gold, of course, lost half its value in the last 15-20 years.
Eight stocks for 50% of a portfolio is fine. A portfolio of more than 15 or so stocks is difficult for a single investor to keep track of.
FWIW, I would keep the portfolio for a while longer til the markets recover, and cash out when you need the $$ for something.
“3 things that have never lost their value: gold, irrigated land and a fertile woman.”
Lol, want to make a site for that or are you just kidding?
I saw some kid get arrested for doing stock advice on the net without a license, so I
sure don’t want to suggest anything. Isn’t there a local person you can refer to beckwall?
Even my bank has a free financial consultant sometimes.
