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Seriously, stocks. Over the long term it'll do fine. The last 10 years has been a joke but it won't last forever. Focus on companies that pay an solid and incre

Seriously, stocks. Over the long term it'll do fine. The last 10 years has been a joke but it won't last forever. Focus on companies that pay an solid and increasing dividend, and don't sell them. That will force you to buy companies that you think will last. Some might not, so diversify. Read the book "Rule #1" - not a bad place to start. Except do what Buffett does - buy stocks that you won't sell (in general). If you're worried about going all-in (which you should be) use value averaging, in which you put some money in each month, but more as the market drops. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_averaging http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_averaging

eru 16y ago
If you really want to do what Buffet does, read "Security Analysis" by Benjamin Graham, Buffet's mentor, or his more casual "The Intelligent Investor". If stocks have gone down, that's not the right time to sell. When stocks are valued much more by the market than you think is reasonable, then selling might be interesting. Avoid transaction costs and other fees as much as possible.
- richardw 16y ago
  I fricken love places you get downvoted by adding to the conversation. Anyways, Buffett went far further than BG ever did. Charlie Munger played a part in his transformation from picking up cigarette butts to being the investor he is today. BG would never have invested in BYD, for example. Still, for the original poster, a 25-year-old who is currently scared of stocks, I'd still say Rule #1 is a good place to start. Security Analysis isn't exactly light reading.
  - eru 16y ago
    I agree, and you are right, Buffet started out with Graham but doesn't follow him any longer. (And I did not downvote you.) I recommended Security Analysis because it is hard reading -- we are on Hacker News here. If you do not have time or inclination to read Security Analysis (or some other heavy weight text), perhaps you should just buy some index fund instead of picking stocks. (That's what I did by the way, despite having read that book.)
    - richardw 16y ago
      Cool, I wasn't sure but thanks for the note :)
deleted 16y ago
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eru 16y ago

If you really want to do what Buffet does, read "Security Analysis" by Benjamin Graham, Buffet's mentor, or his more casual "The Intelligent Investor". If stocks have gone down, that's not the right time to sell. When stocks are valued much more by the market than you think is reasonable, then selling might be interesting. Avoid transaction costs and other fees as much as possible.

richardw 16y ago
I fricken love places you get downvoted by adding to the conversation. Anyways, Buffett went far further than BG ever did. Charlie Munger played a part in his transformation from picking up cigarette butts to being the investor he is today. BG would never have invested in BYD, for example. Still, for the original poster, a 25-year-old who is currently scared of stocks, I'd still say Rule #1 is a good place to start. Security Analysis isn't exactly light reading.
- eru 16y ago
  I agree, and you are right, Buffet started out with Graham but doesn't follow him any longer. (And I did not downvote you.) I recommended Security Analysis because it is hard reading -- we are on Hacker News here. If you do not have time or inclination to read Security Analysis (or some other heavy weight text), perhaps you should just buy some index fund instead of picking stocks. (That's what I did by the way, despite having read that book.)
  - richardw 16y ago
    Cool, I wasn't sure but thanks for the note :)

deleted 16y ago

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