What are Your Personal Investing Strategies?

[Chriskent13]

I am a new investor using the Robinhood App on my phone, but I am not sure if I should do day trading or focus more on a long term strategy. 

What have you all found to be the best method for you?  And, do you think the market is going to drop again like it did in 2008 because if it is, I should probably wait until it does that before I buy a bunch of stock and then they just tank.

Right now people can get a free stock using that app, but I don't have anyone that I know that I can refer, so that method of investing won't work.

Any suggestions will help!

[Tresbn00]

I love that application. My intention was to buy and hold through thick and thin. I employ dollar cost averaging by buying each month regardless of the price. A large portion of my choices mimic the stocks chosen by Warren Buffett for his Berkshire Hathaway holdings. I have a portion of stocks that are tied to the two industries that I work in and another portion that has done really well tied to a part time job I have. I also buy gimmicky stocks with the intention of passing them on to my kids when I pass. My choices generally center around stocks that pay better than a three percent dividend. I have been increasing my daytime 401K by one percent in every year tied to a salary increase and have employer matching. I did the same thing with my night time job but do not get employer matching from them. I have also been lucky with peer to peer lending. I also read several money blogs each week and one of them specializes in pointing out banks that pay cash bonuses for opening accounts.

[Chriskent13]

It appears that I have a similar strategy mindset.  I do have one question, however.  Have you found that purchasing stocks each month has been profitable, or are you losses out weighing your gains? 

I also look for stocks that have a high interest rate, typically over 3%.  I've also started looking into new IPO's that are not heavy in debt and are using the funds for expansion rather than getting out of debt.

Thanks for your comments.

[Azanne07]

I wish I had the extra money to be able to save. Right now I have a CD at a credit union.

I have $25 in the account and it makes 1 penny of interest every month. I might be up to $26 by now. I will have to check. The credit union is like a 35/45 minute drive for me so I haven't been using that bank all that much. I also have $5 or $6 in a savings account from them.

I am surprised that they haven't just closed out my accounts from the lack of activity.

[kingozzy]

I HAVE A 401K and I have my money in there and just cross my fingers!

[lhz123]

Just a 401K and contributes higher percentage so that I can have a better retirement. Glad my husband have a good job also .

[Chriskent13]

I've heard that taking advantage of an HSA is also a great investing strategy, and may even be better than a 401(k), Roth and other investments because of the Tax advantage.  Has anyone had experience with this?

[jgw007]

To put change into that jar on my end-table.

[rghvac69]

I put money into my savings account every month.

[snicole9519]

I save loose change into separate water jugs and deposit every $5 bill I put my hands on into a savings account that yields 6.15% interest.
I'm reluctant to "gamble" in stocks... :/

[minioncookies]

I haven an advisor that helps me with my stocks and bonds. If i didnt have him id be lost and probably flat broke

[fjaz1]

I wouldn't do it on a phone

[catherinedwhite]

I agree with fjaz1, I wouldnt do any investing on my phone.

[Chriskent13]

I save loose change into separate water jugs and deposit every $5 bill I put my hands on into a savings account that yields 6.15% interest.
I'm reluctant to "gamble" in stocks... :/

Wow, where are you getting a 6.15% interest rate in a savings account.  I am getting .06%.  Is it in a CD or some other type of investment, or is it just a savings account at a bank?

[snicole9519]

I save loose change into separate water jugs and deposit every $5 bill I put my hands on into a savings account that yields 6.15% interest.
I'm reluctant to "gamble" in stocks... :/

Wow, where are you getting a 6.15% interest rate in a savings account.  I am getting .06%.  Is it in a CD or some other type of investment, or is it just a savings account at a bank?

BarclayUS. It's an online bank. They offer a variety of accounts but I use their "Dream Account". And I was wrong, I forgot they increased their base interest rate to 1.2% this past week. You get 2 opportunities (you can double up) to increase that rate by 2.5% each opportunity. One is for making consecutive deposits for 6 consecutive months and/or more(even a penny counts) and the other is by not withdrawing for 6 consecutive months and/or more.

I was surprised and a bit skeptical at first but man... at 21 years old, having this account is jump starting my retirement fund like crazyyy. Go check it out! I've had my accounts with them for almost 2 years and never had any isssues.

The only thing is that withdrawals take like 3-5 days to get. BUT I like that because... being a 21 yr old female who loves shopping.... it prevents spontaneous and frivolous spending