Do you think that direct investing is smart?

It can be good for some people. Myself, I'm too lazy - I can't be bothered to do all the research, monitoring and maintenance that goes into direct investing. I did it for awhile, and I had some success, but I decided it's just too much hassle. Plus, in the years I was actively trading tax time was a real headache.

Some people think that stuff is fun, but I would just as soon pay a mutual fund 1% a year (a little more for overseas funds) and let the fund managers do all that stuff for me. I'm missing out on the possibility of finding that "home run" stock, but I've been happy with my returns.

I think that direct investment is good for a portion of your income portfolio. Well the first thing is that if you are just going to buy an index fund, then save the churn, and the expenses by buying shares directly that mimic the index. The other hand is a money manager who will charge a couple percent to invest for you. The days of Magellen are over though and no money managers are really trouncing the market over the last 10 years. This is where I invest directly. I would caution you to learn to understand financial statements. In reality most stocks move based on news so if you find something that you think will be hot then buy it.

Ok, so I am definitely a skeptic when it comes to investing. Ive tried it all. I can't even begin to go on about the countless hours I've spent researching hundreds of different schemes. I'm sure you've heard em all, and seen them on TV. Sell this, invest in that, real estate, and the list goes on. Well Im sure you've heard of IPC then. This is program that allows you to receive $200 dollar payments, by running your own website. I never thought it could work, but then I read all the reviews about it and didn't find any negative ones. Well I tried it out, and I guess there's a reason because this system is amazing! Within the first couple hours After I posted a couple ads online, I got my first sale. Twenty minutes later, I got another one. I'm now up $400 and I just purchased this program about 4 hours ago. I couldn't believe it. . This is why I am telling you now, this program really does work. It includes some really helpful info also, it got my website up and running in about 30 minutes. Hopefully eventually this can support me and I don't have to work in restaurants anymore, but for now it's time to go to work. Good luck

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I do both. I have mutual funds and I also invest directly in companies. The types of mutual funds that I generally invest in are those that invest in stocks that I might not know too much about--Latin American stocks, Indian stocks, Asian stocks, Chinese stocks, and small cap stocks.

I do not think it is wise to invest in mutual funds that invest in large cap stocks. They are not very selective and they take 1.25% annually from you for something that you can probably do as well for a lot less.

Yes, I am diversified; but if one does not have very much money to invest the only way to diversify is to buy mutual funds. Closed end mutual funds can provide diversity without having to invest a minimum of $2500 in just one fund. You can buy as much of a closed end fund or and ETF index fund as you like.