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I'm not sure if "legal employment" is the best place to put this. Anywho, I don't know anything about investment, and since my goal is to save as much money as possible while in big law, what is a good book. In addition, what are good strategies? I will have about 60k in debt, and a 160k job in an (expensive) secondary market.

In addition, I anticipate my monthly costs will be 3,500$ (if I'm disciplined)

A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton G Malkiel. Buy and hold, avoid fees, start early and you're golden.

BrazilBandit wrote:A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton G Malkiel. Buy and hold, avoid fees, start early and you're golden.

Basically this. Don't try to do anything fancy, just buy shares of large cap companies in diverse industries and hold them all long. To be honest, it's probably best to just invest in an index fund and call it a day. Do not panic and sell as the market fluctuates. Just set aside a portion of your salary each month to invest and consistently invest in the index fund each month.

Read and understand this stuff to get started:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_investing

http://www.amazon.com/Intelligent-Inves ... min+graham

Anyone with advice or readings on the pros and cons of index funds vs etf?

nachosrgood wrote:Anyone with advice or readings on the pros and cons of index funds vs etf?

Depends on the etf type.
If the investments' underlyings are
NOT futures :

Look at expense ratios. Typically etfs are better way to go

If they ARE futures, do not do etfs b/c of contango (google this term)

Index funds that invest into spot would be better in this case.


OP: read Peter Lynch

boggleheads.

index funds thru vangard.

/endthread.

BrazilBandit wrote:A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton G Malkiel. Buy and hold, avoid fees, start early and you're golden.

+1

TFALAWL wrote:I'm not sure if "legal employment" is the best place to put this. Anywho, I don't know anything about investment, and since my goal is to save as much money as possible while in big law, what is a good book. In addition, what are good strategies? I will have about 60k in debt, and a 160k job in an (expensive) secondary market.

In general it seems this is the hierarchy:

(1) Get an Emergency Fund (3-6 mo expenses)
(2) Pay off High Interest Debt
(3) Max out tax Advantaged Investments (401k and IRA - roth or traditional) - this is $23,500 by the way, all pre tax if you go w/ traditional ira
(4) Non-Tax Advantaged Investments (Vanguard index fund, do a total market one like VTSMX; throw in VGTSX and VBMFX if you want to cover international equities & bond market)

Live well below your means and invest a high percentage of your take-home pay in relatively conservative investments like the above. You'll be surprised how much money you accumulate through the magic of compound interest.

I'd start with this: http://www.amazon.com/Corporate-Finance ... 0132138794

Then I'd reach out to finance buddies or clients once you start working.

A Random Walk Down Wall Street is a classic and should be read for a number of reasons.

Agree with the posts above. I also really liked "If you can: How Millenials Can Get Rich Slowly" (I'm assuming you're roughly that age - apologies if mistaken). The author gives some really simple advice on exactly how to invest (it's all Vanguard stuff). He also has a great bibliography (milliionaire next door, random walk down wall st., etc). FYI it's available for free every now and then

https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Main_Page

Read through the wiki. It's free, well written and will be more than enough for the typical passive investor.

Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey

Personally helped me clean up my finances and live life on my own terms without financial worry.

Buy apple stock.

/endthread

Just invest in some index funds, target retirement date funds, etc. If you get tempted to day trade or get fancy, read Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Taleb.

just buy vanguard is about has helpful as "buy low sell high." Vanguard is a low cost and reputable option, but it has 52 ETFs alone

Also this advice all seems great for the current bull market. Just buy Apple.

lacrossebrother wrote:just buy vanguard is about has helpful as "buy low sell high." Vanguard is a low cost and reputable option, but it has 52 ETFs alone

The index funds are what they're known for. I think it's safe to assume that's what most posts were referencing. Target date funds for early/mid career mainly the stock index fund with some bonds. It moves more toward bonds as retirement gets closer

I have made around 12% return on a couple of stocks of large cap. corp. It that above average for non-index stock investments? at the end of the day I'm happy because its disposable income that would have otherwise sat in a bank account with .03% interest

The above information. I would also like to add that I have found the below helpful:

The Essays of Warren Buffet
The Intelligent Investor
and Peter Lynch's book (the title of which I can't recall)

Re: Vanguard; watch the fees on the investor level index funds (as compared to the admiral funds).

is investing in real estate not recommended post-crash?

..

A little off topic, but does anyone know of a book that is similar to Barbarians at the Gates for startups/venture capital?

Anyone use Betterment? If so, is this a good option if I'm just looking to passively invest in bonds/indexes?

GunnerBingo wrote:Anyone use Betterment? If so, is this a good option if I'm just looking to passively invest in bonds/indexes?

Check the expense ratios; if I recall correctly there was something off putting about them for me.