My interest in investing came from both my grandfather/father and my boss at work. When my grandfather retired in the late 50's he spent his days either with some cronies watching the tape at the local ML office, fishing, or tending his flower shrubs. I didn't know what he was investing in until after he died which is normal as I was still in school and more interested in school than my future life. My grandmother started talking about the different companies and what was happening to them (buyouts, spinoffs, etc.). Then when she died and my mother inherited the portfolio I saw that it consisted of first quality dividend paying stocks. Until my ...More mother's death the process continued without any significant purchases or sales -- nor any dividend reinvestments. The money was accumulated and invested in good mutual funds my dad liked.
My dad was a doctor and knew nothing about investing but a kind patient ( a crony of my grandfather) bought some stock for him in the late 50's with the comment "pay me when you can or give them back to me at anytime". He repaid him. The patient did this again about 2 years later. Same result. This small investment in a Louisiana land and oil and gas company (which no longer exists) paid for a new house and our educations, etc. My dad then started investing in mutual funds and dividend reinvesting. He loved Magellan and the Neuberger funds. He had them until his death.
My boss got me interested in AAII then when I moved to the home office I joined a small local investment club. Eventually I kept the club "sheet" -- the monthly tally of investments with relevant information (yield, gains/losses, tracking against the 500, etc.) . It was complex but fun. I stayed with that club even after moving away and kept their sheet too for almost 20 years. I joined a new club and repeated the process.
Now, I don't have any club but I continue to discuss stocks with friends.
The "dot com bubble" really crushed me and turned me into a DGI.
Now I have about half in stocks (COP, PG, XOM, CVX, KMR) and half in funds/ETFs (Health Care, Small Cap, Medium Cap, Energy, Primecap, REITs -- all Vanguard). One day I'll inherit part of my granfather's small but solid portfolio......
I want the portfolio to act as it did for my grandfather and mother. Hence, I am trying to educate our daughter in how this works. She's not investment savy but she is extremely smart and a quick learner in medicine so the process won't be too difficult.
Seminal reading: Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead, Think & Grow Rich, The Bible
My interest in investing came from both my grandfather/father and my boss at work. When my grandfather retired in the late 50's he spent his days either with some cronies watching the tape at the local ML office, fishing, or tending his flower shrubs. I didn't know what he was investing in until after he died which is normal as I was still in school and more interested in school than my future life. My grandmother started talking about the different companies and what was happening to them (buyouts, spinoffs, etc.). Then when she died and my mother inherited the portfolio I saw that it consisted of first quality dividend paying stocks. Until my ...More