Thanks for sharing! We tend to agree with you that being your own investor is often the best bet - especially if you have the time and experience. That's excellent to hear about using the guru screens to filter out the good from the bad. Yes, the fact that many brokerages are forgoing their additional fees makes investing open to a lot more people and a lot easier in general.
I really think you'll enjoy the next section "S" - Selecting and Managing Your Investments, because we will delve into buy/sell rules and guidelines for stock, fund and bond selection - since you mention having your buy/sell rules.
Original Message:
Sent: 02-26-2022 13:57
From: Hugh POLING
Subject: Identifying Your Investment Management Preferences Webinar
Hats off to John D for detailed post highlighting that it is not all-or-nothing for investment management. I hope others note, "Since I am still learning I limit myself to purchases of $1000.00 per trade." I used the same approach to get started in active investing, taking a little non-essential money to implement the Big Idea on a small scale. It really helps to build skill by actually doing and confidence by knowing you will still eat even if the worst happens. It is so sweet these days with no-commission / no-minimum brokerages that this approach accessible to even very small scales.
My sell rule includes a minimum time interval. I keep track of my buy/sell calendar on a spreadsheet, columns for stocks and rows for years. Following sheets have my notes from periodic review of favorite AAII Guru screens, fleshing out passing company metrics to the few warranting serious consideration. My purchases have ended up in two brokerage houses, from historic/estate reasons. I've been slow to consolidate as I like/dislike certain elements of each brokerage. It is not uncommon for me to draw from both for researching a particular investment.
In the long term, I plan to simplify to one brokerage and two accounts, an S&P500 growth bucket and a bond/savings bucket for defense. I haven't found a compelling demonstration that professional management is doing noticeably better than the market. We've talked about aggressive/defensive balance previously so we have a recipe for a good balance of the two that is straightforward to implement oneself.
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Hugh POLING
amateur radio station KC7HP
Original Message:
Sent: 02-26-2022 13:01
From: John Darby
Subject: Identifying Your Investment Management Preferences Webinar
Jenna:
I w have a traditional IRA at TD Ameritrade.
I wrote about my status previously.The IRA is designed by them. It follows a conservative investment style. I is mainly and all ETF investment. Since it is a Traditionsl IRA I take my withdrawals based on the formula developed so that it will last over 25 years if I just take the minimum. The dividends a received as cash. They cover the fee charges. The fee is a percentage of the balance in the portfolio. All buying and selling is die by a portfolio manager, as I explained previously I just send them a withdrawal request and the sell enough to raise the cash I need and send it to my bank account which I setup.
My regular account is managed by me. I have the Platinum service with AAII. So I use the model portfolios for deciding what to buy and sell.
I created one portfolio at AAII that contains both of these investments.
I have several othe AAII portfolios that help me track AAII investments.
I have a buy list that I created for stocks I follow. I have and ETF list that contains all the ETFs in these accounts plus others that interest me. I also have AAII lists by sector so I can see what sectors I am invested in and how they are doing. With A+ I can see my allocation by sector. Wayne did an article about the education sector recently. I didn't know about that. Thanks Wayne. So my investment style and my preferences mostly follow what AAII does. My favorite guru is O'Shawnessey. I like his value style. So I select ETFs from Vanguard to invest in and follow. If I need to add to a sector I use Vanguard. They kits the top 10 stocks ant the percentages. I look at those and use the a AAII grades to help me decide.
Since I am still learning I limit myself ti purchases of $1000.00 per trade. This keeps me from losing too much should my investment choice goes down. My sell rule is 20% decline. I rely on dividends to raise cash and make choices. However I have sold stocks and increased my investment in ETFs. My investment style is conservative. So I am working on my regular account and trying to make more conservative investment choices.
Original Message:
Sent: 2/24/2022 2:46:00 PM
From: Jenna Brashear
Subject: Identifying Your Investment Management Preferences Webinar
Determining Your Investment Management Preferences
Reflect
Our PRISM webinar focused on the numerous investment management options available to you such as: self-directed, bolt-on approach, adviser investor, index investor, funds, etc. As we wrap up "I" - Identifying Your Investment Management Preferences, we want our members to think about what we learned in the past five lessons as well as the webinar.
Think about your potential constraints, types of accounts, benefits of choosing between funds versus securities, as well as considering if you need professional assistance. Now, take these preferences and think about your definitive choice. In this final lesson, we will ask you to choose which approach you will be taking before progressing into Step 4: "S" - Selecting and Managing Your Investments.
Engage
First, watch the webinar above and take additional notes if necessary.
If you haven't done so already, please complete the "Identifying Your Investment Management Preferences" worksheet, which assesses what type of investment management preference may be right for you.
Lastly, participate in the below discussion to prepare for next week's lesson: "S" - Lesson 1
Participate
Complete the worksheet and answer this one question in the discussion below:
- Taking into account your personal preferences and constraints, who will manage your portfolio?
Discussion Example
- For now, I will continue to be a partially hands-on investor, invested in both securities and funds. Additionally, I will enlist an advisor for specific tasks such as planning for a mortgage and tax advice.
View and download the Identifying Your Investment Management Preferences worksheet
Questions about coursework for Step 4: "I" - Lesson 1-6? Feel free to drop them in the discussion below!
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Jenna Brashear
AAII Community Manager
Chicago, IL
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