I just sold all my Citigroup stock. I bought it at $4.05 and sold at $3.41 or something like that. Good thing I didn’t buy that much to begin with. Right after I bought it, it went up and then went down and stayed down.

I know that patience is required when it comes to dealing with stocks in the stock market, but ever since I got into Asset Allocation, I haven’t looked back. I am getting rid of my mutual funds and individual stocks. Well, all except one stock. I really like this one because it pays a HUGE dividend. From now on, I am only investing in low cost and tax efficient ETFs. You know, stuff I can actually feel good about putting money into for the next 30 years or so.

Let me tell you about my feelings on individual stocks. If you like to risk money, then by all means start investing in stocks. Hey, you might pick one of the best stocks in the world. Ummm, then one day there is a strike at the company or something happens to the CEO. Still the best stock? You get the idea. I don’t have faith in individual stocks. I know that when the highs are high, the lows are also low. There have been times when certain stocks have gone so low they never came back. I don’t have the stomach for that and neither should you.

I want you to take a look at a video. It’s of a very intelligent sounding gentleman giving his thought on Citigroup’s stock price.

Did you watch the whole video? I didn’t think so. Is this the way people really do this stuff? Let’s say this guy came over your house and made the same presentation. Would you write him a check for him to invest in Citigroup when he was finished? Probably not. Then why in the world would you put your money into something like this? I’ll be the first one to admit that I made a mistake when I did. Sure, you may be reading this at a time when this particular stock is going through the roof. It may, but they may also go bankrupt. Who knows. I have better things to do.

Here’s one last thought about very intelligent financial people. Have you noticed the economy lately? I bet you can’t even count how many very intelligent financial people have gotten us into this mess. Let’s just say that you shouldn’t listen to anyone…you should listen to everyone and then make the decision yourself. Look out for number one.

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If you have been living under a rock for the past few years, you’ll likely have no idea what I am talking about in this post, but if you have been roaming around in the general population, you might find this stuff interesting.

It’s all over the news. It’s the topic of conversation in bars and restaurants and your close friends might even be trying to get you bitten by the gold bug. Yes, it’s true folks, many people have gold fever. Well, not only gold, but silver as well. What do people call silver? The poor man’s gold.

A friend of mine has been bugging me for about a year to start buying gold and silver bullion. She likes the actual physical precious metal…to touch it, hold it and admire it. She doesn’t have much, but she does have a nice sampling of individual pieces. I must admit that I really like playing with the gold and silver when I am at her apartment, but I am not quite sure if I am going to get into it. She warns me that the apocalypse is coming and that I should stock up on a bunch of other stuff too. I do sometimes feel like she is a little nuts. But hey, if this is what helps her sleep at night, then so be it.

Investing in gold and silver is one of those things that people can never seem to agree on. You have the financial advisers who advise against it because they aren’t making any commissions on you and then you have the bullion companies who want you to reline your kitchen in gold wallpaper. Who should you believe? Who knows. My opinion on the whole thing is that if you have a few extra bucks laying around, maybe you should pick up a couple of bullion coins and throw them into a safety deposit box at your bank. Hey, it couldn’t hurt.

Since my friend keeps pushing and pushing, I decided to make her happy by purchasing a book. It’s called:

Rich Dad’s Advisors: Guide to Investing In Gold and Silver: Protect Your Financial Future
Written by Michael Maloney

Rich Dad's Advisors: Guide to Investing In Gold and Silver: Protect Your Financial Future

Here is a link to Amazon so you can read all the reviews.

I am thinking that if I ever do decide to purchase any gold or silver, at least I’ll be educated at it. The thing is, gold is very expensive right now. It’s hovering at $1100 an ounce today. Silver is between $15 and $16, so that may be a bit more realistic. I will wait for gold you go back down to $600 an ounce. If it goes up to $6000 an ounce like some gold bugs predict, I guess I am out of luck. That’s just too much. I will have to stick with my depreciated dollar.

I haven’t read the book yet, but from what people are saying, it’s very comprehensive. It pretty much tells you everything you want to know. We’ll see how it goes.

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This is my last book review for today. I already went over The Millionaire Next Door and More Wealth Without Risk.

Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money – That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not!
Written by Robert T. Kiyosaki and Sharon L. Lechter C.P.A.

Rich Dad Poor Dad

First, to save time, here is the Amazon link so you can read all the tons of reviews over there. My reviews are very short and not nearly as in depth as what you can find on Amazon.

I would first like to say that I really liked this book. There were some areas of real estate investing that I didn’t totally agree with and had some risk involved that I am generally not willing to take, but I really like the way this book read and the way it was structured. It was smooth and entertaining.

I do find this book helpful. It will benefit many of us out there who aren’t all that financially literate. It gives the necessary boost to those of us who might not quite know what to do next. This book clearly lays out the thought process of what makes a person an “investor, entrepreneur, take charge of your own life” kind of guy/gal as opposed to a “work for someone else all my life” type of person. As much as I agree with the entrepreneurial spirit, I also want to say that we need people who are willing to be good employees. The world is full of leaders and full of followers. That’s a good thing. I suppose this isn’t the book’s problem because it was written for the entrepreneur in us, not the employee.

Regarding real estate, the author seems lo love it. I’m not so in love with it. While it can make people very wealthy, it can also send you to the poor house, no matter how good your intentions. I think people need to know their limitations and intelligence level before getting into things like this. I suggest real estate investment trusts (REITs) for the average investor. It’s a heck of a lot easier than getting in way over your head with some potential investment property. My philosophy is to let other people work for me. I try to avoid remodeling ratty old bathrooms and not getting rent checks from lousy tenants. If you disagree, please speak to someone who has worked in the industry.

Overall, this was a good book. It you need a kick in the pants to change your life, give this one a shot. I have actually purchased another book in the Rich Dad series that I will share on this blog.

In the meantime, take a look at this video review on Rich Dad Poor Dad:

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As promised, here is another quick book review. It’s the second of three that I will do today. This book is another informative bundle of knowledge, but quite different than the previous book I discussed.

More Wealth Without Risk
Written by Charles J. Givens

More Wealth Without Risk

There are some things I really liked about this book and some that I didn’t. I’ll first go over the things I liked. Oh yeah, here is a link to Amazon so you can read the bazillion real reviews there.

First, I liked the way this book is laid out. It has many sections that are pretty informative. They are easy to find through the table of contents and make this book good for reference. It seems like the author really knows his stuff and has been there, done that. He shares his strategies on personal finance, taxes, investing, etc… he genuinely seems to care.

Okay, here we go. As much as I liked the layout, I wasn’t thrilled with it either. When I read, I am generally laying in bed at night. These books are what make me fall asleep easier. I like to go chapter by chapter, not heading by heading. It’s difficult to get into a book like this when you are expecting a more story-like structure. I mean, it’s my fault for not knowing this, but the”Look Inside” feature on the Amazon website didn’t go into the book far enough for me to know. Maybe it’s not my fault after all. So, overall it’s a good reference book, not so good for easy reading.

Also, I just want to say that I am a fairly conservative guy. I really liked the Millionaire Next Door because the traits of the interviewed millionaires and my own seemed somewhat aligned. They didn’t get into money saving “strategies” or ways to delve into nooks and crannies. The feeling in that book was more of a general sense, not so analytical. With that said, I did pick up some good tips from this book, such as how other people really don’t look out for you. It’s your own personal responsibility. I am going to be a bit more suggestive in my nature with this new knowledge.

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For the next few posts, I am going to do some really brief reviews on a few books I picked up over the last couple of days. Actually, I didn’t really “pick” them up, I bought them from Amazon. Hey, a used book for $3 is a heck of a lot better than a brand new one at five times the price.

The Millionaire Next Door
Written by Thomas J. Stanley, Ph.D. and William D. Danko, Ph.D.

The Millionaire Next Door

Now, this is probably the most famous of all the “Why am I not rich” books out there. While the wealthy people are already out there and are the ones who are being interviewed for the content of books like this, the rest of us are sitting at home reading these things wondering why we are the way we are. Now, I’m not going to give you a big long review here, I’ll link to Amazon for that. I have a strong allergy against reinventing the wheel. What I will do is tell you a just a few words what I like about the book.

The most appealing attribute laid out in this book is the fact that the wealthy in this country got wealthy living like our grandparents did. They didn’t get involved with risky real estate investments or some crazy stock market stuff. They were (are) cheap and know how to save. That’s right up my alley. I think the book lays out fairly clearly what we as a society are doing wrong today. If we continue to listen to all the advertisements we are bombarded with every day and actually act upon them, none of us will ever have a chance at being interviewed for a book like this.

Basically, I like the way these guys live below their means, have long lasting marriages and drive very straightforward non-flashy vehicles. I think that’s the way to go. Oh yeah, they also know how to save and work hard.

See, told you it was going to be short. Here’s a video review by Clint Maki. He does a great job reviewing this book.

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I just came across this handy little tool.

Every so often you need to sell some mutual fund shares. Whether it be just a few or all of them, you might need to calculate the number of days you owned them. The reason you need to know the number of days of ownership is because of redemption fees.

Many mutual funds charge a redemption fee if you sell the fund before a certain number of days. The funds that I just sold have a redemption fee of 2% if sold before 90 days have passed. There is another redemption fee of $49.99 that my online broker charges if the fund is sold before 180 days have passed. It’s these little charges that infuriate me and is one of the reasons why I am getting far away from mutual funds. I’ll take my losses now just to distance myself from things like this as well as their high management fees.

Now, I had already calculated the number of days of ownership in my head, but I needed to be sure. I did a little Google search for “calendar day calculator” and came across a very handy website called “Date Duration Calculator.”

Their system is very simple. Just enter the start date and the end date that you want to calculate. There is even a little button that will enter today’s date if need be.

Calendar date calculator - Screen shot courtesy of timeanddate.com

This tool made short order of my date duration calculation and I went ahead and sold the mutual funds. Of course, I got hit with the $49.99 charge, but due to the reasons above, I don’t mind.

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