Anytime government issues overwhelm business news for as long as the debt ceiling crisis has, protecting your money should be a concern. Washington says that they have the votes to push the debt deal through. The deal would take the worst case scenario, debt default off the table. But until it happens everything is in limbo (at the time of this writing the debt ceiling vote hadn’t happened).
Throughout this debt debacle, several economic indicators have been released showing signs of a slowing economy. The current debt deal will only limit the governments ability to further additional economic growth. Which leaves the economy’s savior to jobs. If only the powers that be in Washington can find a way to agree on spurring job growth. Which is highly doubtful after watching their total lack of cooperation with the debt deal.
Until job hiring improves, and we shouldn’t expect significant changes for at least a year or more, we can expect slow economic growth through the November 2012 elections. So the big question is where should you be investing your money? With a timeline of 12-18 months, safety is the quick answer.
The 3% Plus Dividend Yield
The goal here is getting a better return on your money than you would in treasury bonds. The 10-year treasury bond is sitting at less than a 3% yield. You’re not risking much by investing in a stock, mutual fund, or ETF that has a dividend yield of 3% or more. Reinvest those dividends and compounding returns will only help the cause. Continue Reading…
Index funds have, arguably, been touted as the best investment for the average investor. They have consistently outperformed the majority of the actively managed mutual funds. Over the long term broad stock market index funds have averaged an annual return of about 8%. Unfortunately many investors have taken these points to assume an index fund is a safer investment. Which is far from the truth.
One of the hardest things to do with money in the market, is to hold on for the ride. The easy way out is to simple sell everything and curse the day you thought you could make money in the market. I’m not surprised that some people may feel this way. I think too often, people expect their money to only go up. But after ’08, I wouldn’t blame you for taking your money and going home.
It seems that hacking data networks has become the new fad recently. With companies like Google, Sony, Nintendo, Lockheed Martin, and most recently Citibank, it appears that, with the exception of Lockheed Martin, the attackers are going after customer data. All this coming at a time when the internet is experiencing an evolution to a wireless, mobile (or cloud) network.