Too bad you aren’t looking for stocks, though – BAC is on sale :)

For example, your 401k – even with a 100% employer match – will only return 12% over 20 or 30 years.

If you really want to invest for higher returns, then save up a deposit and buy some investment real-estate.

Over the same time period, a $30k / 20% deposit NOW will get you a 66% greater capital return than the 401k option or a $36k per year net income (indexed for inflation).

However, if you are happy to stay lazy, then leave it in the lowest cost Index Fund that you can find and ‘invest’ your time instead in improving your job/income prospects.

If one looks at the value that gold SHOULD be at (money supply increase vs. inflation vs. gold supply increase), then you’ll see that gold is really undervalued. $930/ounce is actually not a new record for gold prices, considering inflation.

Buy when everyone is selling, Sell when everyone else is buying. – Probably from Warren Buffet.
and right now, everyone seems to think we’ve hit the bottom, ( cept me, of course )

Good Luck

Here’s why:
1. You’ll achieve diversification (Real Estate has a low correlation with broader market stocks)
2. Low cost (VNQ’s Net Expense Ratio = 0.12)
3. Manager Tenure = 12 years
4. Low relative price (RE was hit hard last year and early this year. Prices have appreciated but I believe the market has over-punished most REIT’s)
5. You’ll get dividends but, since this is a Roth, tax consequences are not a concern — only the reinvestment is a consideration for you.

Above all, don’t try to “time the market.” Forecasting, as you know, is a fool’s game…

“Those who have knowledge, don’t predict. Those who predict, don’t have knowledge.” ~ Lao Tzu

BUY 100 XHB
SELL TO OPEN 1 XJLAW

Sit back, relax, drink a margarita and call me in January 2009.

In order to fully vest at 17% you’d need to invest $4520 and sell two contracts.

If you look at my recommendations last year (XLE, GDX) you would have done fairly well. The question now is will you doubt me again or invest ;) ?

Another way of getting exposure to the housing/real estate is through REITs, which you can do through an ETF like ICF. You’d definitely want to reinvest dividends.

You could also get some diversification through some smaller cap foreign investments, again through an ETF like GWX.

GRS, if I have sell that contract for $380, but keep half of my money in cash (earning a low interest) aren’t I really returning about 10% on my $4,000? It’s not bad between now and January, but I’m not sure it’s breath-taking.

According to the About page, Lazy is 31 years old. If he retires at 55, Warren would be 102 – not unreachable but highly unlikely.

Sell 1 contract XJLAW (January 09 $23 strike) and earn $380 (17.39%)

On January 16th, XHB will be above or below $23. If it is above $23, you’ll earn an additional $40 minus commissions. If XHB is below $23, you’ve locked in 17.39% and could possibly sell January 2010 $23 strikes.

If XHB drops significantly, to say $17, buy 100 more shares (with free cash) and sell more calls near the money.

Rinse, Repeat, Get Rich Slick.

- The account has around $25,000 of investments in it. It’s not like I have $25, $25, $25, $25 in the ETFs that I outlined and one $4000 would dominate the allocation.
- I don’t currently have dividend reinvestment set up in the plan. Typically I wait until the next year and grab those dividends with the new deposit and buy new shares again. It usually leaves me with a small cash position less than $100 that I’m okay with. If I’m going with something that produces significant dividends, I need the ETF to do the work of keeping them investing and not putting cash into my account. Yes, I’m that Lazy :-).