Bogley

[erial]

something to consider:

Buy Series I bonds before April ends
A lot of savers with idle cash are griping about the low rates on savings accounts and CDs from banks. Well, Clark wants to offer a possible solution. It's been a while since he's talked about Series I savings bonds, which were a fantastic deal in the 1990s up to about 2001. They're a great deal once again if you buy them before the end of April. Over the next 6 months, you'll get a return of 4.28% APY. Beginning in October, the rate will bump up to 6.06% for the following 6 months. That's a very competitive rate.

Series I bonds are an unnecessarily complicated product. The "I" stands for inflation, and they're like the cousins of the original savings bonds. I bonds offers a fixed rate of interest for as long as you own them, plus a floating rate based on the rate of inflation. You can own I bonds for a minimum of 1 year and a maximum of 30 years.

I bonds give you the opportunity to benefit from what's harming you. As high inflation erodes the value of your savings, I bonds give you the rate of inflation and a guaranteed return. That guaranteed return is puny, but earning anything about the rate of inflation on something that's 100% safe is great.

You can buy I bonds online from the U.S. Treasury at SavingsBonds.gov for as little as $25 or in-person from some banks and credit unions for a minimum of $50. The maximum amount you can buy is $5K per Social Security number. Be sure to pick them up now before the rates reset on May 1. You should plan on holding I bonds a minimum of 18 months until October 2009. If you surrender them before 5 years, you'll forfeit the last 90 days interest. So you don't want to cash them in a year from now and forfeit the 6.06%. The trick is to bail out when rates are bottoming out.

[GOCK]

"Speaking of gurus, can someone explain/manage my 401(k) for me?"

Your 401k is supposed to be for retirement. when you reach 59 1/2 you can take out monwy without penalty but with income takes. After age 70 1/2 you will be required to take money out (So "THE IRS" can get what is "THEIRS")

You should contribute no more than your company will match. For example, your company will match 50% up to 1,000 a year. Make sure you dont put more in it than that. If you want to save more money start a Roth IRA with some investment guy or through TD Ameritrade or one of the thousands of comapny's like them.
The problem with 401k's and IRA's are that you are typically saving money for retirement hoping that your tax rate will be less so you can use teh money in a more favorable tax invironment. However this is usually not the case. You lose the deduction of your mortgage interest, you lose the deduction of kids, you retire your business and lose all those tax right off's leaving you with nothing to deduct and a bunch of money that you have to start taking as income.

So that is why you should consider ROTH IRA's.
As far as where to invest I dont know, start with "As far as a good stock tip goes, I just heard that a company called SUNOVIA is supposed to do very well and is only 50 cents a share right now. I invested a couple of hundred dollars just in case, and I thought I would pass that on."

:2thumbs: