By Christian Gabis

Investors Active Investors Passive Investors Speculators

 Investing is something you can understand and that is enjoyable to you  You want to learn or already know how to understand financial statements  You have time to commit to researching and learning about companies  You have the patience to wait for good investments  You are in control of your own emotions

 Prefer to have others research and find good investments  Typically own mutual funds or Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)  Are willing to accept a market return (on average)  Are willing to pay others to manage their money

 Make trades based on market movements or other indicators they think are important  Buy a security because it has “gone up”  Don’t rely on underlying fundamentals of a company to dictate its value (think CMG)  Try to predict market movements or outcomes  Technical analysis, day-trading, etc.

 Mutual Funds:  Hold a large number of stocks to diversify,  Active and Passively managed  Expense ratio (Fees)  Tax Consequences  Performance LAGS MARKET 80% OF THE TIME FOR ACTIVE MANAGEMENT  ETFs:  More tax efficient than mutual funds  More liquid  Also charge an expense ratio  Better choice most of the time (especially for a lump sum investment)

 S&P 500 tracking ETFs: IVV  S&P 500 tracking Mutual Funds:VFINX  Actively managed Mutual Funds: LLPFX  Longleaf  Third Avenue Funds  Dodge and Cox  REMEMBER TO LOOK AT THE EXPENSE RATIO!!!

 Don’t try to “time” the market…it does not work  Open a brokerage account  As little as $100 will do for a start  The more $$$ you can commit the more options you will have when starting out  You could start buying individual stocks with as little as $500( but more is better)

 Open a brokerage account  Buy either and ETF or Mutual Fund (low cost)  Keep adding money  COMMON MISTAKE: You only need ONE fund. Don’t think you need to diversify with a bunch of S&P 500 mutual funds or ETFs!

 CDs  Savings Bonds  Municipal Bonds  Corporate Bonds  Brokered CDs  Treasury Securities  Speculations: Oil, Gas, Gold, Silver, etc.  Real Estate

 Capital Requirements ◦ Real Estate- High- but you could buy a REIT ◦ Commodities-High- but there are ETFs that track the underlying commodity ◦ CDs- Around $1000- subject to interest rate changes and inflation ◦ Bonds- High-$10,000- can buy funds that expose you to bonds ◦ Savings Bonds- Low- $25- Generally Poor Investment- subject to inflation risks

 This is where CCIG comes in ◦ Finding undervalued securities ◦ Finding arbitrage situations ◦ Sharing ideas ◦ Experiences (failures and successes) ◦ Support and information resource ◦ Attempting to beat the market ◦ Meeting other investors