Stocks for college planning?

Roger_Dooley
Tue, 04 Oct 2011 14:55:34 +0000

if anyone has any stock pick ideas for my son to look into




For real investing, avoid stock tips from any and every source (unless Warren Buffett happens to call you up).

For stock investing games, to win you have to get lucky by picking a risky stock that pays off. Conservative choices almost never win these things, particularly as the number of players increases. Acquisition candidates, small biotech firms that might benefit from an FDA approval, tech companies involved in litigation that might come to a conclusion in a month or two - all the kinds of things you’d never want to put real money into. Diversity is your enemy in these games, too. Spread the money over multiple stocks, and someone who put everything on one stock will beat you. There are two outcomes - win, or crash & burn.

Back to reality: like some of the folks above, I’m a fan of using low cost funds and ETFs. While index funds are the lowest overhead and should likely be the foundation of your portfolio, you may want to diversify with some specialty funds too - emerging markets, dividend funds, etc.