<p>Cambridge is a good place for investment but I’d want to look at the property first.</p>
<p>^^I agree. There are some sketchy areas in Cambridge. The houses tend to be older and may not be in good condition.</p>
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Are you going to record a mortgage?</p>
<p>I loaned money to my brother and we recorded the mortgage.</p>
<p><a href=“For Stock-Picking Advice, Don’t Ask an Economist - The New York Times”>For Stock-Picking Advice, Don’t Ask an Economist - The New York Times;
<p>I haven’t looked at the fund the author suggested but I think Vanguard Wellington and Wellesley are the sleep-well-at-night funds.</p>
<p>“College expenses are a pain.”</p>
<p>Ours weren’t. I LOVED paying the college bills - that’s what the money was for.</p>
<p>Krillies, those are pretty conservative funds…</p>
<p><a href=“http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-10/vanguard-wellesley-wins-with-income-tilt-riskless-return.html[/url]”>http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-10/vanguard-wellesley-wins-with-income-tilt-riskless-return.html</a></p>
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<p>If you’ve budgeted well and everything worked out, you executed your plan and should be happy. Just like running a business.</p>
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<p>Very wise to leave that problem behind. I won’t even consider real estate with bad foundations or mold. Many problems can be fixed, but those that cannot be fixed can result in a total loss of investment.</p>
<p>A friend posted this on another forum: let’s say that you’re a mega-multinational with a ton of cash in foreign countries because you made a ton of money there. Let’s say that you can borrow lots of money in the US at really low rates. Let’s say that you don’t want to bring the foreign profits back to the US because you don’t want to pay 35% taxes. Let’s say that your stock is traded on foreign exchanges. What can you do with all of that foreign cash that will increase the price of your stock?</p>
<p>Razorsharp, thanks.</p>
<p>I also turned down a bbb rated muni this week. The rates were something like 2 percent tax free for 5 years, 3 percent for 10 years, 4 percent for 20 years. The 20 year bond is callable after 10 years so if rates go up, You are stuck and if rates decline, the bonds are called away from you.</p>
<p>Then I also kind of turned down a chance to go into this fund that buys mortgages for pennies on the dollar. I think the projections are low double digit returns. There are some price discrepancies that can be taken advantage of. That fund has a minimum investment. Might be 250,000 or 500,000. Maybe the minimum is 100,000 to 1 million. I don’t know. I think these guys managing the fund are very good, but I don’t trust anybody. Then again, I am tired of selling puts. Lol</p>
<p>To go back to mortgages, Mortgage brokers that deal in seconds or problem firsts want their investors to just give them money and have the brokers decide which mortgages to invest in. I hate this. I look at some of the deals out there and gag. Ten percent loans on unimproved land. 12 percent loans on commercial properties in bad areas with crappy leases. Leases on crummy properties that house bad restaurants. You know the restaurant is gooing to blow and the place is going to be vacant.</p>
<p>"“College expenses are a pain.”</p>
<p>“Ours weren’t. I LOVED paying the college bills - that’s what the money was for”</p>
<p>The only way I can imagine someone just loving paying college bills is if they aren’t paying for most of the cost, and they feel as if they are getting a great deal. Now if someone else was paying for the bulk of my kids 112K college bills last year…the school, the taxpayers, wealthier kids, alumni, grandparents…I’d be thrilled if all I had to do was write a small check for the rest.</p>
<p>Not complaining, as it was our choice. But in most people’s situation, paying college bills is a pain.</p>
<p>“The only way I can imagine someone just loving paying college bills is if they aren’t paying for most of the cost, and they feel as if they are getting a great deal.”</p>
<p>Why? Some people get great pleasure in buying an expensive car, or a diamond, or a house (or house addition), or whatever. Why would college costs for a child you really love be any less than that?</p>
<p>And the cost is all relative to income. When you get the bill, you are paying for ALL of it - the entire bill as the college has presented it to you - and the college has filled all the seats, just like an airline with various levels of pricing (although it tends to be a little bit less arbitrary than that.) The nature of need-based aid is that you have to PAY based on your circumstances.</p>
<p>Now I’m spending my money and time on other things. I work 60 hours a week for free, and give money to the foundation I work for on top of it, and feel extremely grateful to be in a position to do so. The college bills are now long gone, but I don’t regret them in the least, and I remember the thrill in being able to pay them.</p>
<p>I have never experienced any thrill in making money. I get a great thrill constantly making sure it gets to places where it will really make a difference.</p>
<p>Post7551, you invest the money overseas is the simplest answer. I do not think buying adrs works because adrs represent shares issued in the United States. </p>
<p>One of the links that doct posted haphazardly yesterday was quite interesting. Companies are having a hard time finding places to put their money or invest their money that throws out high returns.</p>
<p>If we invest in companies and these companies are making low returns then eventually we are going to get low returns. </p>
<p>I believe as a whole there are maximum returns. I am simplifying things now. lol If the stock market can only make 10 percent a year and it makes 20 percent a year for 10 years, the stock market is just accelerating the gains. The stock market is taking future gains and bringing them into the present. So… The present looks better but the future looks worse. </p>
<p>The stock market usually crashes from elevated levels. If the stock market goes up 8 percent a year there is likely to be less froth in the market compared to going up 20 percent a year. </p>
<p>In 1999, the nasdaq index was up 85 percent. 14 years later, the nasdaq is still well below its highs.</p>
<p>I am not a big fan of huge moves in the stock market because the after affects are ugly to society. But… I don’t control things. Lol</p>
<p>I don’t get much of a thrill anymore making money, but I get less of a thrill spending hundreds of thousands of dollars.</p>
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<p>ADRs are foreign companies traded on US exchanges.</p>
<p>The motivation on buying US shares on foreign exchanges would be to raise the stock price through cheap recycled Fed dollars. Are stock prices going up?</p>
<p>“I don’t get much of a thrill anymore making money, but I get less of a thrill spending hundreds of thousands of dollars.”</p>
<p>That’s either because you don’t feel you have it, or don’t feel like you should have to.</p>
<p>What did it feel like when you bought the Bentley? ;)</p>
<p>BCEagle91, I was thinking of American shares traded overseas. Can American companies buy their stocks overseas with cash generated overseas?</p>
<p>There must be a reason these tech companies are sitting on this cash.</p>
<p>No mini…</p>
<p>And I would never buy a Bently. Things do very little for me. </p>
<p>I did put in a Swimming pool. That was extravagant. I am such a bad swimmer though. I almost drowned. I wanted my kids to be great swimmers and they are. My youngest swims great and just won gold medals in the local special olympics. Now she will swim in the nor cal games.</p>