Financial Links & Resources SMART INVESTING

SMART INVESTING

There’s so much information online and so many sales people trying to “help” you make decisions. You owe it to yourself to understand the basics. Good advice is worth paying for, but how will you know the advice is good unless you understand what they’re talking about! Start by using these sites:

Morningstar.com

http://www.morningstar.com/

This is the place to start your search for investment knowledge, research stocks and mutual funds and ETFs, and track your portfolio. Sign up for a free trial of Morningstar premium; it’s a worthwhile investment!

S&P 500 Investment Return Calculator

https://dqydj.com/sp-500-return-calculator/

Get serious about comparing investment returns and performance. This calculator lets you adjust for inflation, and for reinvested dividends between the dates you choose. Now you can truly compare the sales pitches with the reality of returns from an index fund.

Stockpile.com

https://www.stockpile.com/

Give a gift of shares, or fractional shares, in most stocks or ETFs. Stockpile makes it easy to give stock to a young person, maintaining the account online with no monthly fees, at a cost of 99 cents per transaction. The perfect holiday gift!

Sophisticated Investment Calculators

https://www.investopedia.com/calculator/

These calculators help you determine “present value”, dividend reinvestment, bond interest and pricing, and much more.

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