Mine would be, what is the balance?

There's Mortgage, Retirement, Savings, and Improvement (sweat equity). Do you put money to pay off your mortage, or put sweat equity into the house instead? In the past, sweat equity netted higher gains than paying off the mortgage and the stock market was great I netted huge gains in my retirement, plus life was great why bother with savings.

I got burned. I have always ordered them as Retirement, Improvement, Mortgage, and Savings. I think I screwed up the balance as my retirement at first took a nose-dive. My sweat equity went to crap with the housing crash, and I did not have enough in my emergency savings when my son and wife both had to have operations at the same time.

Had I a balance I think I would've faired better. The end result was, during all the stock turmoil I increased my retirement contributions into the stock market. Now that the market has recovered I have ginormous amounts in retirement but it's locked up when I need more cash. The housing crash, my losses to sweat equity would've been offset by the 5.75% saved putting it against my mortgage instead. Putting less into retirement and more into savings would've likely saved me from having to use a lot on my credit card for the hospital bills. The question is, what is a typical balance.

I would ask: What is the best overall mix of investments?. I know that's probably something that will give a very wide range of answers, but as I am only beginning to venture into this area, I see that it can be very confusing for someone who isn't interested in learning more about the subject. There are of course materials already on the interwebz that will help guide you, but it's something I would be interested in hearing about.

Thank you for the questions. I will pass them on to our expert.

I will answer 1 right now:

To answer you JMac453 there is no perfect mix of investments. There is only the right mix for you and what you want out of life. Also, you have to look at how much risk you are willing to take.

For me personally I invest in businesses and income-producing real estate. I love cash flow and I am willing to take big calculated risks in order to make my vision a reality.

The last thing I would say is that you also need to look at how much time you are willing to spend. If you do not want to do any work then expect to get a lower rate of return because you are paying peple to manage your money. You could manage your own mix of stocks or buy an index fund yourself or you could buy a mutual fund. Of course with the mutual fund you will pay a management fee which will erode your return

Hope this helps

What is the best way to save and make money at the same time.