Lisa Martin, Ph.D.
instructor, Family Financial Planning Certificate Program
College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences
llmartin1@ncat.edu
Building Black Wealth: A Q&A
Your questions are being answered by:
Danielle Winchester, Ph.D.
and Associate Dean
Deese College of Business and Economics
ddwinche@ncat.edu
Questions
The types of investments that a beginning investors, or any investor for that matter, makes should take into consideration their individual risk tolerance, their investment time horizon, and the risk-return profile of the investment. Some financial advisors suggest investing in the stock market only if your investment time horizon is five years or greater. Regardless, keep in mind that diversification is very important. By spreading your investment dollars across a variety of investments, you can reduce investment risk. This makes mutual funds and Exchange-traded-funds attractive to many beginning investors. These instruments allows an investor to purchase a ""basket of securities"" instead of individual stocks and bonds."
As you enter this stage in life and are playing catch up you would need to determine how risky you want to be and what types of investment you are comfortable with. There are some very good mutual fund who have a horizon which coincide with your retirement age which you can look at as possible investments.
At 55 you can take advantage of catch-up provisions when investing in IRAs also.
That depends on the friends. You need to make sure your fellow investors are likeminded investor with similar risk tolerance, investment styles, etc. Most of all you need to make sure you can TRUST them.
You should invest in risky investments when you are younger.
Property is less suspectible to market volatility but it is also affected by many market factors such as inflation and interest rates.
No, it is not. Cryptocurrency is like any other investment. You have to do your research and understand the market.
Yes, a college degree is still a good idea. Wealth building involves knowledge and exposure which can be gained by pursuing a 4 year degree. If you do not know you cannot grow.
Have you checked it any of the student loan forgiveness options? Here is a link with more information: https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation
I would not recommend not paying your student loans. That debt will haunt you forever and you cannot get away from it.