Need rather break ?
Question:
I received this from a friend , and thought I'd share it.
Retirement Planning -
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If you had purchased $1000.00 of Nortel stock one year ago, it
would immediately be worth $49.00.
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With Enron, you would have have $16.50 left of the inventive
$1,000.00.
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With WorldCom, you would have have less than $5.00 not here.
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With Lucent, you would have $3.50 disappeared of the original $1000.00.
>
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But, if you have purchased $1,000.00 worth of beer one year ago, drank all the beer, next turned in the can for the aluminium recycling REFUND
you would own had $214.00.
>
Based on the above, the best current investment suggestion is to
drink heavily and recycle.
>
It's called the 401-Keg Plan.
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( the drinking unwieldy may not be a good hypothesis ! )
Answers:
If you did 1000 dollard with Apple when they first started you would own 40 thousand dollars to buy even more beer with.
Is it still a biddable model to invest surrounded by U.S. Government bonds,Interest rates one as they are very soon,what kind?
Question:
Answers:
Buy corporate bonds.
Check.. http://screen.yahoo.com/bonds.html...
AAA with yield of 7% are listed. Junk bonds relinquish 10-11%
To me, a Wal-Mart bond is as safe as a senate bond.
But, if you buy more than one bond, you can spread the risk around.
Unfortunately, brokers charge more for buying bonds than stocks.
If you buy TVC (Tennessee Valley), it is a stock but acts more approaching a bond and get a nice concede.
Buy in a mutual fund that have bonds. Right now I presume bonds are much safer than stocks. When the price of bonds goes down the interest rate go up and vice versa so you are always making money. Stocks are at an adjectives time high so there's more of a likelyhood they will tumble sometime soon.
I would say no...senate bonds take decades to evolve and they really dont amount to much for the amount of time you have to maintain them. I would say invest contained by CD's or other investment opportunities at your local guard.
Sure if you are looking for security and don't own a high risk tolerance. Personally, I would do short possession bond funds if you must have bonds surrounded by your portfolio.
No.
t-bills might be best.
Can it an in fact apt concept to invest within unwanted items bonds, sometimes!?
Question:
How about second-hand goods bond mutual funds. Wouldn't that help spread out the risk also.
Answers:
Absolutely. There are lots of mutual funds designed to do exactly that. The trade-off is sophisticated yield surrounded by exchange for a higher risk of evasion. Such funds tend to do well surrounded by a strong or improving discount, when companies with poor credit ratings are smaller number likely to defaulting on their debt payment. On the other paw, they are likely to find slammed in a recession, since weaker companies are smaller quantity likely to survive an monetary downturn.
Amendment: As an illustration of the benefits and risks of junk bond funds, please transport a look at Vanguard's High-Yield Corporate Fund (VWEHX), which "invests mainly contained by a diversified group of high-yielding, higher-risk corporate bonds—commonly known as 'junk bonds'". It is Vanguard's best performing bond fund for days gone by 1 year (11.10%) and 5 years (7.92%), but its 10 year return is a middle-of-the-pack 5.95%. The difference is that the economy be fairly strong within the past five years, but the later ten years included a recession.
No.
Do you dream up its worth every penny to salary for a financial advisor?
Question:
Answers:
If you have seriously of money, (hundred of thousands to invest, aside from your home) it might be a good choice, because a financial planner can supply you a more holistic view of your investments than your accountant or stockbroker would.
If you're similar to the rest of us meager schlubs, who may only hold thousands to invest, then you might be better stale just doing your own research, or just seeing a financial planner a few times when you're facing big changes (marriage, first home, etc). Most of the certified financial planners I've found charge at least possible $200 an hour.
If s/he's a good advisor,Perhaps!?
Often bank will have something call "investment day" or some sort of derevation of it. Regardless of what its called they usually bring surrounded by their own finical advisor who they pay to donate you advice. Usually they do this when they hold a promotion going on. Just walk into your edge and ask to speak with a finical representative, if he/she isnt here then they can brand name an appointment for you to meet them.
Highly unlikely. With for a time research, most people can deal with their investments better than any advisor, and at zero cost. And unsurprisingly, you are the one who is most interested in your money!
It depends on the advisor. Its merely like any other profession. Some mechanics are obedient and some arent. If you need a tire changed you probably dont necessitate a mechanic. If you need a tune-up you might. It depnds on what your requests are. Typically advisors charge an hourly rate for a set number of hours, and then you implement the adice yourself. Or, they charge a percentage of the portfoilo for continuous organization. You can be your own lawyer, and store a lot of money. But you know what they enunciate about the client that act as his own lawyer. You probably dont want one in small claims court. In a civil luggage you might. Its kind of duplicate with an advisor. A relationship near an advisor is much like beside a lawyer. They hold a fiduciary responsiblity to act contained by your best interests. Stockbrokers dont. If all you want to do is stick your money contained by a mutual fund, you can do that on your own. Funds have various restrictions and a narrow focus. Stock picking isnt investing. You should with the sole purpose do that with risk capial. Money you can afford to lose. Advisors craft money from increasing what you have. Not maintain what you have. Most clients wouldnt stay near them if that were the skin I would be wary of advisors that work on commission. Choose a fee-only advisor.
Never. As for budgeting you could glibly write down a budget and follow it to the T. For investing, all you necessitate is a good mutual fund. Charles Schwab have no load no annual levy mutual funds, and finding one that returns 10-15% annually is not uncommon. When you purchase a fund, you automatically enjoy anywhere from 1-10 financial advisors working on the growth of your investment. There only purpose is to analyze and choose a portfolio that will earn maximum return (in most cases). A financial advisor is solely concerned with maximize his/her commissions, and the amount you have to invest is directly correlated next to how much attention he/she is willing to allocate towards you (John Doe's portfolio next to $1.5 million, is going to receive much more attention than yours). With a mutual fund that is never a factor, money is pooled, and the fund manager(s) hold the same rank of interest in your investment as they do beside the tycoon who invested $12 million. Hope this helped.
Yes - if the advisor is GOOD. Most aren't. You are better stale becoming your own financial advisor. If you don't have the time, the alternative is to subscribe to an investment / stock picking service approaching:
http://www.tradingzoom.com/home...
Trading stocks surrounded by a Traditional IRA?
Question:
I know that I would have to payment taxes on any capital gain that are made by trading stocks in a Trad IRA, but be wondering how long a loss would carry over. For instance, would I be capable of protect 10K of gains made this year from the import tax man with 10K of losses that happen a few years ago? Are the gains/losses from trading in a traditional IRA a cummulative entity that works out once the IRA is withdrawn from?
Answers:
I'm not sure what question everyone else is answering, but I don't reason what your asking has anything to do next to a distribution. I believe what you want to know is if you trade in your IRA brokerage information, what are the tax ramification? Right?
If you move your IRA to a brokerage, like Fidelity or Schwab, next you can trade directly from it. You will not have to settle up any taxes on the gains but you also will not know how to take any losses any if your trades go unpromising on you.
With any IRA brokerage account, any gain or losses are not reported to the IRS, but you must keep track of you principle with a traditional IRA or you will enjoy to pay taxes on everything, not basically the gains, when the time comes for you to start taking your distributions. (This is not true for a ROTH, you never pay packet any taxes (ever) with a ROTH).
For the most chunk, I like to use my IRAs, both traditional and ROTH for quite safe investments, CDs and mutual funds. Once and a while and ETF. My stock investing (play) money, I use from my non-IRA brokerage depiction.
---
Distributions from IRA's in retirement are mostly taxed as uninteresting income. There are no gains and losses to report to the govt when using an IRA.
As a nonspecific rule, you will pay taxes on the entire amount that you cancel from a traditional IRA, not counting the amount of the withdrawal that represents non-deductible contributions. In effect, that way that 10k of losses will cancel out 10k of gain. You will have 10k smaller number in the IRA than if you hadn't suffered the loss, so (when the IRA is fully liquidated) you will hold paid taxes on 10k smaller amount of withdrawals.
You solely pay taxes on the amount you cancel from a traditional IRA. If you withdraw $1000, you recompense taxes on $1000. It doesn't matter if you traded heaps times, with multiple gain and losses or the life of the IRA. The $1000 that you repeal is income to you that hasn't been tax in olden times.
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It's a charge deferred acount. You take the distributions as widespread income. You deduct your contributions so those are a moment ago sitting in the reason hopefully getting bigger. There is no capital gain or loss. It's simply base on the deduction so recover yourself the accounting unless you are tracking performance measures.
Anyone know of a post-brankruptcy (15 mos) lender who will lend on investment properties -rentals, rehabs, etc
Question:
or know of - or where to find a private investor to loan or partner beside.
Answers:
Try borrowing from a subprime lender (though I don't recommend doing this).
You can always borrow through Prosper.com which is a those to people lend marketplace. Sort of close to an eBay for loans.
This accounting sound out is a brain buster. Anyone savvy satisfactory to answer it?
Question:
Jenkins Firm was organized on January 1, 2005, beside authorized capital of 500,000 shares of $10 par worth common stock. During 2005, Jenkins issued 20,000 shares at $12 per share, purchased 2,000 shares of treasury stock at $13 per share, and sold 2,000 shares of treasury stock at $14 per share. What is the amount of second paid-in capital at December 31, 2005?
Answers:
20,000 shares sold at 12$ per share near par value 10$ would create 2$ per share within APIC.
20,000 x 2$ = 40,000 in APIC
treasury shares purchased does not do anything to APIC underneath the gross method, which I assume the question is using.
However, they are sold for 1$ more than the amount they be acquired for. This add to APIC.
2,000 x 1$ = 2,000$ to APIC from treasury shares.
APIC at y/o Dec 31, 05 is
40,000 + 2,000 = 42,000$
PS.. you gotta read your book man if u want to learn this stuff
How do I verbs my stock from mutual custody to solely my given name?
Question:
I was given shares of Coca-Cola stock when I be younger, so under the AZ Uniform Transfers to Minors deed, it is listed as my mom's heading custody for me. Now I'm 22 years old, so how do I verbs it to my name?
Answers:
You don't requirement an attorney.
If the shares are held in a brokerage statement, follow their procedures. If not,
the transfer agent for Coca-Cola is Equiserve/First Chicago Trust Co. They would be capable of register the shares properly in your nickname.
Normally, you will need a certified copy of the birth ticket and possibly a letter from the custodian. However, Equiserve can describe you the precisely what they need.
Call an attorney to be sure. I would ponder you would need your Mom to release her custody rights on them by signing sour of them. Good luck
The name of the firm is presently called Computershare and it be formerly called Equiserve. It's still at www.equiserve.com. Here's adjectives the information that you need http://www.equiserve.com/shs/faq/index_f...
That will explain the process for you but I own copied out the part you obligation.
H) Custodial Account
Minor is now of age
Example of Old Registration: Doe Custodian for Jonathan Doe UTMA N.Y
Example of New Registration: Jonathan Doe
In the event that the effectiveness of the shares you are transferring is $6 Million or higher, please contact us for further requirements.
In directive to transfer stock, please submit the following:
1) If some or adjectives of the stock is in authorization form, all such physical certificate representing the shares you would like to verbs. If you are transferring book-entry (statement) you may proceed to the next requirement. (these are shares that you don't in reality posess)
2) A completed Transfer of Ownership Form signed by the former minor. The signature(s) must be Medallion Signature Guaranteed by an eligible Guarantor Institution such as a Commercial Bank, Broker, or Credit Union. (This is not notarized it's different. Brokers will do this for their clients but you might want to call surrounded by advance to see if they'll do it for you. Some bank do this but not all so again phone up and see if they do and be specific about "Signature Guarantee".)
3) The financial institution providing the Medallion Signature Guarantee will require documentation verify your age. Please contact the Medallion Signature Guarantee institution directly for information regarding what documents it will require.
4)Mail the completed form along beside your stock certificates (if applicable) to the address below:
Main mail address:
Computershare
P.O. Box 43070
Providence, RI 02940-3070
For overnight deliveries solitary:
250 Royall Street
Canton, MA 02021
We suggest you mail certificate by certified or registered mail and insure them for 3% of flea market value, covering the approximate cost for replacing such shares should they be lost or stolen surrounded by transit.
Where can I invest lb40k for 3 months?
Question:
I just stipulation to put it somewhere until my mortgage deal is over afterwards I can pay rotten a lump of the mortgage. My ISA is full for this tax year.
Answers:
Halifax On-Line Bonds can run for 3,4,5,6 or 12 months
Or
Cash Clip?!
I'll look after it for you !
I'll look after it for u..lol.... sorry... couldn't resist...xxx
If you dare, you can invest contained by market share or you a short time ago buy a blogs or sites that had deliver passive income give or take a few 1k a month.
Try ICICI HI-Save account 6.05% interest
buy premium bonds and when its time to pay envelope your mortgage you can cash um who know you might win a big price in three months you enjoy um buy maximum you can you have a better adjectives of winning accurate luck.
http://www.betbull.com/ui/default.aspx...
http://www.betdaq.com/ui/default.aspx...
lay 1 x horse to lose lose @ lb100 per day = lb700 wk profit
as long as it doesnt come first your a title holder
dont tell everybody / this is a clandestine.. and i really mean that !
dont report to a soul . not even your family
i desire i hadnt said anything now
i should enjoy just given you my wallet
http://www.laybackwin.com/without_fl/res...
dont relate anybody
NO WORKMATES
NO DRINK PALS
NO FAMILY
SPECIALLY NO PUNTERS WHO KEEP GOING TO BOOKIES
OTHERWISE THAT PUTS US OUT OF BUSINESS
Bond or Unit Trust
If you only own a 3 month time horizon, I'd recommend a simple 3 months CD.
Check for current rates at www.bankrate.com
ICICI. I hold found this bank to be pave the way and shoulders above any other for leading rates next to no penalties compensated monthly,, Internet access and ease of transferring your money (to or from) any wall or building society. They were the first guard to pass on the increase surrounded by Bank of England rate rise. I have be with them over 18 months immediately ( Recommended) ICICI.
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Publicly traded companies and conflict of interest?
Question:
Do public companies typically have conflict of interest policies that would restrict team from owning shares of another company which they have significant purchasing influence? Let’s right to be heard you are a manger on a team that make the decisions affecting whether your company buys from hawker A or vendor B. Vendor A is an established public company but merchant B has a short time ago had a successful IPO. Your company is within Vendor Bs list of top five customers surrounded by sales. Your teams’ result could affect Vendor Bs sales for the year. Can you as an member of staff own stock in Vendor B? Could this be view as a conflict of interest? Do companies have policies set up to restrict this giving of activity?
Answers:
Most public trade companies would consider this a conflict of interest and would probably hold a prodedure to deal near it. I believe the non-declaration would be the key point and that have shares is ownership. Whether you use this influence i not so important as the reality that you could effect important decision. The company itself has to be audited and live inwardly legal rules which can prove to be extremely costly if it goes outside. Declaration for this reason would be essential in my spectacle.
Typically there are prohibitions on owning shares contained by a company that might be a significant supplier or customer of your company, but just as typically within is a carveout for ownership of publicly traded companies as long as you hold less than a consistent %. So, for instance, if an office regulator at GE wanted to buy some computers from Dell the reality that the office mediator might own a couple hundred shares of Dell is not a problem. You should check your code of ethics and, if within doubt, either your compliance officer or your boss. Under Sarbox most companies also have a hotline and while this is not what the hotline is for, they can answer this query for you.
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Search using www.yahoo.com/search
I Recently Obtained 142 Tesco Shares. Does anyone know what the brass pro of them as of later Friday?
Question:
Answers:
try the tescos website they may well transmit you on there
u seriously that LAZY to check them??
let see ? type tesco. and enter. YOU DO KNOW HOW TO TYPE ? RIGHT? aaah geee.
How much money should I prepare to spend when buying stock?
Question:
To make it worth my while?
Answers:
At tiniest enough to buy one share.
Enough within bank contained by case it go belly up
Depends on what price the stock is; if you want to buy penny stocks, you could buy 100 shares for under $1,000. But if you want level stocks you will have to repay at least $15 a share, at the extraordinarily least. As to how several to buy, think going on for how much the stock would have drop for you to make money. 100 shares, the stock would enjoy to jump $1 for you newly to make $100. Be prepared beside at least $2000 if you are serious.
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Reliance Equity Advantage Fund?
Question:
How about investing surrounded by Reliance Equity Advantage Fund??
Any guidance? Because in india.dalalstreet.biz, it's warn to AVOID investing in it.
Any expert analysis on this?? Whether to jump for it or not??
Answers:
If you read through the prospectus, the important entry which catches your eye is that they are going to invest 80% of the fund contained by NIFTY stocks.
So, predominantly it is a large sou`wester fund. So your investment is safe. But can you expect worthy returns? It remains a question put pen to paper.
Because, we all know that authentic value contained by Indian stocks is outside the Indices - The midcap & quality small sou`wester stocks.
So, now it's upto you whether you want to step with a Index fund or a more diversified fund...
My personal evaluation is --- No.
I also advice not to invest surrounded by this fund until & unless u r ready to hang about for 5 to 6 years for good returns.
Cause at this point of time stock souk is at its peak(top) & suppose in essential future open market corrects little bit this fund will face the biggest problem of loss & managing loss plus the squad working on it but in long residence (5 to 6 yrs) it will recover as the marketplace is technically showing upwards move for long term.
so I won't suggest u to invest contained by this fund.
I f u like reliance consequently go for reliance delusion fund or reliance growth fund both are well settled & giving accurate returns.
& if don't have any problems beside any other fund then dance for franklin templeton Prima Plus fund.
This is V Sridhar here a Specialist in Financial Planning. This is a NFO. And I infer that it is not a wise outcome. Can u give me a nouns reasoning why u should even consider investing in a NFO. I can contribute u a few sound reason why u should not consider a NFO. They are:
1. For new funds the initial charges r highly developed (may go upto 6%). This better charges r to recover the money spent on hype, mktg expenses, investor meets and giving complex comissions to sellers to push a tentative fund.
2. In regular funds a MF Agent gets 2-2.25% commission. But surrounded by a NFO the commissions can go as dignified as 4-5%. Not to mention other incentive schemes where on earth he gets a lumpsum payout if he meet certain sale target. Also the top performing agents are sent on foreign trips. All this cost is recovered thro charges levied to the New Fund. This is the cause that u will find agents pushing new funds single.
3. U never see extensive mktg or advertsising of existing funds - reason, they r irrelevant to charge higher expenses. The existing scheme have a bygone track record which will see u to find out about the fund and how it have performed. The same cannot be said almost new funds.
4. U must invest into existing funds unless in that is a strong compelling reason to jump in for a contemporary fund. If u r able to answer this cross-examine then probably u may consider an NFO. The sound out is that what additional attraction is added to the portfolio by selecting a NFO over the other existing funds that r performing okay in the industry.
If u hold further queries u can messages me at vetapalems@rediffmail.com
go ahead and invest. so far none of the scheme launched by Rel Capital be a let down
How does after hours trading work?
Question:
It seems similar to if you buy stocks and they plumet during after hours trading, you will be loosing money and not be able to do anything going on for it until the market open the following day.
Answers:
The after hours bazaar has plentifully of risks. You can attempt to sell the stock during after hours but if it's adjectives down volume you may get really discouraging pricing because of various issues as I will indicate here.
Inability to See or Act Upon Quotes. Some firms single allow investors to view quotes from the one trading system the firm uses for after-hours trading. Check beside your broker to see whether your firm's system will permit you to access other quotes on other ECNs. But remember that only just because you can get quotes on another ECN does superfluous mean you will know how to trade based on those quotes. You necessitate to ask your firm if it will route your order for execution to the other ECN. If you are predetermined to the quotes within one system, you may not be capable of complete a trade, even with a feeling like investor, at a different trading system.
Lack of Liquidity. Liquidity refers to your ability to convert stock into brass. That ability depends on the existence of buyers and seller and how easy it is to complete a trade. During regular trading hours, buyers and seller of most stocks can trade readily with one another. During after-hours, near may be less trading volume for some stocks, making it more difficult to execute some of your trades. Some stocks may not trade at adjectives during extended hours.
Larger Quote Spreads. Less trading activity could also miserable wider spreads between the bid and ask prices. As a result, you may find it more difficult to get your directive executed or to get as favorable a price as you could enjoy during regular market hours.
Price Volatility. For stocks next to limited trading amusement, you may find greater price fluctuations than you would have see during regular trading hours. News stories announced after-hours may have greater impact on stock prices.
Uncertain Prices. The prices of some stocks traded during the after-hours session may not reflect the prices of those stocks during regular hours, any at the end of the regular trading session or upon the debut of regular trading the next business afternoon.
Bias Toward Limit Orders. Many electronic trading systems currently accept individual limit directions, where you must enter a price at which you would similar to your order executed. A cut back order ensure you will not pay more than the price you enter or sell for smaller number. If the market moves away from your price, your lay down will not be executed. Check with your broker to see whether instructions not executed during the after-hours trading session will be cancelled or whether they will be automatically entered when regular trading hours switch on. Similarly, find out if an order you placed during regular hours will fetch over to after-hours trading.
Competition with Professional Traders. Many of the after-hours traders are professionals near large institutions, such as mutual funds, who may enjoy access to more information than individual investors.
Computer Delays. As with online trading, you may encounter during after-hours delay or failures contained by getting your order executed, including advice to cancel or renovation your trades. For some after-hours trades, your order will be routed from your brokerage firm to an electronic trading system. If a computer problem exists at your firm, this may prevent or stoppage your order from reaching the system. If you encounter significant delay, you should call your broker to determine the extent of the problem and what you can to carry your order executed.
So contained by a nutshell depending on your broker you may not be able to put on the market overnight. If everyone is trying to sell afterwards there may not be plenty buyers to actually saturate all the instructions. You have to ask your broker for the information that specifically pertains to you and the after hours policy.
You can buy and put on the market in after marketplace as well, but plentifully of people receive fleeced in after hours and pre-market trading. Wherever the stock go in after hours is where on earth it will be when it opens the subsequent day. The just after hours trading I would recommend for non-professionals is if one of their stocks jumps on report and shoots up after hours. Selling into that strength is smart because the levels that stocks oral exam in after open market rarely hold longer than a daylight before dropping and consequently moving up slowly again back that inflated after hours price. As far as your stock dropping after hours I would advocate riding those moves out as the same principle applies- the lower level the after market test will probably not hold long before they move wager on to where they be before the drop unless the company is poison. That's something you should check the match sheet for before you buy the stock, though.
CDs or Mutual Funds?
Question:
I am currently saving up money to buy my first house/condo/town house/place where on earth people live. I might buy someplace to rent it out, or I might merely go and name it home, either opening I need to gather up a whole hoard of money. Right now I own about $8K and I've only been putting it into CDs through ING.
CDs are more or less as straight foward as it gets, but I don't know much almost Mutual Funds. Sould I consider putting all/most/part of this money into mutual funds or am I doing the right thing by earn by 5.15% a year with CDs?
Answers:
Really, the bottom strip between these two investment accounts is risk. With CDs (excluding variable rate CDs), you are pretty much locking surrounded by your investment and gain. When it comes to mutual funds, your investment is going to be subject to the fluctuations of the market, both apt and bad.
I would suggest finding someone at your financial institution who can help out you figure out a plan. Most bank and credit unions donate free financial advice (of which few customers thieve advantage). Discuss your goals (I want $XXXX surrounded by X years) and they can help you bring the right accounts to achieve them. Depending on your conversation, they might suggest something conservative or aggresive. Just remember to ask plenty of question!
I hope this helps, and obedient luck to you!
You will need in the order of 10% of the purchase price to get a mortgage...possibly more if it is an investment property. How much can you invest each year and when do you plan on have enough to purchase a home/condo? 5.15% is a terrifically safe investment, but it would thieve about 14 years for $8k to double at a rate of return of 5.15%. Many general public estimate growth rates for stocks of 6% to 10% a year, with most presently thinking 8-9% per year over the next decade may be a fair expectation. Use the rule of 72 to determine how long it takes to double an investment base on the rate of return (72/8 = 9 years to double at 8%; 72/7 = 10.3 years to double at 7%).
If your time horizon is 10 years, I would say you should be puting some of your funds into a broadly diversified equity fund (like a Total Stock Market Index fund). As you take nearer to your time to make the purchase, you can shift into smaller amount variable investments similar to CDs.
I live in southern California and I assume the minimum condo price is more than $200,000. 10% of that would be $20,000. However, not all areas are as overpriced as southern California.
Assuming that you will be in your favour additional money within addition to what you already hold, you could be in position to buy something contained by the next year or two. With that surrounded by mind, let me ask you a couple of question:
1) Assuming that you're saving spare money in decoration to what you currently have, do you estimate there's any chance that you'll be in place to buy and needing the money any time surrounded by the next 12-18 months?
2) Would it severely impact your current plans if you invested money within the stock market and you lost 10-15% surrounded by the first few months?
If the answer to EITHER of those questions is yes, you obligation to stick with CDs and elevated yielding money marketplace accounts.
You're doing the right thing by keeping the downpayment within a conservative investment like a compact disc. You could also put it in a money open market fund. Don't risk your ability to buy a home by putting the downpayment within the stock market. Your retirement money and other long occupancy money (like college savings for a young at heart child) can be invested in the stock bazaar. But money you'll want to use in the subsequent year or two or three should be kept in undamaging, short term investments so it will be within when you need it.