what should i be doing with surplus bankroll?

cmyr · #1 06-01-2007, 12:52 PM

Just a quick question on getting the most out of money i have lying around. I play pot-limit omaha, and the variance in the game inclines me to keep a pretty big bankroll. I tend to have under a half of it in use (i.e. on sites) at a time, which means i have between 30 and 40 grand lying around. I'm in Canada, but I have a USD bank account with TD Financial. Currently, I keep the roll I'm not using in GICs and term-deposits, which yield 4.15-4.25%, and which are completely liquid. I've been begining to wonder however if it might be a better idea to keep this money (or at least the body of it) in an index-fund, where I could earn roughly double that.

How long would 20k have to be in an index fund to justify the trade fees? (I use TD Waterhouse's online brokerage, and I think the fees are still something like 24.99 a transaction for the base account.)

Is there anything else along thsee lines that I should be thinking about?

Oh, and as I was going to submit I thought up another related question: I keep 5 months living expenses (about 10k) in a savings account that earns me 4% interest. might it be worth keeping some of this money in an index fund, or is the risk of ruin unacceptable for money I will need to pay the rent with if I have a downswing? Again, is there anything else here I should be thinking about?

Forgive my ignorance around this stuff, personal finance isn't something I've ever really payed tons of attention to.

Newt_Buggs · #2 06-01-2007, 01:17 PM

Your best option would probably be putting it in vanguard.com. If you do a search on vanguard in this forum you should find plenty of information on which funds to chose.

Nomad84 · #3 06-01-2007, 10:11 PM

I have a significant portion of my money (I'm 23, so it isn't a ton) in savings for use in a few months for a down payment, closing costs, and other associated costs of buying my first home. Personally, I am not willing to take on any real risk with this money. I'm also not willing to bounce it back and forth between various online high yield savings accounts, partly due to my own laziness and partly because that probably won't look good when I apply for a mortgage. With those qualifiers, I decided to just keep my money in Vanguard. I put all of my house savings in their Prime Money Market Fund, which was yielding 5.1% or so last time I checked. It doesn't sound like all that much difference, but that extra .9% on 40k is $360/year.

Timosil · #4 06-02-2007, 02:36 AM

How old are you? Do you have a family? How risk averse are you? How much do you need in liquid funds?

I would invest in uranium mining companies if you are willing to accept some risk for a long term EV+ investment...otherwise just invest in a low cost international mutual fund (i like east europe, east asia, and brazil)...but you should hedge against the goddamn US dollar

maxtower · #5 06-02-2007, 02:41 AM

You shouldn't be buying any stocks with bankroll money. Keep it in money market funds. You should be able to find something yielding 5%+

Dazarath · #6 06-02-2007, 02:46 AM

[ QUOTE ]
How old are you? Do you have a family? How risk averse are you? How much do you need in liquid funds?

I would invest in uranium mining companies if you are willing to accept some risk for a long term EV+ investment...otherwise just invest in a low cost international mutual fund (i like east europe, east asia, and brazil)...but you should hedge against the goddamn US dollar

[/ QUOTE ]

No matter what you do, don't follow this advice.

Timosil · #7 06-02-2007, 02:53 AM

lol...don't hedge against the dollar???? wtf is wrong with the lower risk international mutuals (large-caps)?

No matter what you do, don't follow Dazarath's advice....only the brave come up in this world dont be scared of risk, but always do Due Diligance with stocks.

DcifrThs · #8 06-02-2007, 03:45 AM

[ QUOTE ]
lol...don't hedge against the dollar???? wtf is wrong with the lower risk international mutuals (large-caps)?

No matter what you do, don't follow Dazarath's advice....only the brave come up in this world dont be scared of risk, but always do Due Diligance with stocks.

[/ QUOTE ]

so you want a risk averse person to invest all his extra bankroll in a highly volatile, non diversified, international (albeit hedged) complete equity bet at a time when rates are finally starting to rise (late cycle)?

ummm, oookkkkkkaaaayyyy lol

Edit: just read timosil's post about his situation. his lack of understanding at least now makes sense.

i also didn't know which poster (nomad or OP) he was responding to so i responded as if he responded to nomad.

OP: basically, you should separate what needs to be completely liquid and what will be put away. what you decide to put away, you should do in a diversified manner via vanguard funds. diversified is not all equities. i've said this a million times on this forum but you should get exposure at least to global bonds, equities, reits (all hedged to dollar), and commodities. this portfolio will outperform an all or mostly equity portfolio if arranged properly.

the money you need liquid (for bankroll considerations) just keep in some MM or savings acct getting 5+%. that should be fine.

hope this helps,
Barron

maxtower · #9 06-02-2007, 03:52 AM

Don't buy uranium or stocks. Timosil has no clue.

Poker is volatile. You don't want your bankroll in a fund that can lose principal. Anything in excess of your bankroll you can invest in other things, but if you consider the money part of your bankroll, then you don't want to do anything risky with it.

Timosil · #10 06-02-2007, 04:47 AM

DcifrThs:

Since when are international mutual funds necessarily "highly-volatile" and "non-diversified"...wow talk about lack of understanding. There are several large cap international funds that are widely diversified (you could even buy international market indexes)...and many are not highy volatile. The fact is there is more room for long term growth abroad than in the US...and you suggest REITs. REITs are not non-volitile, esp in a sub-prime dropout (although a commercial REIT would make sense)...and commodities??? Are you serious? The OP likely has no knowledge of commodity trading... wtf?

OP never stated in his post what level of risk he was willng to accept..so there is no reason to assume that he wasnt looking for a high yeilding/higher risk portfolio. oh and bonds are for nits...