Thanks again Abby, you are the best! Katelyn loves her pillow pet (that she named Scruffy by the way) and she hasn’t been seen without it in the last three days since she first laid eyes on the thing. I’m so excited that I could finally find one!

For investors who aren’t seasoned wall street traders, mutual funds are a great place to start because they help incorporate a blend of risk and reward all while allowing “regular” investors to be able to afford to buy them.

Before you invest in growth stock funds, you really need to understand that mutual funds aren’t something you invest in and get rich overnight. Believe me, if this were the case I would own hundreds of them and be typing this on a beach somewhere. If you’re looking for something short term you’re going to have to take on some more risk and can lose everything. If you just want a short term investment that wont lose you anything try a CD or interest bank account.

The benefit of mutual fund investing is that they usually grow gradually and growth stock mutual funds they tend to make more of a profit than most. You do need to be patient though, I cant stress this enough.

So what makes a growth stock you ask? Good question. Typically growth stock companies are companies that have a strong price to earnings ratio which tells you that the company is expected to grow rapidly to accommodate that inflated stock price. The price is high because analysts and investors expect good things out of that company over the next few years. These are companies you are looking for with growth stock funds.

As always you need to be conscious of your risk and your risk tolerance. If you are investing with money that should be paying the mortgage, then investing isn’t right for you, period. Investments, even mutual funds, should be made only when you can afford it, and your investment analyst should explain all the risks to you. If you don’t understand something make them explain it in a way you can understand. If they don’t like it find a new broker!

Mutual fund brokers make money when you buy their product so make sure they work to make you happy. You wouldn’t buy a car from someone who doesn’t explain all the ins and outs would you? Then you shouldm’t buy investments you don’t understand either.

Bottom line, growth stock mutual funds are a great way to invest and set aside some of the risk that normally come with growth stock funds. Next time you’re looking for something to invest in give them a long look.

The thing that always gets me about car insurance is the fact that you almost never use it but you just keep paying and paying and the price keeps going up and up.  Don’t believe me?  Go to Google and type in car insurance Boston MA and check out the rates sometimes… it’s insane! Then if you get in a few car accidents and god forbid have to make a claim, you know the thing that you are paying them for, they will just cancel your policy. What other service gets away with canceling your services when you actually use it?

Don’t even get me started on the online car insurance companies like Geico, I had them for a little while until I actually needed them, then actually tried get a hold of them… good luck there. I was lucky to get someone on the phone, probably in India, who had no idea where my accident was or who to call.

I switched to my local office here in Albany because at least I could call a human being who knows the area and wont frustrate me to no end by not knowing where freaking Central Ave is (Central Ave is a pretty important road here so any local would know exactly where I mean). Anyway I’m happier with their service but still very frustrated as a whole with this whole insurance scam they are pulling.

Anyway I guess I’m just complaining again, this writing thing is therapeutic, I almost don’t want to banish all car insurance companies straight to h-e-double hockey sticks now…haha. Maybe the new pres will do something about it… yeah right! Oh well, till my next complaining session I’ll talk to you later. You car insurance companies better sleep with one eye open… LOL!

Anyway I’m just really exhausted, barely ate dinner all week and I am really looking forward to the weekend assuming I don’t have to be at work again.  At least not eating will make me lose weight fast, at least short term. As far as I know the madness is over but then again I thought that was the case on Tuesday too and I left at freaking midnight, so I guess anything can happen. Have a lot of meetings tomorrow but they should be mostly wrap up style meetings so anything that puts an end to the madness is fine by me.

Next week I really need to take it easy, probably going to go book a relaxing vacation sometime soon, not really sure where to though. Maybe Florida but it would be hard to go down there in the summer, it gets so hot and humid down there, I may be better off going somewhere that’s further north like Washington DC or something, might be cool and all with the new president. We can see how things are down there now, probably pretty cool.

Speaking of which I missed the whole ceremony last week, but I guess I shouldn’t get started ranting and raving about work again. I’m sorry that this post has been nothing but complaining but I needed to get it off my chest and screaming in to a blog is much easier than screaming at my boss, and more productive too. One of these days I’ll win the lottery and kick back on some tropical beach somewhere with a drink in hand and the ocean soothing me to sleep. I can dream cant I?

At least I’m better off than some of these poor saps who were a year or two away from retiring and now lost most of their investments. I would probably lose my mind. I guess they will have to work a few extra years or get a part time job or something.  If I lose my job though I better get looking in to mortgage unemployment insurance. That would really be horrible. I’m no spring chicken but at least I have a lot more years to get back to where I was, or at least get close to it.

I really feel bad for those poor people who that stock market broker ripped off down in New York City, I can’t believe all of those smart people couldn’t keep track of 50 billion dollars, unreal. That guy better watch his back, there’s going to be a lot of very rich powerful people after him. I’m really glad I’m not in his shoes I tell you. If I were him legal troubles would be the least of my concerns. He’s probably smart enough to get out of them anyway.

Yeah so I don’t know what to do now, maybe I could write the SEC and they will pay me back the money I lost? Fat chance of that. Maybe the new Prez will write me a part of that new bill they’re trying to pass. Surely with a couple trillion dollars they could spare me a couple grand? That would be nice wouldn’t it? I know he would get my vote! Oh well, I guess I have to go back to the grindstone and try to earn a few more bucks. Until then keep praying the stock market goes back up!

Well we finally did it, we broke down and picked up a dog from the local pound and she is the cutest thing you will ever see in your life. She’s a yellow lab and beagle mix. It’s a cute mix because she looks like a yellow lab puppy and probably will for most of her life. She has big floppy beagle ears though so that’s cute too. We liked the mix because both are very good dogs and are very good around children unlike some more aggressive breeds.

We decided to name her Belle after a character in my favorite Disney movie, it fits her to a tee. We set up a temporary bed with a sleeping bag and an old tote that we used to store Christmas stuff in, it’s a cute little temporary bed for her, we might just keep her in it for a while until she is big enough for a cage. Anyway I’m going to stop typing now and go play fetch with the puppy. Talk to you later!

I’m really glad for the day off, work has been really brutal lately with the year end projects. Deadlines never seem to stop coming, people never seem to stop asking for more “little favors” that take 3 days to complete, the boss never appreciates any of your work but is the first to crucify you if you don’t get it done. I’m sure you all know what I mean, I know I’m not the only one who is stuck in a situation like this, it just seems like it sometimes. It’s like they feel that you can work for 16 hours a day but if they buy you a sandwich for dinner it all makes up for it. It’s ok, I don’t need to spend any time with my children, but look, a free sandwich!!

I’m sorry I’m just venting, I’ve been very frustrated with everything lately so a nice relaxing day by the fire was EXACTLY what I needed. I’m thinking later I’ll crack open a nice bottle of wine, curl up with a nice book and sit and relax by the fire. I know some people don’t like the snow, and I can see why with all the shoveling and snow plowing and cold, but hey, sometimes it turns out really good!