New Financial Products: Motif Investing ($100 free money)

In my head, when I'm being reasonable and logical, I really believe the best long-term strategy for wealth-building for those of us who do not own our own business is to buy into lots of other people's businesses via a diversified portfolio of mutal funds.  I back up that belief by investing most of my money that way.  However, there is that part of me that likes to play with money, that likes to try new things and to try to beat the system.  For some reason I've always wanted to own individual shares of stock in companies but I've never been willing to put all my eggs in one basket, and putting eggs in lots of baskets, unless you do it via mutual funds (and to some exent even then) means lots of fees.  The internet is changing that.  Today there are several different ways ordinary people can invest directly in stocks without paying huge transaction fees.  One is Motif Investing., which, if you invest via the links in this article, will give you and me both $100.00.  

The concept behind Motif Investing is simple.  Investors buy a "Motif" a basket of  up to stocks that represent some idea, concept, sector or whim of a developer.  Motif investing offers not only motifs created by professional staff but also those created by customers, ordinary people like you and me.  If someone chooses to buy a motif I create, I get a commission.  How cool is that? It is like I am a mutual fund manager!  Investors pay one commission per motif purchase--$9.95, whether they invest $200 or $200,000.  The purchase can include fractional shares.  Also, many weeks there is a Motif of the Week, and if you choose to purchase it, there is no sales commission. 

I've been reading a lot about investing in high-dividend stocks as a retirement income source and one week a motif named "High Yield Dividends" was the Motif of the Week.  I decided to make it my first purchase.  I now own shares of twenty-five different companies including Southern Company, AT&T, Verizon, Darden's Restaurants and McDonalds.  

I also developed my own motif, based simply on companies from which I like to buy, including Ascena Retail Group (owns Dress Barn, my favorite place to buy clothes) and Lending Club (ok, I don't buy from them but I invest with them). So far, Yum Brands and Panera Bread are leading the pack and beating the market.  Chipotele isn't doing so well.  Such is life.

Another week, the Motif of the Week was named Buyback Leaders and it was made of stock in companies which have bought back shares of their stock.  Some stocks in the motif are Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, Inc., Anthem Inc. and Gap, Inc. 

I'll be the first to admit that I know little about market capitalization, PE ratios, market cycles or any of those other technical terms that are supposed to define the best times to buy and sell stocks.  Corporate annual reports make my eyes glaze over.  I do not think I should be investing large amounts of money in stocks based on my "it looks interesting"  criteria but so far the motifs in which I have invested have about tracked the market which I guess means I'm not so dumb after all.  Given the low fees involved in Motif Investing, I think it bears a look by anyone wanting to manage his or her own investments. 

The links to Motif Investing in this article are affilliate links.  Use them to open your account and when you purchase your first Motif, we will both receive $100.00.