ESL Podcast 388 - Investing Your Money

seminar - informational session; class for a small group of people; class on a specific subject

Hercilia went to the university last night to attend a seminar on China's growing economy.

to invest - to buy something with one's money with the expectation that it will increase in value so that one can sell it later to make more money

I wish I had invested in Google when the company was just beginning!

to maximize - to make something as big as possible; to have as much of something as possible

As the company's vice-president of marketing, his goal is to maximize sales.

holdings - something that a person owns, especially shares (stocks) in a company

The company's holdings are worth three times as much as they were five years ago.

market trend - the way that a specific part of the economy is changing over time

Right now, the market trend in the United States is that home prices are decreasing.

to get in on the ground floor - to become involved in an activity as early as possible, at the very beginning

Grace got in on the ground floor when that business first opened, and today she is a millionaire.

appreciation - an increase in the value of something over time; an increase in how much something is worth

Thanks to the appreciation on their home, they were able to make a lot of money when they sold it.

to divest - to sell something, especially an investment

When our son was ready to go to college, we divested many of our stocks so that we would have enough money to pay for his education.

warning sign - a signal that something bad might happen or will happen; something that one sees or hears that indicates something negative in the near future

Chest pains are warning signs of a heart attack.

savings - bank accounts where one puts money to use in the future; money that one has saved

Salina puts 50 dollars into her savings every week.

rate of return - interest rate; the percentage of money that one earns on an investment over a specific period of time

When we calculated how much money we would need to save for retirement, we assumed a six percent rate of return on our investments

to speculate - to buy things because one hopes and believes that their value will increase greatly, so that one can sell them later to make a lot of money

Ulysses is speculating in the gold market because he thinks the price of gold will increase in the next few years.

to diversify - to increase the number of different types of something that one has, especially when talking about investments

The Richardsons have invested a lot of money in power companies, but now they want to diversify their investments by purchasing stocks in other types of companies, too.

portfolio - the group of stocks that a person or company owns; the variety and types of investments that a person or company has

The value of her portfolio has decreased a lot in the past year.

risk - the possibility that something negative, bad, or harmful will happen

If we don't wash our hands before we eat, there is a risk that we will get sick.