Stock picking

I'll start it off. I got divorced 20 years ago, and took out all the equity in my house to make the wife go away, and protect my pension. Don't worry, she is still alive as far as I know. I started to invest on my own shortly before the dotcom crash, and we know how that worked out for most. I knew that investing was still the best way to create wealth, but had to get better at it, as one has to compete with professionals. With interest rates being so low for the last decade, you would have lost money keeping it in a bank, or CDs. Now with over 10 trillion dollars of the world debt carrying negative interest rates, money is flowing into the US causing bond yields to go even lower. Someone looking to buy a house would be well served to do it now, lol. I don't buy stocks that don't pay me a decent yield/dividend, and over the last year loaded up on Chevronand Exon, when oil was sinking. These are now sitting at 52 week highs. Also, I have made a large investment in master limited partnerships that own pipelines, to take advantage of the energy boom that has, and will continue to take place in the US. I don't care much for the world scenario currently, with European banks having difficulty, especially Italy, and Germany, and have invested in a gold miner, which has been working very well. Lets hear some other ideas?

Atta boy.  First off, I'll stress that if someone doesn't own a home, that wants to, DO NOT take money that you would use for a down payment, and invest it.  Buy your house first.  Another "rule" I have is if your employer offers to contribute into a retirement plan for the employee, take advantage of that, and defer all you can afford.  If after that, you have money left over, it is time to roll up your sleeves and do some due diligence.  You are smart to be looking for a company with a good track record of earnings and making money.  All stocks at some point will go on sale, that's why it is important to have a want list.  Just like buying say a shirt you like, but it is pricey.  You might want to wait until it goes on sale before you purchase.  Same with stocks.  When it goes on sale, you are ready.  I love companies that might seem boring, but have growth, and a record of raising their payouts over time.  You get paid to wait, and grow your earnings as time goes on.  

I know nothing of stocks or investments. I have a 401k that has about $40,000+ but that has gone up and down over the years. I don't really pay attention to it except to check on it every now and again.

DigDug, share your house flipping secrets lol. I've always assumed that those famous house flipper guys you hear about are full of it, meaning, you assume way more risk than you're led to believe. do you buy foreclosures, rehab them and flip them? Is there some secret foreclosure listing that allows buyers to jump in and snatch up low cost properties? Do you hire a 3rd party to do the rehabbing or do you do it yourself? I always thought house flipping would be a great business to have but I'm assuming the market is flooded with flippers, so competition is fierce and tend to favor those with cash on hand

My wife's a realtor, so I have access to the MLS (Multiple Listing Service). But any good realtor can set you up to receive notices on any criteria.
I only buy in my local town (I know it best and don't want to drive far when doing work on it) . I start with the cheapest house in the city that I would personally live in.
Add up what I think it'll cost to hire someone to repair + 5% commission + 25k profit. If the house can be sold after repairs for that amount, it might be worth pursuing.

So how much of your own cash do you end up spending? How long does it take to rehab the house and how long before it sells?

Actually, you are probably in good shape, assuming that you are contributing a Portion of your pay monthly into your 401, especially if they provide some kind of matching funds, especially if you have a lot of years left to work.  Going with that assumption, you can drool over times when the market tanks, as you will be averaging down, and buying when the markets is undervalued.  A windfall I was able to take advantage of is during the 2008 market crash, I was able to exercise a catch-up clause allowing me to defer 30,000 a year, for 3 years before I retired.  I was buying hand over fist, when everyone was freaking, but it was a windfall for sure, as the market will catch back up with time.