My reason for posting this is to gather advice from other FReepers, as there is always a wealth of knowledge and advice here. What tips should I follow from the get-go to avoid disaster? I don't necessarily mean the stock picks or whatnot, but rather the interaction between friends. Weekly or bi-weekly presentations of personal picks? All investing a pool of money as a group, or individual picks?
I'm sure there are people in FR who have either done (or are doing) this, or have at least thought about it. So if you had a fre 'best practices' for this, I'd love to hear them! After all, investing is smart, but a club brings even more minds to the table to make educated decisions.
Remember, in investing, if no where else, DIVERSITY is your strength.
First write everything down. Who paid in what, get things notarized, etc etc. Keep track of who is going to get paid what and let everyone know that they can lose everything. Write up HOW decisions are going to be made regarding the portfolio...
Even if they don't lose, put it in writing before hand.
Don't put yourself out there as the 'organizer' otherwise later on people could come after you.
Also you cannot take a cut of the profits. You can only get $ based on what you put in, otherwise you can get in trouble with the state. IE you cannot charge fees or take out money for admin costs etc.