Thread: Investment Ideas

Hi everyone:

So I'm 23 years old with ~$10,000 sitting in my bank account and I'm in need of investment ideas, otherwise I'll spend it on toys. I already have about $6000 in gold and silver, I guess I could buy more as they're pretty cheap right now, but I want to diversify with my remaining cash and my precious metals won't give me a great ROI until many years from now. Real estate would be great, but I don't think I have enough. My dad's a real estate investor and I worked under him in property management so I know a thing or two, but he won't help me as he wants me to focus on school.

So I come to you gents for some ideas. Any tips or recommendations as to where I can put this money where I can get some kind of ROI?

Pay off any debt you have. Instant ROI.
A coworker is big into buying stocks that pay dividends. It works for him. Me, I lost all faith in the stockmarket, even though I made some successful investments in the past.

I guess there's always the longer-term view - put the 10K in a compounding interest account and let it sit for the next 30-40 years as a retirement fund - you are definitely young enough that a compound interest account will start to pay off spectacularly as you approach retirement age with that principal. Not sexy, definitely not immediate, but relatively safe. I guess it depends on what you want that money to do and when you'd like it to pay off. It also depends on what US banks offer in terms of interest rates of which I have no idea.

I guess the main general point (and I guess you already know this) is that higher return investments usually come at a higher risk. They say the overall trend of the stock market is up over time, but volatility also seems to be up which adds some short-term butt-puckering moments. IMO things like day trading are worse than taking the money to a casino - at least you can work out the probabilities at a casino if you have the wit, though it has to be acknowledged that people have made some spectacular money speculating. But they've also lost some spectacular money as well.

In the end it's your money and it's your attitude to risk that's at stake. Probably my best suggestion is to seek out financial advice from several trusted and regulated sources and get as much information as possible on the options available to you and the risk associated with them. A good one will want to know your financial goals, plans for the future and so on. And then they should offer options based on that, with perhaps some slack built in for unforeseens or life changes. Good ones should also disclose their associations with the products they recommend and the nature of the payments they receive if you should take up a particular option. At least that's what happens here in Australia. Again, nothing is guaranteed as no one can predict the future, but at least you can go forward with information and a plan.

Good luck,

James.

Get a copy of The Intelligent Investor bij Benjamin Graham. Read and digest it.

DO NOT buy high end Razors instant way to lose at least 50% of your money,ask me how I know

I'd get rid of the gold and silver. It's always hyped however over time more people have lost their shirts with it than just about any investment vehicle.

Just invest in good solid stocks. No gold mine but they are safe and reliable.

My advise is before anything else listen to your dad. The biggest ROI on your time and effort right now comes from school.

As far as what to do with the 10k burning a hole in your pocket, treat it as toys. Put it in stuff that is interesting to you, may be related to things you imagine you'd do in your life after school. The idea is that with this money you can buy yourself some pretty important lessons and experience. But remember that this is only play time, do not allow it to eat into your education as that's far higher return than that 10k and with no risk. (Yes, I know some people would tell you education is also risky and point to all those highly educated jobless people, but what they are missing is that there is a difference between education done right and one done wrong - make sure you're in the first group.)

And if you simply want to make sure that that money doesn't get devalued, do as thebigspendur said - put it in stocks of solid companies. Ones that have been around for a long time and are still looking good, i.e. the likes of IBM not Kodak. Or index fund.

Originally Posted by souschefdude

Pay off any debt you have. Instant ROI.

A big +1 on this suggestion. If you have student loans, pay them off, first: you can't do a bankruptcy on them, so just pay 'em off. If there's anything left over, take a look at your credit cards: figure out which one, but keep only one credit card -- for emergencies, and for where you can't use a debit card (like car rentals) -- then cancel and destroy the rest. At that point you're better than almost anyone you know, or would meet on the street, in a gentlemen's club, a restaurant, or the local diner. The best way to be free of Corporate America is to become a minimal and frugal consumer, but that's longer-term stuff; first thing, pay off all or as-much of your consumer debt as possible, w/student loans first, then credit-card debt.

Use it for education. A degree means a lot and like a previous post said it is the best return on investment.

Thanks for the advice guys! I guess I'm looking for something that will trickle in money as time goes on, but that might be wishful thinking as who wouldn't want that haha. 90%+ of my time, energy, and focus goes to school and will continue for the next ten years, I guess I just wanted to start something small now that I can leave and let it grow on its own. Stocks is a good option, but I know nothing about them, I guess I have some research to do. I thankfully have no debt

As for spending on toys, everything I buy under things I'm passionate about and will be with me until I leave this earth: music/guitar, straight razors, archery, outdoors and hunting. My problem with spending is I always feel bad about it, probably because when I was a kid, we grew up really poor and the sting of not having much money hit me early on so I still carry that a bit.

More than anything, I want a house of my own, so I guess I'm looking for something that will get me closer to that within the next couple years. I do want to start an online business!