Anyone here know anything about great safe investment options? I recently got a new job and i am going to have around 3000 a month spare to invest.. i dont want to leave it in the bank or open up a CD.. anyone here know what i should do with the cash?
its here... Norcross I really dont want to leave it in like a savings account for 4% or something Or keep it in a cd at 5... theres gotta be something better..
If you don't already have a house you may want to consider getting one. Its pretty much a buyers market right now. Also interest rates are low on a 15 year fixed interest loan.
If you catch the market right and you enjoy sweat-equity...flipping houses work well for those who are willing to do it right. But by far the SAFEST thing is a savings account. There are tons of other options tho. I'd get with a reputable investment agency and discuss your options.
I forget to mention i just turned 21. So a major purchase like a house would prob be out of the question
As long as you feel like youre job is secure now is the perfect time to buy some rental property. Do at while you are young, its going to do nothing but go up in value. $3000 extra a month is a pile of cash, just put it somewhere that you cant get to it.
Like Mike said, save up for a downpayment. I'm only 23 and yet I am closing on a house the 21st of this month. Of course I've also worked hard to have good credit. I'll second slowwrx in the rental property. Rental stuff is quite a money maker. It also depends on the area.
like most folks have said. property is the way to go. as I just turned 24 and have lived in my house for a year next month. I'm now on the hunt for #2.... but an extra 3k a month...save up for atleast months which puts you @ 9k..which would be a good down payment...I was lucky enough to do 100% financing. Credit history and good responsibility is obviously a major factor in this situation. again.. you know you can't go wrong w/ property...even if its land and not even a house per say. just my .02! good luck and keep us updated!
Yep. Put that $3K/mo in the bank for 1 year and build up a good downpayment for a house. This is assuming of course you have ZERO dept to pay off. Always payoff debt first.
yes paying off debt is important..I also had to have 6 months of mortgage payments saved up as well. also try and build your credit responsibility...use a credit card for gas and other monthly purchases and pay off balance as soon as the bill comes...again...this will build your credit responsibility...remember with out great credit things can be difficult
Actually let me offer you an alternative, put the 3k a month away for a year...that puts you at 36K in the bank. Then get a good CPA, I have one if you don't have one already and he is in your area. Keep at least 10K in a savings account, you never know whats going to come up. The rest you can sink into long term investments.
yep.save save save...that is more than what most people do these days..I know it took me a while to start but better late than not at all. recently purchased a book.."pay yourself first"...has a lot of good tips on how to save $..etc...
If you don't already have a Roth IRA, get one! You can put up to $5000/year in it, and you would still have money left over for other things.
yea i agree with the above. I am recently 24 and have a house and got almost 20k off the asking price (plus closing costs) in midtown/buckhead atlanta. A house is not a bad place to invest your money. The crash may happen in 6 months to a year but i can live that out. I have a money market account that gets close to 18% and some safe stuff for the 401k (mostly in asia where they said f you to the dollar). I'd go house and money market if i had the free money and were in your position. Let me know if you are curious about the money market stuff and i can give you my financial advisor's number .
Agreed, right now is the best time to buy. Land has your best rate for return, be it just land or a house. You will make your money back and then some in a sort amount of time.
My $ is set up like this. I will match what the company I work for will match on my 401k(make sure no $ is in your own company's stocks, and diversify). The take some $ and put it into a Roth IRA and max that out. If then there is $ left over look at mutuals. I'm in India and China right now. After that watch it grow, and enjoy your retirement.
i agree with most of the above... housing is at or near bottom, also, with that much each month, assuming that you're alread have an IRA and a Roth, look into mutuals-particularly ones that focus on healthcare and emerging markets (i.e. overseas). if you're able to follow the stock market, now or near future will be great to get into finance companies, they're all taking a beating from the bad paper created by subprime lending, but some, like wells fargo are stable and under-valued. stocks are a quick game though, you can be up 30% one year and only 4% or negative another year (or week to week if you don't diversify). you can create a hedge-fund type of portfolio that will work positive in most conditions or you can just dabble (after you've done your research) for short term to finance projects (cars, house additions, etc) but you must understand cap gains taxes and trading laws. it's not for the faint of heart. CPAs/financial advisors are the wise choice if want to pay for them and you don't want to bury yourself in market study (which a lot of people don't). cliff note: with that much play money i would definitely sit down with an advisor.
Also.. I have to say I'm proud of you making a thread about how to invest your money as opposed to hey..I got an extra 3k..what should I do to my car..and this is another reason why I love this community.. Folks seem to have their head on straight! Screw Clark Howard..we'll have our own segment on channel 2..bwhahaa
I have mixed emotions about the "buy a house" advice. Compared to paying rent, house payments are a better choice. On the other hand, rental property is a complicated investment. Said differently, if you buy a house, live in it. FWIW, I've owned three dwellings (one townhouse and two houses) and I've never found houses to be good investments, especially in Gwinnett County. They build new ones so fast, the supply keeps up with the demand. Others will disagree. I simply prefer the mortgage (which results in some ownership) to paying rent. IMNSHO, reasonable investments from most conservative to most risky are: Bank accounts Certificates of Deposit (CDs). These can yield good returns if you shop around. US Government bonds. IRAs in mutual funds. Start with funds that focus on investment return rather than capital appreciation. This was mentioned in an earlier thread. IRAs are awesome because they punish you for taking money out of savings. Compounded interest on long-term savings will make you rich. High-quality corporate bonds. Individual stocks in reliable companies. Low-quality corporate bonds. Fringe stocks. Mutual funds can go anywhere from "grandpa's retirement" to "betting on the horses," in terms of risk. Do your homework if you venture away from "blue chip" or "total return" mutual funds. All reputable funds will give you an idea of the relative risk in a fund. Reputable firms include Vanguard, Fidelity, T.Rowe Price - anything big with a big reputation to sustain. Avoid anyone who charges you a fee for your initial investment. A lot of big names do this. Do beware that some funds charge a fee for removing money from the fund, too. If a person calls you hoping to sell you stocks, tell him no and hang up before he can say a word. I have lost an embarrassing amount of money to people offering me cheap stocks that are "positioned for growth." Turning this into real advice for you, I would put as much as I can (at least half of what I don't need, month to month) into retirement savings - IRAs and 401Ks. The rest into a mutual fund invested in conservative investments. I would choose a conservative no-load fund. These funds offer plans that draw from your checking account monthly, like credit card companies and your cable company. Think of it as paying yourself every month. When you have enough to make a down payment on a house that you want to live in, buy the house. At that point, you will have to re-evaluate your savings plan since the mortgage will probably have a big impact on your available cash. I am not a trained investment adviser. This is all friendly advice from a conservative guy who loves this stuff. I do invest in some of the firms that I've mentioned, but I am not paid by them in any way. DD
DD makes some good points. Between the online CD market, a mutual fund or two, a 401k, and some stocks, you can really make a diverse investment. Some one asked for a name of an investment firm. I use a local branch of http://www.agedwards.com/. I can get a direct number for my agent if anyone wants it. She knows her stuff and is really nice about everything
^^^^ He's right. And if you don't need a place to live it is still a wise investment b/c w/ all the Forclosures more people are renting.
^^^^ I second that. Another hedge against inflation and busts is gold. Prior to the current slump I sold off some stock and bought some gold. Sucks though cause I'm gonna pay hella taxes.
PM me. I invest in a lot of different markets...Stocks, Options, Forex and Futures. There are alot of ways to turn your extra $3000/ month into a lot more money.