Realestate has historically been the most sound investment. One of the few resources where there is always a growing demand, and never an increasing supply.
go to your bank, put the money in a CD (certificate of deposit). you can agree to put the CD away for X amount of years, you can get a nice bit of interest, and you're far less likely to be tempted to dip into it when it's in a CD. salt it away for the future and let it build up some nice interest.
I'd redo the backgarden, add a pool with an electric fence and charge a fee of $500 per summer, per family since we would be the only ones with a pool in the neighborhood. Then i'd make back $5000+ for other fun expenses.
the problem with CDs is that their future value is based off current interest rates and the Fed is going to increase the prime rate by 1/4 pt. next time, and maybe again once more after that.
I have little faith in US currency in the coming years, and CDs are denominated in USDs. Four trillion new USDs in the economy in the last 6 year explains for example why the Mexican peso is rising in value versus the USD. The full impact of this hasn't played out yet, nor is Bush done borrowing money. The Chinese yuan was just unpegged from the dollar last year. Senators who were fighting against a cheap yuan just got back from China earlier this month satified that the value of the yuan is going to increase.
These short sighted idtiot senators are probably not economists, so they probably don't understand that these newly rich Chinese have been buying up a lot of this new US debt. Once the value of the yuan goes up, the Chinese will dump their USD denominated investments for Chinese ones.
Although it has become stereotypical for free market economists to claim that the finacial doomsday is right around the corner, I really do think gold would be a good investment right now. Historically, gold has retained it's value well, so you shouldn't have to worry about it becoming worthless. Since a low in 2001 (the year Bush took office), gold has gone up from $275 to almost $600. Some think that it has hit the end of the road, but these same folks don't understand why gold has been going up in the first place. I predict that it will continue up for another 2 years, or until we pull out of Iraq.
Go crazy on the current big lotto goin on.. nearly at 200 million.. $_$
if not that... spend it on my car so it might actually last me another year.... easily spent that much in the past year with all the breakdowns i've had... that's what i get for accepting a car with just shy of 100k miles.
We put it all in an ISA (tax Exempt, maximum pay in in a year) and let it grow. We split my bonuses into two and put them in an Isa each so we can double the maximum investment per year.
I'd put £2,000 away for next summer (me and a friend plan to drive through 6 countries in 2 weeks (Europe) and £1,000 for this summer (Magaluff!). That sounds like all of it with the current exchange rate 8(
Roulette, did someone say roulettes. Oh wait, you mean the game, not the aerobatic team. If I had 5 grand (more like 6.5-7 here in Aus), I would have enough to pay of my car loan. (PT cruiser!) Yay!
And a picture of the roulettes.
YES! (In napoleon voice)
It depends. Do I NEED the money? If I need it, I'll spend it on what I need to spend it on or save it for something I know I'll NEED. If I don't need the money and came across $5000.00 I definitely wouldn't put it in to savings, or a CD, thats just so... boring.
I'd go somewhere. Some country that will appreciate my $5000.00 so that I can appreciate their country. Who knows, with $5000.00 I might even bring a friend.
you just moved in, and they're already onto you kp? bad deal, what can i say. they probably were tipped off because of the raucous company you keep. i heard tell of bobo and the rest overturning a car and setting it on fire late at night for kicks, so i guess it was only a matter of time before they brough the heat down on you.
fool or stupidfool on teh forums took some investments class and was looking to teach someone about it. he says he can get you some pretty good returns.
personally i would quit my job and move to indiana with my fiance. i'm pretty close to just jumping ship and screw saving.
They'll drastically outperform CDs over the long run. Expect an average of 7-12% return. I'd go aggressive growth with a blend of some internationals, health care, real estate, and large/mid cap.
In ten years, that would equate to roughly $10,000 at 7%, or $15,000 at 12%. Of course, my financial advisor is actually hitting about 22% for the last year, which can really give you a quick boost. You just can't expect to hit returns like that every year.
If you've got high interest debt, such as credit cards, you should pay that off first before even thinking about investing though. Credit cards will run at between 10-28%, which can kill you pretty quickly. If you've got a credit card that has an average rate of 16%, you will lose money if you invest the 5k in something that averages out at even a very solid 12%.
To make things a little more fun, buy yourself something with $1000, and invest the other 4k.
Paying off loans or credit cards. Personally I'd rather have less bills per month than buying something fancy or investing for later (which I do monthly anyways).
The $5000 shouldn't even be considered "extra" until high interest loans have been paid off.
For low interest long-term (maneagable payment) loans, I'd still rather invest in mutual funds. For example, I'd be foolish to try paying of my 5.75 APR mortgage, when I earn two or three times that much investing in mutual funds. My house still appreciates, regardless of how much I have paid off on my loan. So, take the appreciation on the house AND the 12% on the mutual funds, and just live with the mortgage payment.
The problem with mutual funds or any stock investment is that, besides dividends paid, the stock market is a zero sum game. This means that for every person who gains a dollar, another person loses a dollar. The way to gain money is to invest smarter than the bottom half of people playing. This can be challenging.
The long term gains in the stock market are created by more people entering the market, but that doesn't change the nature that half of everybody playing loses.
Of course some people are going to lose. Various industries and technologies will be phased out as better ones emerge. It doesn't take always rocket scientist to figure out which types of industries will tend to fare better than others.
But even if you can't do a good job of this yourself, you can rely on savy fund managers to help you out. That is the good thing about mutual funds. You have a fund manager, keeping tabs on numerous investments that are packaged together. He dumps the dogs and makes adjustments. It is the manager's job to balance risks with potential gains.
As a prospective investor, you can then look at various funds' historical gains, what type of funds they are, and make the call which fund you would like to get into. Not all funds are stock-based for that matter. They may be precious metals, real estate, or some specialized sector. Or they me some kind of mix.
Replies
Make a nice journey to some interesting places in the world, or anything else that is an experience/memory for your lifetime.
I have little faith in US currency in the coming years, and CDs are denominated in USDs. Four trillion new USDs in the economy in the last 6 year explains for example why the Mexican peso is rising in value versus the USD. The full impact of this hasn't played out yet, nor is Bush done borrowing money. The Chinese yuan was just unpegged from the dollar last year. Senators who were fighting against a cheap yuan just got back from China earlier this month satified that the value of the yuan is going to increase.
These short sighted idtiot senators are probably not economists, so they probably don't understand that these newly rich Chinese have been buying up a lot of this new US debt. Once the value of the yuan goes up, the Chinese will dump their USD denominated investments for Chinese ones.
Although it has become stereotypical for free market economists to claim that the finacial doomsday is right around the corner, I really do think gold would be a good investment right now. Historically, gold has retained it's value well, so you shouldn't have to worry about it becoming worthless. Since a low in 2001 (the year Bush took office), gold has gone up from $275 to almost $600. Some think that it has hit the end of the road, but these same folks don't understand why gold has been going up in the first place. I predict that it will continue up for another 2 years, or until we pull out of Iraq.
just my 2 cents.
Japan is the USA's biggest creditor, at $668 billion. China, the second-biggest, at $263 billion.
I think CDs are called ISAs in England.
if not that... spend it on my car so it might actually last me another year.... easily spent that much in the past year with all the breakdowns i've had... that's what i get for accepting a car with just shy of 100k miles.
It's a good way of saving for big things.
- BoBo
-R
And a picture of the roulettes.
YES! (In napoleon voice)
I'd go somewhere. Some country that will appreciate my $5000.00 so that I can appreciate their country. Who knows, with $5000.00 I might even bring a friend.
I'd go somewhere. Some country that will appreciate my $5000.00 so that I can appreciate their country.
[/ QUOTE ]
I bet 1,000 Taiwanese prostitutes would appreciate my $5000.00, and I would definitely appreciate 1,000 Taiwanese prostitutes
personally i would quit my job and move to indiana with my fiance. i'm pretty close to just jumping ship and screw saving.
They'll drastically outperform CDs over the long run. Expect an average of 7-12% return. I'd go aggressive growth with a blend of some internationals, health care, real estate, and large/mid cap.
In ten years, that would equate to roughly $10,000 at 7%, or $15,000 at 12%. Of course, my financial advisor is actually hitting about 22% for the last year, which can really give you a quick boost. You just can't expect to hit returns like that every year.
If you've got high interest debt, such as credit cards, you should pay that off first before even thinking about investing though. Credit cards will run at between 10-28%, which can kill you pretty quickly. If you've got a credit card that has an average rate of 16%, you will lose money if you invest the 5k in something that averages out at even a very solid 12%.
To make things a little more fun, buy yourself something with $1000, and invest the other 4k.
For low interest long-term (maneagable payment) loans, I'd still rather invest in mutual funds. For example, I'd be foolish to try paying of my 5.75 APR mortgage, when I earn two or three times that much investing in mutual funds. My house still appreciates, regardless of how much I have paid off on my loan. So, take the appreciation on the house AND the 12% on the mutual funds, and just live with the mortgage payment.
The long term gains in the stock market are created by more people entering the market, but that doesn't change the nature that half of everybody playing loses.
But even if you can't do a good job of this yourself, you can rely on savy fund managers to help you out. That is the good thing about mutual funds. You have a fund manager, keeping tabs on numerous investments that are packaged together. He dumps the dogs and makes adjustments. It is the manager's job to balance risks with potential gains.
As a prospective investor, you can then look at various funds' historical gains, what type of funds they are, and make the call which fund you would like to get into. Not all funds are stock-based for that matter. They may be precious metals, real estate, or some specialized sector. Or they me some kind of mix.
Scott