I have $3000 I need to turn into more...

Cars are very hard to value and "flipping" as a side investment is risky, at best.

Given your age I recomend opening a Roth IRA, if you have not already done started one. If you stick with it, by the time you're 60 you'll have a considerable amount in the account. Stick with a balanced mutual fund like DODBX to start out.

Interestingly, the maximum contribution for 2004 is $3000 =)

 

Alright, You need to get to a DEALER auction! Bottom line inless your getting cars from there you are really gambling with the amount of money or if you'll make anything off the cars. You gotta find an in with a deal that'll let you toss him/her some cash to purchase some cars for you using their delaer liscence. That way your getting cars that are worth 5gs for 1500 but you gotta toss that person some cash for buying them for you. Now there is also a limit on how many times your gonna be able to keep doing this for cash. Because if you don't have a dealers liscence your only allowed to sell X amount of cars per year I beleive. IM looking into purchasing that MotorMillions infomercials system. Im sure there are tons of little facts and other interesting tips and hints in there.

My .02

 

NY Joe is right, put it in a ROTH or pay down your debt. Take care of the basics first.

 

I agree here as well. Pay down your debt first (assuming it is bad debt), then invest in retirement accounts. Once you have maxed out your retirement account investment, you can go onto other things.

Dom

 

It won't make much sense to be in debt while trying to make money. I say put the 3g's down on the debt, then work for awhile and get back to square, then go ahead. That's what I would do.

 

I'm with him on this one. If I were in your shoes, getting any debts off my back would be the very first thing on my mind. It's risky buying and reselling cars, and if (IF!) you made money doing that, you would just end up losing a large chunk of it when you paid that debt off. If you just wait, you can start reselling cars later and just count and enjoy the cash as it comes in, instead of counting it and knowing that you'll have to give it away.

 

Dittos, start as "debt free" as possible, so pay that sucker off. Start studying up on the car biz, heck get a job as a salesman at a dealer (used car side), that will teach you a bunch about sales, and what the margins and wholesale costs are. Also about what it takes to find cars, prep them for sale, and completing the sale.

 

Debts first. Invest the rest. Personally I say put, Post debt payment, 25% into stock and the rest into something more secure.

but I like it a bit more risky...

 

How much are you looking to get out of your $3000....how much do you owe if you dont mind me asking

 

Since you go to school, do you have any student loans that you get/can get? If so, the rates are a LOT lower, the repayment period is longer, and people checking your credit report will be much less put off by some student loans than 10 grand in revolving debt. Pay off as much of the credit card as you can with the loan. Then set up a schedule to pay the rest off and stick to it. You could even set up automatic payments online with my bank to pay back your credit card weekly/monthly. General rule of thumb is to pay off your debt before investing your money (as everyone has been saying) - look at it this way... If you find an investment that gives you a 10% return, and you're credit card has a 12% interest rate, you're still losing money.

That said, I have used a credit card to finance something similar - I bought and sold tickets on eBay. I thought it was a lock - find a show guaranteed to sell out, buy the max tickets, sell them off on ebay at a higher price. It's never as great as it sounds. I made out a couple hundred ahead, but I got killed by one concert. It was sold out, but more shows kept getting added, and I couldn't GIVE away the tickets. (FYI, I was using a card that had a 0% promotion for the first 12 months, so there was no interest.)

The point is, yeah, it could be some extra money, but there's still a significant risk involved. Being in debt already, you don't want that risk right now - put the $3000 towards the CCs.

 

start 'f-porn' and make millions

 

Don't worry yourself about the age issue. My sister divorced at 28 (in debt--2 kids), put herself through med school and now has a successful OB practice. Just focus on what you want to do and don't rush it. You've got all the time in the world--to many of us, 23 is infancy! You'll be able to look back one day and reminisce about the GEO Metro days. Good luck and keep us posted.