What would you do with $25k cash for an investment?
That's a really wide open question. Investment for what purpose? Long term, short term, etc. Can you be more specific?
A mutual fund with mostly bonds since the stocks are a little squirrely right now would be the easy choice to me. Municipal bonds return about 7-8% per year on the average. Better than a bank CD, and almost as secure. If you want lot sof growth, maybe an international fund. If you are set to buy some domestic stock I would go with something you actually use and think is a good product (after doing some light research on the company). One example might be COP (Conoco Philips - oil company) which is trading at around 6X earnings recently. Real risky stuff (real estate, Vegas) is best left until you can devote all your attention to it. BT
Pay off bills! I'm doing that in about 3 weeks...I can't WAIT! With the rest, I'd invest and probably go on a well deserved vacation.
KEEP IN MIND, THIS MAKES SENSE IF YOU ARE CARRYING NO DEBT WITH A HIGHER RATE THAN WHAT THE BONDS WILL PAY, PLUS ANY TAX BENEFIT. <<< OOPs all caps on --- sorry >>> Do you have any credit card debt, or other debt at a rate higher than 10%? Paying off that may be you best "investment".
send it to me if you have no bills. I always have at least $8K in AMEX every month. They call me routinely to convince me to become a selected black member. I think they have a contest where the guy that breaks me will get a bottle of champagne.
How do you make a small fortune in racing? ...start with a big fortune and go racing $25K buys you a Spec Miata and spares plus one year worth of entry fees. I can assure you, you will be a better driver AND the money is gone by 12/2008
True about the debt. Fortunately, it has been a few years since that bridge was crossed. If you have any normal debt (not student loans) you would probably be best off to pay that off first (car loans, revolving debt, line of credit from Rachel's). Unless you plan on being sued and losing all you have, then put it in a trust of some sort, or send it to someone for safe keeping till the dust settles. BT
That's great. Read some books on investing and go from there. Nothing currently seems like a sure bet, so do something safe until the volatility quiets down. I don't think energy prices are going down anytime soon, so maybe some coal or oil stocks would be good, or an energy mutual fund with small management fees. BT
I think 308 GT4's have bottomed out!! buy one now for 25k, should be 45 in 2 years! Fiat dinos have doubled in 2l ast 2 years.
O man Martin, there you go stiring the pot. Is that a picture of what I think it is? Dave, I would still do a 401K with the money being invested in an international mutual fund. I see returns in the 20's with mine. Or as Martin said you could put it in my 401K to help with the car. .m
thanks guys, i really appreciate it! thanks Bill, mike and everyone else! hope you are all doing awesome!
You can buy a decent 308GTS for $25K and slowly fix it up a little. If anything increases in value it will be the 308 not the GT4. 4-seaters have not done much in the market. GTEs have gone up because people are ripping them apart and putting different bodies on them. Testarossas and GTOs. Nothing you can do with a GT4 though.
First: Pay off any debt that is at a higher after tax rate than what you could earn on an alternative investment. Next: Determine your time horizon for this money. If it's cash you wont need until retirement, it may pay to put some into a Roth IRA (see next step for where in Roth IRA). If it's not for retirement, don't look for the retirement angle. If it's a 8-20 year horizon, buy some decent mutual funds, balanced stock (domestic and international) and bonds, as well as an index fund. If it's a 3-8 year horizon, perhaps a small amount into some funds, but the majority of it into some bonds. If you're looking at a 0-3 year horizon, you should look into good money market funds that are FDIC insured. Several banks are offering 5-5 1/2%. These are for somewhat passive investments. You could always look for more hands-on investments, such as a private loan/mortgage. IMO, the most important thing, is that you resist the temptation to spend it on junk that will be worthless in several years. At your young age, having 25 g's puts you way ahead of most others in your age group, and if you don't squander it, and invest it wisely, that 25 grand could grow to make a big difference in your life later on.
