I put my extra $$ in vanguard mutuals. probably 8-10% a year, 'cept during dot com bust.
slow, but steady.
If this is yr first savings, put it in an IRA - usually Roth IRA outperforms traditional IRA.
If you don't have enough to enter the mutual fund of your choice, put it in a money market acct, or perhaps simple savings acct until you have enough to open the IRA. Currently, there are a couple of banks offering 3.5% or so on savings. (ING bank comes to mind).
Or, of course, you can use that $1000 to open your own office, which may be the best investment you can make. (I opened my first business with $25 and a contract - that became $250k/yr in 2 years, sold for a profit).
money market accounts are doing Ok right now, you can find one for 3.5% interest. they are safer than stocks or betting with lower returns of course and you don't have the consequenses of a CD. CD (certificate of deposit) is another option, but you are penalized if you take out the money early. You should always have emergency savings, I keep my extra bucks in money market accounts to earn the interest and keep it available.
I've seen charts that show that if your loans are on a 30 year repayment schedule (as yours most likely will be once you consolidate) sending in even one extra payment per year can get them paid off years earlier. So that's where I'd put the $1000.
Also: everybody should have an easily-accessible savings account with at least 3 to 6 months of your current take-home pay, to tide you over during layoffs or other inevitable minor life disasters. That should be a first priority before paying anyone else or making long-term investments or creating retirement accounts that have penalties and/or taxes for early withdrawals.
Never bet on sports no matter how good the spread looks! Check this out:
Temple 28, Virginia Tech 24
Oct. 17, 1998
The quintessential don't-look-ahead game. The Owls (0-6), perennial Big East doormats, knocked the Hokies (5-0) out of national-championship contention and delivered a lesson in humility that helped carry Virginia Tech into the title game a year later.
If you can get more return out of your investment than what your interest rate is, then don't pay off debts.
I always thought it would be cool to own stock in a company I liked. Find one you like...Southwest or Apple may be good options.
since it sounds as though you are just getting started, the best advice would probably be to meet with a financial advisor and start strategizing your overall financial well-being and not just what to do with this grand. having said that, here are a couple more thoughts:
1. if you'd like to keep the money handy, then a money market account is probably a good idea. the rate of return is better than a savings account and you'll still have good liquidity. in fact, many of these accounts will even let you write checks from them. start by checking with your bank.
2. if you are instead looking to just drop the money into something for a long term investment, then i'd suggest opening a roth ira. start if off with your $1k lump sum and set up a BA to draw some small amount of money ($50, $100, or whatever you feel you can afford) from your bank account on a monthly basis and then just forget about it for ten or twenty years and you will be pleasantly surprised. keep the ira simple and start with a single large cap growth fund. any investment company (fidelity, putnam, janus, etc) will be more than happy to get you started with this.
3. if you are just looking for a hot tip, i'm still bullish on akamai (akam)...and stay away from teldar paper, greed is not going to save it
thanks guys.
yes i am the one with the huge school loan. however, this morning i remembered while working during my undergrad years i was contributing to a 401k plan, hence, the $1000.
capital one has both a money market account & high-yield savings, currently at 3.75%, no fees and a minimum of $100 deposit required. you can make up to 6 withdrawals per month from either - checks or atm for the money market, electronic transfer for the savings account.
Buy NZ dollars. The OCR just went up to 7%. 3.5% sounds really low, obviously due to the low US$. I have two run of the mill savings accounts that pay 6.5% with no fees and no minimum balance.
Honestly, with a grand, I'd be proactive.
I'm making a measly 34k a year as an intern, so on the side I do what some refer to as 'hustling'. But I only buy+sell legal things here, in case you're wondering.
For instance, i browse thru craigslist.com in the DC area where I live, look for items that people have for sale cheap, i buy them and resell them.
I bought 20 brand new Sprint phones at $50 each and sold all at about $90-$110 each. thats about 100% ROI (someone above said 8-10% a year? yawn.)
Bought a Dell 24" flat panel LCD monitor at $600, eBay'ed it for a $200 profit.
If you want a small return, you can be lazy and put it in a mutual fund, although 1 grand might not meet the minimum. If you want to reall get a big ROI, it takes some research and planning. Some people get it with stock trades, I do it with hard good. Its reassuring to me, stocks can fall completely through and you can lose it all, with products/hard goods you can't lose the whole invesment unless you break it/ get it stolen, etc.
That's just my of extra income. I've recently started buying +selling cars, averaging $800-$1200 per car.
I've managed to make more with these 'side projects' since I started work in June than I've made from work.
Sports betting actually is a great way to double/triple up, my friends do it and through exhaustive ( MANY hours a week) research, they are right about 70-80% of the time.
Once you have a few hundred thousand in a mutual fund, then a 8-10% return is great with no effort on your part. It takes some grindin' when you're starting out to get to that point.
Wait, you're taking this out of your 401k?? I wouldn't do that...
Unless you know what the hell you're doing, playing the currency exchange market is very very risky. Plus, from what I understand, currency exchange works better in large quantity investments ($100o is nothing). George Soros, for example, does this and to an extent, he is successful. But, with every success, he has had many failures. Plus, he can afford to lose a couple hundred million dollars every now and then....
if the money is coming from an existing (or old) 401k like you said, then i'd suggest just rolling it over into a new account. again, any financial company/bank/investment firm will be more than happy to do this. it's very common. go to their website and look for or click on "rollover", "401k rollovers", "ira rollovers" or something like that. i'd start by looking at one of the big mutual fund companies like fidelity or vanguard, probably a large cap growth fund but if you are young enough something more aggressive might also make sense. ask if they have any suggestions. remember, it's time in the market, not timing the market that pays off in the long term and allows one to reach financial independence.
moreover, the rollover approach makes sense rather than taking the cash payout. after the tax hit and a 10% early withdrawal penalty on the retirement funds your $1000 will be significantly less...this will only help you if you are in desperate straits, i.e., you need to pay your bookie $500 or else he'll break your legs or something terrible like that. even if you use the cash to pay down your student loans, you will still take the tax hit and early withdrawal penalty.
Don't know sheetrock - like they say, get advice from those who have done it. However, every investor I know over here is getting out of US Dollars quicker than you can say 'economic collapse'. And with NZ now having the highest interest rates in the developed world, and with a currency advantage, you might want to look at that.
Investment
Ok people let's get creative here!!
I have $1000, how / what can i do to invest to make a good return?
Thanks
depends upon how much risk your nerves can stand. If a lot, buy apple stock. If not much, buy a T-bill.
You could always invest in my future - $1000 would go a long way!
I will invest for you. Return double! no question ask!
gruen, thats not creative...
Ok, sorry.
I put my extra $$ in vanguard mutuals. probably 8-10% a year, 'cept during dot com bust.
slow, but steady.
If this is yr first savings, put it in an IRA - usually Roth IRA outperforms traditional IRA.
If you don't have enough to enter the mutual fund of your choice, put it in a money market acct, or perhaps simple savings acct until you have enough to open the IRA. Currently, there are a couple of banks offering 3.5% or so on savings. (ING bank comes to mind).
Or, of course, you can use that $1000 to open your own office, which may be the best investment you can make. (I opened my first business with $25 and a contract - that became $250k/yr in 2 years, sold for a profit).
investment is crime.
AGFA - your're right, of course.
money market accounts are doing Ok right now, you can find one for 3.5% interest. they are safer than stocks or betting with lower returns of course and you don't have the consequenses of a CD. CD (certificate of deposit) is another option, but you are penalized if you take out the money early. You should always have emergency savings, I keep my extra bucks in money market accounts to earn the interest and keep it available.
i thought you were broke tho and couldn't even afford a latte and were considering bankruptcy? wasn't that you?
Yeah, the best investment for you might be to pay off some of those massive loans. Dang.
use the $1,000 to move to Africa (as recommended in the college loan thread), that will take care of your loans.
I've seen charts that show that if your loans are on a 30 year repayment schedule (as yours most likely will be once you consolidate) sending in even one extra payment per year can get them paid off years earlier. So that's where I'd put the $1000.
Also: everybody should have an easily-accessible savings account with at least 3 to 6 months of your current take-home pay, to tide you over during layoffs or other inevitable minor life disasters. That should be a first priority before paying anyone else or making long-term investments or creating retirement accounts that have penalties and/or taxes for early withdrawals.
I still think I'm your best option here...
pay off debt
pay off debt
pay off debt
Never bet on sports no matter how good the spread looks! Check this out:
Temple 28, Virginia Tech 24
Oct. 17, 1998
The quintessential don't-look-ahead game. The Owls (0-6), perennial Big East doormats, knocked the Hokies (5-0) out of national-championship contention and delivered a lesson in humility that helped carry Virginia Tech into the title game a year later.
If you can get more return out of your investment than what your interest rate is, then don't pay off debts.
I always thought it would be cool to own stock in a company I liked. Find one you like...Southwest or Apple may be good options.
sheetrock,
since it sounds as though you are just getting started, the best advice would probably be to meet with a financial advisor and start strategizing your overall financial well-being and not just what to do with this grand. having said that, here are a couple more thoughts:
1. if you'd like to keep the money handy, then a money market account is probably a good idea. the rate of return is better than a savings account and you'll still have good liquidity. in fact, many of these accounts will even let you write checks from them. start by checking with your bank.
2. if you are instead looking to just drop the money into something for a long term investment, then i'd suggest opening a roth ira. start if off with your $1k lump sum and set up a BA to draw some small amount of money ($50, $100, or whatever you feel you can afford) from your bank account on a monthly basis and then just forget about it for ten or twenty years and you will be pleasantly surprised. keep the ira simple and start with a single large cap growth fund. any investment company (fidelity, putnam, janus, etc) will be more than happy to get you started with this.
3. if you are just looking for a hot tip, i'm still bullish on akamai (akam)...and stay away from teldar paper, greed is not going to save it
thanks guys.
yes i am the one with the huge school loan. however, this morning i remembered while working during my undergrad years i was contributing to a 401k plan, hence, the $1000.
capital one has both a money market account & high-yield savings, currently at 3.75%, no fees and a minimum of $100 deposit required. you can make up to 6 withdrawals per month from either - checks or atm for the money market, electronic transfer for the savings account.
Buy NZ dollars. The OCR just went up to 7%. 3.5% sounds really low, obviously due to the low US$. I have two run of the mill savings accounts that pay 6.5% with no fees and no minimum balance.
Honestly, with a grand, I'd be proactive.
I'm making a measly 34k a year as an intern, so on the side I do what some refer to as 'hustling'. But I only buy+sell legal things here, in case you're wondering.
For instance, i browse thru craigslist.com in the DC area where I live, look for items that people have for sale cheap, i buy them and resell them.
I bought 20 brand new Sprint phones at $50 each and sold all at about $90-$110 each. thats about 100% ROI (someone above said 8-10% a year? yawn.)
Bought a Dell 24" flat panel LCD monitor at $600, eBay'ed it for a $200 profit.
If you want a small return, you can be lazy and put it in a mutual fund, although 1 grand might not meet the minimum. If you want to reall get a big ROI, it takes some research and planning. Some people get it with stock trades, I do it with hard good. Its reassuring to me, stocks can fall completely through and you can lose it all, with products/hard goods you can't lose the whole invesment unless you break it/ get it stolen, etc.
That's just my of extra income. I've recently started buying +selling cars, averaging $800-$1200 per car.
I've managed to make more with these 'side projects' since I started work in June than I've made from work.
Sports betting actually is a great way to double/triple up, my friends do it and through exhaustive ( MANY hours a week) research, they are right about 70-80% of the time.
Once you have a few hundred thousand in a mutual fund, then a 8-10% return is great with no effort on your part. It takes some grindin' when you're starting out to get to that point.
diabase can you expand a little more, where do i look for more info. about this option? thanks
youre asking architects for financial advice???
Wait, you're taking this out of your 401k?? I wouldn't do that...
Unless you know what the hell you're doing, playing the currency exchange market is very very risky. Plus, from what I understand, currency exchange works better in large quantity investments ($100o is nothing). George Soros, for example, does this and to an extent, he is successful. But, with every success, he has had many failures. Plus, he can afford to lose a couple hundred million dollars every now and then....
if the money is coming from an existing (or old) 401k like you said, then i'd suggest just rolling it over into a new account. again, any financial company/bank/investment firm will be more than happy to do this. it's very common. go to their website and look for or click on "rollover", "401k rollovers", "ira rollovers" or something like that. i'd start by looking at one of the big mutual fund companies like fidelity or vanguard, probably a large cap growth fund but if you are young enough something more aggressive might also make sense. ask if they have any suggestions. remember, it's time in the market, not timing the market that pays off in the long term and allows one to reach financial independence.
moreover, the rollover approach makes sense rather than taking the cash payout. after the tax hit and a 10% early withdrawal penalty on the retirement funds your $1000 will be significantly less...this will only help you if you are in desperate straits, i.e., you need to pay your bookie $500 or else he'll break your legs or something terrible like that. even if you use the cash to pay down your student loans, you will still take the tax hit and early withdrawal penalty.
Invest in a new suit, some cologne - - - marry well.
Don't know sheetrock - like they say, get advice from those who have done it. However, every investor I know over here is getting out of US Dollars quicker than you can say 'economic collapse'. And with NZ now having the highest interest rates in the developed world, and with a currency advantage, you might want to look at that.
... buy some PFE or some HD or some GE ... then sit on it for 30 years
the best investment you can make is by giving. so i suggest you take us out for drinks.
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