For my high school Graduation I got about 15,000 USD and my mom wanted me to buy a car with it BUT I was thinking of investing some if not all of the money. I am 18 and know almost nothing about investing at all should I play it safe and just buy a car OR should I invest some of it and if so on what should I invest in because I am planning to go to college and don't want to work while in there. But I will work if I have too.
2006-09-09 11:06:12 · 11 answers · asked by Guywiththehir 3 in Business & Finance ➔ Investing
You should buy a cheap car $5k or so, the number of cars totaled by 18-21 year olds is very high, while you might be a good driver the odds are against you and losing the $15k in an accident is painful. i speak from personal experience.
I would keep $5k in savings for emergencies, $5k for a car and start learning about investing by buying 5 quality stocks at $1k each. make sure the 5 stock are atleat $5 billion in market cap and each one is in a different sector.
DON'T make the mistake of penny stocks, microcap stocks like biotech etc. there is one newsletter theat cost $79 a year that has great advice on stocks i highly recommedn it. it is called oxford club www.oxfordclub.com.
The only bad thing about it is they will send you with the nesletter via mail or email additional newsletters to buy from $99-$5000+. Do not buy any of the additional ones, they sometime work and sometimes do not, so far i have produced a profit from any except the base newletter. they will sound very tempting 100% in 3 months etc. Avoid them period.
Cars are depreciating assets (worth less over time except in rare circumstances) so just buy what you need to get around
good luck.
2006-09-09 11:18:11 · answer #1 · answered by ken 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
First rule of growing money: never invest in anything that eats or requires maintenance. Unless you have a need for a nice car, I would buy a cheap car, and invest the rest in a short term CD while you took some time to learn how to invest. Good luck.
2006-09-09 14:56:40 · answer #2 · answered by Mark R 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think it's smart that you don't want to spend all that money on a car. 4 years of college means that a 15k car today might me worth somewhere around the 5k mark by the time you graduate, if you're lucky.
About investing, have you tried asking your father for advice? I don't know what your relationship is like between you and your dad, but I'm sure if he's around to talk to you, he may be able to give you some sound advice.
2006-09-09 12:03:52 · answer #3 · answered by Michael 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
my recommendation:
1. Investing part if not whole of this money will be a great idea. it is always good to start as early as possible in the investing world. I would say that if you decide to go ahead and start investing do that in some good mutual funds with very low maintenance cost. Vanguard is the best mutual company around as per best of my knowledge.
If you don't like fluctuation in market you can put this money in some CD's and enjoy great return when you graduate. Good Luck!
2006-09-09 12:14:53 · answer #4 · answered by ac 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Depends on where you are going to school. If you don't need a car, don't buy one. Invest that money in balanced mutual funds if you're consevative, tech stocks if you can handle some risk. You are young so you can take some chances. Def. get a job in college if you can. Sounds like you've got smarts and a good work ethic. You'll do fine
2006-09-10 09:11:23 · answer #5 · answered by Byron W 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Invest. I had the same choice upon graduation and chose the new car. You will only realize years later how smart the decision was. I just would not put in all the stock market. It is much better to start a long term portfolio divided into all the major asset classes, not just stocks.
2006-09-10 05:00:17 · answer #6 · answered by perdidobums 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Buy a cheap toyota and honda which wont depreciate. THe 15K car will lose a thousand a year at least. Put the rest in a CD or high yielding money market fund like Vanguard Prime which is yielding over 5%.
2006-09-09 12:06:18 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Do both. Invest in a vehicle which may appreciate or which you can buy under market make improvements and resell. Often doing a in depth cleaning and fine tuning of interior and exterior finish can result in a nice return on your investment. You must do your research. Many times a pick up serves this type situation good.
2006-09-09 11:14:03 · answer #8 · answered by Tom S 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Do you really need a car - if yes, buy something cheap. If not, keep it in a high yielding CD for 6 months.
Get a job in college if you can. Put that money aside.
Before you know it, you'll have tons of money set aside.
2006-09-09 11:09:43 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Buy a reliable car. If you keep this one, all you're going to be doing for the next two years is pouring money into repairs which is about as opposite to investing as you can get. Invest once you're out of school; for now, your best "investment" is a reliable car that's not going to have to be repaired every time you take it around the block.
2016-03-27 04:22:57 · answer #10 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋