I do have some bills, and I also have a 401k thas doing excellent. I'm also interested in investing my money and let it work for me where do i get started.
2006-09-28 05:18:51 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Business & Finance ➔ Investing
1. If your company matches your 401k contribution, at least put in enough money to get the max matching amount. Even if the matching % is just 10% (most likely more, as many companies match from 25% to 100%), it is 10% tax-deferred return there already.
2. Get out of debt: especially the high-interest and non-tax-deductible debts. If not because of the obvious benefit/return of 401k's company matching, getting out of debt is always your first priority in planning for your financial freedom.
3. Invest in real-estate: maybe not immediately due to the current plateau in the real-estate market; however, this is always something you should keep in mind. Don't just blindly invest in a house; instead you should look at your rental payment vs. your PTII payment, taking into consideration tax break/deduction, etc. and make a wise decision here. Beside these tangible things, owning a house also comes with intangible benefits, especially for families with kids, so you might take that into consideration also.
4. if still money left: more with 401k and 529-plan to plan ahead for your later days in life :-).
5. now we are talking about a bit more risk investment; start with mutual funds. I highly recommend you take a look at www.vanguard.com. Vanguard offers many no-load/very-low-free funds. Using it for a while will ease you into the financial investment world.
6. once you are familiar with mutual funds and their holding, you can take a bit more chance and invest in individual stocks or segments.
Good luck!
2006-09-28 05:28:08 · answer #1 · answered by Novice 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Charity, send it all to me. Just Kidding! Pay your bills off, work on larger ones one at a time with a focus to get it paid off. Be frugal because you never know when life will change. Keep a reasonable amount of money in your savings or a checking account that pays interest. Investing in everyday business can be risky. If you want to be as safe as possible call your bank and inquire about T bills. They are very high yield pecuniary loans you make to your government. Even if interest rates fall, you still get back the % of interest promised to you and your principle. You may have to save awhile to afford a T bill, but they are good investments. There are a number ways to make the loan-choose the one that is most appealing to you. By ways, I mean that there are different lengths of time you lend the money out for and you can always "roll it over" or reup that investment when the period ends, should you choose to. You could use the intest to help pay bills or you could sock it away to save up and purchase another T bill, the choice is up to you. Best wishes.
2006-09-28 05:29:00 · answer #2 · answered by beverly p 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
How on earth do you live on 1200 a month. That's like 300 bucks a week before you worry about investment advice you may want to get a job that pays more than minimum wage. Once you get some real money I would suggest you get a savings account and then some mutual funds, art, real estate, and collectibles are good investments with low entrance thresh holds.
2006-09-28 05:23:32 · answer #3 · answered by ghostpirate7 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I make about 2400 a month and my hubby triples that and we're barely living, how do you survive on 1200 a month?
anyway.... if i were you i'd put as much as i could into 401k cause that will be a big part of your retirement and if you work somewhere else you can transfer your 401k.
Anyway... also make sure you have a good amount in savings and stuff.
Ameritrade is a place on line for stocks online.
2006-09-28 05:25:53 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pay off your bills first. That means utilities, groceries, house, car, gas. Anything left over, you might talk to your investment broker. If you have a 401K they have an investment broker that handles it, who may recommend something to help your money along, like a tax deferred IRA (individual retirement account). Or you could talk to a banker about a CD or opening another investment account.
2006-09-28 05:24:40 · answer #5 · answered by writ_rrr 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
$1200. 00 a month, instead of investing, how about start off with a saving account. you should set some money aside for an emergency. After you have enough in your account you should then look into investing your money.
2006-09-28 12:13:03 · answer #6 · answered by Grandpa Shark 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'd start reading up on investing, in the mean time you could put it into a CD to start gaining some interest while you're learning to invest more diversly.
2006-09-28 05:22:09 · answer #7 · answered by Roni 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Save as much as you can and once you build up some cash, invest in a mutual fund and then make monthly/quarterly investments. I think an S&P index fund is a good place to start.
2006-09-28 05:26:34 · answer #8 · answered by Captain Trips 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Put as much as possible into your 401K. YOu should look into things such as Sharebuilder to start building a portfolio. It's very easy and you can do it all online. Also consider paying off some of your bills, but remember to save for yourself as well.
2006-09-28 05:21:18 · answer #9 · answered by Jenyfer C 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
How do you live on $1,200/month? Pay the bills, if you can and if you have money left, put part in the 401(k) and perhaps some in stocks.
2006-09-28 05:22:57 · answer #10 · answered by SUZI S 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋