What can I do as a 19 year old with the $10,000 I have saved to receive the best return by the time I retire?

Question

What can I do as a 19 year old working at Blockbuster part time to get this money I have to give me the greatest return? How much can I realistically expect this $10,000 initially to become by the time I retire in 46 years if I plan to add $5,000 in savings to it every year? Thanks!

PS. No I'm not going to give my money to you!

Answer 1

If you want this for retirement, I'd open an IRA - for long term investing, I'd suggest an aggressive growth fund(s).

If you think you may need this money for something else (ie college, a house, or a car) then just go with Mutual Funds (no-load funds). The only downside of this vs IRA is you lose the tax advantages.

If you begin with $10k in the account and save about $5k per year - assuming a 5% return (which is pretty conservative) you'd have almost a million in 46 years.
(Disclaimer: this is no guarantee!!)

Good luck to you....I applaud your desire and interest to save for your retirement at your young age. Very smart!!

Answer 2

Gold....Seriously....And When This Country Of Ours Comes Crashing Down It Will Still Be Worth Something....Gold Is Up $200 An Ounce In The Last Five Years.....From $400 To $600 Dollars An Ounce If You Put That $10,000 Into Gold When It Was $400 An Ounce You Would Have $15000 Now. That's Just In Five Years...Gold Will Always Go Up In Value...Wouldn't Put My Future In A Piece Of Paper With The Way This World Is Going......

Answer 3

Kudos and affirmation on your ability to save - especially working part-time.
a) Rule of thumb is save 3 mo. salary in liquid accnt. - CD or money market at your bank/cu.
b) When you purchase the CD ask the bank to do the compound interest gig for you till age 46.
c) CDs right now are about 5.15%. The rate depends on the # and the length of time.
d) Stocks are a hard study. If you must - check out VectorVest for a free report on each. A financial advisor probably won't touch you for less that 1/4 mill deposit and would charge you $250 per purchase or sale.
e) Fidelity and others charge 35$ or so purchase and sale. Only buy at least 100 to avoid an odd lots charge. They will hold the stocks for you so you won't need to take them in an have them validated when you want to sell. This is called holding them "in stree." On-line brokers charge about $7 - 10 but will not hold the stocks for you.
f) Try MorningStar or Fidelity or Yahoo for a good lesson on mutual funds. They hold many stocks and lessen any downturn impace. There are 9 basic kinds of mutuals you can choose from. Last I heard there is something like 8x number of mutual funds holding stocks compared to stocks.
g) If possible, go w/ something you know and like. My wife likes chocolate so we go Hersheys. Sign your stocks up as DRIP which is an automatic re-investment of interest/dividends, but w/o brokerage fees.
h) Check if your employer has a stock purchase plan w/o charge for its employees.
Sorry it went so long.

Answer 4

Go and talk to a financial adviser; he can show you the potential future yields per investment. Putting some into mutual funds would be a wise choice, you could allocate some to "safe" funds and some to "riskier" ones which can provide higher yields. Just think how credit card interest compounds against you; investment returns work the exact same way, only in your favor! And kudos for thinking of retirement at the tender age of 19!!!! I just started MY own IRA at the age of thirtysomething.

Answer 5

if your employer offers a 401k plan, i'd start there cuz some will match you dollar for dollar or at least a certain percentage of it... the only thing is there is a maximum amout you can contribute yearly... if they don't, then i'd go for either an IRA but then i think you're not allowed to touch that money till you retire or safer yet, a cd cuz those earn interest and every so often you can reinvest it. so my advice would be, check with your employer and if they can't help you then check with your bank, preferably a credit union cuz they're more personable.

Answer 6

If you want all of this to not be spent until retirement, I would open a Roth I.R.A. How much you put in it is up to you. I would contribute the equivalent of $1 a day for the rest of my career. Meaning $7 a week or $30 per month.

Answer 7

stock market, remember to diversify....no-load mutual fund, maybe. There are all kinds of computer models which will work out the numbers for you; you need to plug in your expected rate of return. You could look up historical return on, say, S&P 500 and use that.

wow, you are going to be one rich old guy/gal, if you reinvest your dividends and sock away $5k/year! More power to ya. Best way to become a millionaire is to start young, as you are doing.

Answer 8

Spend it on your college education. If that's covered, you'll learn what to do with it by taking a Finance course. I wouldn't put into an IRA, since you'll probably want money for a downpayment on a house or a new car. Instead I would I would buy $10,000 of Certificates of Deposit (CDs). If you can get a return of 5%, grab it for 3 years.

Answer 9

You need to max out each year in your contribution and hopefully work for a company that matches a 401K dollar for dollar.

Invest in slow growth mutual funds. Diversify. Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

Check out Vanguard. We've have seen pretty good ROI so far with our investments with the occasional slip when the market is low. The key is long term growth.

Answer 10

Mutual funds with a 10 year or longer positive income track record. You will retire with millions.
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