Alright, I have some money I want to invest with but...here is my mind set right now. I am 19 and I am working. What i want to do with my money is put $10,000 of the $20,000 into a money market... buy a golbal mutual fund and the S&P 500...what do you think?
2007-02-23 11:50:25 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Business & Finance ➔ Investing
Excellent plan indeed!
I would put 5k in the money market. That will only earn 3-4% interest, but your principle will not flucuate. Vanguard has great mutual funds. They have some tax exempt money markets as well as a great mutual fund that mirrors the S and P 500 (Vanguard 500).
Dont forget to put some into a Roth IRA. At 19, by the time you are 60 you will be a rich rich man.
2007-02-23 12:01:55 · answer #1 · answered by ? 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Did you know that if someone put $1,000.00 in savings at age 20, they would have more at age 65 than if they waited until they were 40 and put $1,000.00 in a year?!!!! Investing at your age is good. Not investing so you can pull it out the next time a car strikes your fancy, investing to leave it alone and let it grow for you. So, how much do you REALLY want to invest? If you need to take a couple of thou out and spend it on a toy, do so, because the rest should be thought of as "untouchable". A no-load mutual fund is a good way to go. No load means it doesn't cost you any money to put it in. Your money will still be available to you if you need it. If you want to lock it away from your greedy little paws, you could consider an IRA, but that means you won't be able to draw it out without penalties. I don't advise this, emergencies happen, but you have to gauge your own level of spending control on this. What do you mean you want to put it in the S&P? Buy individual stocks? Don't do this. If you mean a mutual fund that is indexed to the S&P, sure, that's an ok way to go. I don't know why you'd want a money market fund, unless that's your "mad" money. If so, to spend half right now is too much. If it's killing you, figure 1/4 is yours to spend, but that ought to be the limit. Then put it in a fund and FORGET ABOUT IT. The time to gloat is later when you are able to retire at 55 like I was. It's swell to gloat then. Good luck.
EDIT ADDITION: I want to warn you about representatives of stock firms that want to manage your money for you. Do you know that everytime they move stock, they get a commission? So, sure, they can bounce your money from one stock to another, collect a commission with each buy AND each sale, and your money will just go to paying them! Find a reputable no-load mutual fund, indexed to the S&P if that's your choice, and leave it alone. (have I said that enough? LOL)
2007-02-23 20:05:38 · answer #2 · answered by Caper 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Check out some of these:
Boston Company International Small Cap (SDISX), pretax returns in the 20 percentile for 1 yr, 3 yr, and 5 yr, low risk investments with average turnover
Dodge & Cox International Stock (DODFX), check first because they have been closing some funds to new investments, very low turnover with average risk, returns in the 20 percentile for the 1 yr, 3 yr, and 5 yr.
Check out the ishares link. You can pick your part of the world to specialize in. I just made a few bucks when the Malaysia fund ran up recently (EWM), a while back I made some bucks on the Japan fund (EWJ). Be sure to check out the Emerging Markets fund (EEM).
2007-02-23 21:58:04 · answer #3 · answered by Rabbit 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You are young and have a nice chunk of money to invest.
Instead of putting the money into a money market, find a large cap stock that pays a dividend over 6%.
With the other money maybe consider a managed futures fund that is related to trading the S&P
There are other avenues but I think global commodity prices should be healthy this year and some money should be allocated there.
2007-02-23 19:59:02 · answer #4 · answered by Allen W 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If I was your age again and had that kind of money, I'd try to find some sort of business to start of my own. There are TONS of small businesses/franchises you can start with very little money down and a lot of hard work and dedication. Check out www.entrepreneur.com and yahoo search "best small businesses to start" or "best franchises to start" .....something like that.....think about it. You put in the effort now and you could have 2-3 businesses working for YOU by the time your my age (32). Check out this new franchise start-up too....www.goinpostal.com....remember, you can get small a business loan from for the bank to finance your biz expenses as well as your needed living expenses for a period of time until you get in the black...... If I had it to do over again from age 19, I'd do whatever it took to start my own business and never worry about working for someone else again. Best of luck to you!
2007-02-23 20:06:43 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
An excellent plan!
2007-02-23 19:54:41 · answer #6 · answered by Tim P 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
go to this website http://www.cnbc.com/id/16577228
2007-02-23 19:55:47 · answer #7 · answered by layla 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋