In short, I am just getting into all this. I am still learning and not ready to invest on my own yet. In the meantime, I have about $4k in the bank that I can invest. To add, I'm not sure how long I will have that extra money. I am working on getting a home, and working on my credit. So, I might need that money in six months from now, I may not need it for two years. I'm not sure exactly, but I can't invest that money in a way where it will be tied up without me having the option to take it out at any point. So with that said, any suggestions?
Do I read correctly that you are looking for a low risk, high return, short term, full flexibility investment? I will follow this thread keenly. My broker has a high interest savings account. I think the current rate is 0.25% but it might be lower. We have considerable money in HISA and I think we make only a few dollars per month from it. Just leaving it in cash isn't the worst idea for someone in your situation. Buying a stock with the idea of selling in six months is a bad idea, IMO.
Im glad u chimed in Tom. I wanted to say dont invest money short term that u will need short term. But again, i make stupid moves (according to more conservative investors too). So dont want to tell people what to do. But yeah to OP. If that money is earmarked, just know that it can decrease in value. Especially as a new investor in the market. Its a shark tank! To answer directly to the name of the title, the same good investments for newcomers are good for long time investors. We are all looking for the same edge. But none are without risk.
Anything you invest in could lose money. Period. If you have money that you can't take a chance on losing, buy a fireproof safe and a gun.
Thanks for the suggestions, and that's what I figured. I was thinking it might make more sense to simply invest into things I know I can flip myself locally. The more research I do, the more it seems like the whole investing thing is a long-term deal that requires a substantial amount of money to make lucrative. I've been in business management for years and can read financial statements like the back of my hand, but even then, despite what a lot of the books have told me, it seems more so like it is something that takes a long time and a fairly modest capital to really make money off of. Just figured I'd check to see if there might be something I was missing. I appreciate the feedback.
I didn't mention treasuries because the margin is so thin but they might suit your time frame need. You are thinking correctly to consider the idea of keeping your money working. To go back to HISA. $100K in an HISA was paying about $20/mo but I think it went down considerably. lol! Still, I would bend over to pick up 20 bucks so better to have it if it's only a click away. Full confession: I will bend over to pick up $0.01. True story.
Putting your money into the stock market is like paying someone else to do your job for you. The same way, someone is paying you to do your job. If you venture out on your own, you pay yourself to do your job. Imagine that you invest in a REIT. You put your money into stock. Somebody else takes care of it. There's a manager. Collect the rent. Fill vacancies. Fix stuck toilets. You own shares. You get paid If the properties make money. Your stock value could go up or down. If you go to work as a building manager, you collect the rent, fill vacancies, and call the plumber. The building owner pays you to do the job. You just work there. You buy your own building. Take care of it yourself as a small business. You work the plunger. You show vacant units and sign leases. You collect the rent. It's all yours. You take every penny. Unless TomB16 bends over and picks it up before you can get to it. The property value goes up. You flip it for a profit. Then you know, that if you bury the money in a coffee can, with inflation and fluctuations in strength of the dollar, the money will be worth less when you dig it up to use it. it doesn't matter if you have $40, $4,000, or $4million. Any investment creates the opportunity to lose everything. It's the same risk. if you put your money in Treasury Bonds, it's worthless when Canada invades.There's no more US Treasury when there's no more USA. You open a small business, it goes bankrupt. You buy a house, an unforeseen, uninsured event, like a Canadian invasion, occurs. The Mounties seize your property. You lose it all. You keep the money under your pillow. A transvestite prostitute steals it while you are sleeping. But gold. It's rising. It could also go down in value and be worth less when you sell it. Buy a house. You need money. It's not liquid. You can't click on your phone app, immediately sell off some of your shares, and have that money available in an instant. It could take months to refinance, get a 2nd mortgage, or sell and go through escrow. I hold a few shares of IBM. It's now worth about half of what it was worth around 10 years ago. it's all a risk. The more risk, the more potential return. I don't know where in the world $4,000 will buy a house. How long will it take that home to double in value? And when the house doubles, you sell it, you can only buy another house. Your money's buying power did not double. If you invest that, and double your money, then you could buy 2 houses.
