Best way to invest a few grand?

[gplanet]

What's gonna be the best way I can invest a few thousand for a couple of years?

I want to do it pretty safely. I could get a 5% five-year CD account, but if i put $3000 into that, that's only gonna get me about $150 a year....not too much.

I'm looking for somethign that can safely get me at least 10% yearly. Of course, if know it won't be completely safe and if i end up losing a few percent I won't cry. I don't know if this exists, I hope it does

Any ideas?

 

[LordMaul]

Give it to me. I'll put it in my Money Maker Super Machine 2000020249348 and it will spit out a few THOUSAND DOLLARS!!!

Trust me!


Or...crap....

 

[TomC25]

I've got this little start up company....

buy some S&P stock - % will swing with the market and it just has to go up

 

[Viper GTS]

Do you have any debts?

Viper GTS

 

[ThePresence]

Dont ask a serious question like that over here.

 

[gplanet]

viper,

i have no debt. i just need to get this money out of my hands before i can keep spending it

 

[Instagib]

I'm in the process of buying three mutual funds. I'll reply to this thread again with what they are in the next couple days. My father is lookin for them now. He is a big investor and I have good confidence with him. Though I have to agree with Presence that this is not the place for answers. I would go to Bank One and tell them your deal!

 

[OrByte]

I just deposited $31k into a local bank that is offering a monthly interest rate of 3.12%.. It doesn't sound like much but I am earning $930 a month on it...operates just like a checking account...but I am not going to be making withdrawals anytime soon. I am just gonna let the money sit there and earn interest. Problem is, I don't know what this is gonna do to me when tax time comes around

Just look into the diferent banks in your area, most would be more than happy to open a savings account for you...but you have to do the homework!

All the other banks in my area were offering rates in the range of .88% to 1.6%...but I kept looking until i found the right bank and an excellent deal. DO your homework!


There is that a serous enough answer for you?

 

[Kenazo]

ORbyte- Am I missing something? or are you? I find it hard to believe that you are drawing 3% a month on a regular savings account...that's 36% a year which is obviously not right. I think you are getting 3% annually...

 

[HappyPuppy]

I want to know what bank he's using. I'll pull all my money out of all my investments and put it there. 37.44% compound interest yearly beats any mutual fund, and it insured to bat.

 

[LuNoTiCK]

Orbyte, that seems a lil excessive for a bank to give that high interest. Explain.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

If your bank is doing 3%+ a month I'll sell my place, my cars, my computer, etc. and stick it in there. Something isn't right.

 

[Electric Amish]

Originally posted by: Kenazo
ORbyte- Am I missing something? or are you? I find it hard to believe that you are drawing 3% a month on a regular savings account...that's 36% a year which is obviously not right. I think you are getting 3% annually...

Hehe.. speaking of doing your homework.

amish

 

[Mister T]

Originally posted by: OrByte
I just deposited $31k into a local bank that is offering a monthly interest rate of 3.12%.. It doesn't sound like much but I am earning $930 a month on it...operates just like a checking account...but I am not going to be making withdrawals anytime soon. I am just gonna let the money sit there and earn interest. Problem is, I don't know what this is gonna do to me when tax time comes around

Just look into the diferent banks in your area, most would be more than happy to open a savings account for you...but you have to do the homework!

All the other banks in my area were offering rates in the range of .88% to 1.6%...but I kept looking until i found the right bank and an excellent deal. DO your homework!


There is that a serous enough answer for you?

If you are talking about a U.S. bank in U.S. dollars then you are wrong about the interest rate.

I'm looking for somethign that can safely get me at least 10% yearly. Of course, if know it won't be completely safe and if i end up losing a few percent I won't cry. I don't know if this exists, I hope it does

In an efficient market, risk is proportional to return. Thus you have 2 choices:

Decide how much risk you can take
or
Decide your required rate of return

Now, going back to why I think the previous poster is wrong about banks giving you 3% a month:

A smart person would get a cash advance off a credit card and put it in said bank. The bank would pay him approximately 36% a year while the CC company would cost him about 21%... You basically just made 15% risk feee return with other people's money. If this were true, it would be an inefficiency and thus an arbitrage opportunity and you not last long.

 

[HappyPuppy]

It sounds like a classic Ponzi scheme. There is no legit bank in the U.S., or probablyl anywhere in the world, that pays that much. 3.12% compounded monthly comes out to an annual interest rate of about 49%.

 

[kermalou]

if its quick easy money, I have a guy down the street that will take that 1K invest it and give it back to you ~4K in about a month. but this is guilty money. BTW, he only deals in large quantities.





j/k

 

[Night201]

How old are you? Open up some sort of retirement account (Roth IRA for example) and dump some in there, then put some in a savings account and put the rest in a mutual fund of some sort.

 

[silverpig]

High risk, high return:

Invest in silverpigco. You give me your money, I pocket half of it, buy lottery tickets with the other half, and I'll give you thirty... naw, thirty-five percent of the winnings

 

[Mister T]

Originally posted by: HappyPuppy
It sounds like a classic Ponzi scheme. There is no legit bank in the U.S., or probablyl anywhere in the world, that pays that much. 3.12% compounded monthly comes out to an annual interest rate of about 49%.

I know of banks that pay 30%+ a year... usually they are in a weak currency where iflation is just as high in the local economy

 

[cdan]

My pocket

 

[Noirish]

Originally posted by: OrByte
I just deposited $31k into a local bank that is offering a monthly interest rate of 3.12%.. It doesn't sound like much but I am earning $930 a month on it...operates just like a checking account...but I am not going to be making withdrawals anytime soon. I am just gonna let the money sit there and earn interest. Problem is, I don't know what this is gonna do to me when tax time comes around

Just look into the diferent banks in your area, most would be more than happy to open a savings account for you...but you have to do the homework!

All the other banks in my area were offering rates in the range of .88% to 1.6%...but I kept looking until i found the right bank and an excellent deal. DO your homework!


There is that a serous enough answer for you?

i assume you are talking about washington mutual's platinum account.
i also assume you are talking about $930 annually.
really, that's 3% apr not mpr so you are basically getting about $80 a month.

 

[Noirish]

Originally posted by: gplanet
What's gonna be the best way I can invest a few thousand for a couple of years?

I want to do it pretty safely. I could get a 5% five-year CD account, but if i put $3000 into that, that's only gonna get me about $150 a year....not too much.

I'm looking for somethign that can safely get me at least 10% yearly. Of course, if know it won't be completely safe and if i end up losing a few percent I won't cry. I don't know if this exists, I hope it does

Any ideas?

if you are certain our economy will eventually recover in the next 2 years, you probably want to buy some stocks, like csco or orcl, the well known companies.
i'm pretty sure you can more than double you money, that's IF our economy recovers.

 

[OrByte]

OMG I leave for a few and look what i started.....

I apologize guys Orangel is absolutely right it is a WM account and i don't know why I typed up monthly when it is annually. I guess I must have been in lala land.

yes its a checking account that gives me 3.12% ANNUALLY with an ANNUAL yield of $930.00. And i like it becuase over the next 6-8 months or so I will only be using the money to do some remodeling around the house so I wont touch it much....unless of course I get the itch to upgrade....which i have been fighting immensely btw!! /me looks discouragingly upon his old rig.


Man I am sorry for getting you guys riled up! I promise I will proof read what I write from now on!!

 

[PushHands]

Viper GTS made a very important point, which many forget, which is your debt. Always pay that off first. In your particular case, remember that as others mentioned, the amount of return you want on your investment requires a level of risk. Consider the risk aspect first in terms of how much of your principle you feel confortable lossing.

After that, locate appropriate investment vechiles that match your risk profile. Most people don't take the time to properly acess their personal risk and feel shocked to see what happened to their investment.

I'd probably recommend some long terms CDs, but there are a lot of other factors you have to consider such as income level, current wealth, etc.. Hey, if it was easy, we wouldn't have financial planners
When it comes to finances, be very careful with your decision and make sure they are educated ones. Good luck!

 

[dafatha00]

Invest into stocks.