Is $4000 worth investing?

[xanis]

If you're investing in hookers and blow it is.

 

[ThatsABigOne]

Put your 4000 dollars into AMD stock. So when Bulldozer releases, you can... you get the point. 😀

 

[Balt]

Hello all. I'm toying with the idea of investing my pathetic little $4000 I have in savings. The problem is that I've never invested in anything and I really don't know what I'm doing. I don't know where to start.

So before I try to wrap my head around investing, is $4000 even enough to get started without wasting my time?

My goal is to just make a few bucks on the side (and probably re-invest). Obviously, this is a short term goal. Not looking to get rich.

All tips and pointers are welcome. Thanks 🙂

If you only have $4000 in savings then no, you should not invest it. You need a rainy day fund that is liquid (ie you can get it the next day w/o major penalties for withdrawal).

 

[PeeluckyDuckee]

Put your 4000 dollars into AMD stock. So when Bulldozer releases, you can... you get the point. 😀

...get bulldozed? lol

 

[IAteYourMother]

Don't listen to these fools. Get into day trading.

 

[xanis]

Don't listen to these fools. Get into drug trafficking.

ftfy

 

[OlafSicky]

buy comic books:thumbsup🙁)🙂

 

[Schfifty Five]

Put it all in AAPL, you won't be sorry.

 

[JasonCoder]

Some surprisingly good investment advice in here. I raise a toast to you all.

Southern Tier 2x IPA if you were wondering.

 

[DougoMan]

and forget about it.

Not such a good idea.

 

[Raghu]

how hard is this to do for an american citizen with no ties to india?

There should be some sort of ADR/financial instrument in the US market that does this. Pretty sure there must be a way, because a lot of US FIIs buy in the Indian stock market.

If you are really serious about it and there arent any such funds, then maybe I can help.

You do have to be aware of currency fluctuations though.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

Not such a good idea.

figuratively, but you can be difficult if that's your preference

 

[Red Squirrel]

Put your 4000 dollars into AMD stock. So when Bulldozer releases, you can... you get the point. 😀

Or wait till it releases, they'll be cheaper. 😀

Meanwhile keep that 4000 in a saving account, by the time BD releases it will be at 9001.

 

[Stifko]

Buy $4K worth of BAC shares. They're trading at around 6.90/share. That is a good buy imho, Buffet just bought in too.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

But: you should still keep at least $1,000 - 2,000 in a high interest savings account for emergencies so you don't spiral into debt when something unexpected happens.

Is there such a thing as high interest savings any more? Last I checked ING was offering ~ 1%. That isn't saving or investing. That's losing less than you otherwise would to inflation.

OP: $4K is plenty to invest. But as others have said, "investing" and "short term" rarely go hand in hand.

If you want to invest with a minimum of fuss, pick an index fund (american funds, vanguard etc.) and plop your cash into that. If you want to evaluate individual stocks, I suggest reading a few books first. I recommend "payback time" by Phil Town as a good place to start, as it clearly explains the meaning of various stock stats, and teaches a "share building" strategy that I have come to like over the years.

Finally, don't buy a company's stock if you can't or don't understand how they make money. That isn't a soxfan rule of thumb, that is a warren buffet rule of thumb. It is also precisely why I have never purchased Apple or Google stock. Both are good companies, but I don't understand anything their revenue stream. In contrast, I bought many shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill when it went IPO at ~$30-40 share, because I understood why American's buy the product, how the company would expand, and how it intended to keep its costs down.