What to do with $20k ?

[UnatcoAgent]

Hey guys, I've been working for the past year at a great job, and have been fortunate enough to make a very good salary for starting fresh out of school. At the end of this month I'm going to have about 22-23 thousand saved in a 10 month period.

So far I have most of it sitting in a high-interest savings account with my bank and ING, but I don't have any long-term savings or investments.

I'm assuming I should just go see a financial adviser, but I thought I'd ask here first since ATOT knows all. I'm in Canada btw.

Any advice is appreciated!

 

[polarmystery]

Pay off any outstanding loans and/or balances if you have any. Invest the rest and/or put rest in savings account. Die a rich fool

 

[E equals MC2]

[obligatory] bet all on black [/obligatory]

 

[judasmachine]

Vacation in the south of France? Or you just get out of debt as best you can, invest it, or both.

 

[UnatcoAgent]

I still owe about 6k to my student loan, the interest I'm making off of what I have saved now is covering the monthly cost of it though, I wanted to reach 6 months of saved income before starting to pay it off in large chunks again (it was 28k )

 

[bignateyk]

Hookers and blow.

 

[lozina]

buy a huge plot of recently harvested & replanted timber land.

sell it in 10 years and profit!

 

[rivan]

Originally posted by: lozina
buy a huge plot of recently harvested & replanted timber land.

sell it in 10 years and profit!

:thumbsup:

It's pretty tough to lose on land.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Guns, and alcohol. You're going to need it when my evil genius plan is implemented....

*evil laugh*

 

[judasmachine]

Originally posted by: bignateyk
Hookers and blow.

doh why didn't i think of that.

 

[dquan97]

Pay off debts and start a retirement fund. Visit FW Finance for tips.

 

[Bryophyte]

3-6 months of living expenses stays in your high-interest savings acct, divide the rest between paying down bills and investing (max out your retirement acct, invest the rest at the level of risk that you're comfortable with.)

 

[Specop 007]

Buy a gun or 2, a bunch of ammo, a whole bunch more food and a very fuel efficient car.

Life as we know it is ending.

Either that or some land. You could buy a few acres all of your own.

 

[moparacer]

Put it in the stock market! Yay!!!!!

Plop...

 

[Corbett]

Originally posted by: Sabot
Hey guys, I've been working for the past year at a great job, and have been fortunate enough to make a very good salary for starting fresh out of school. At the end of this month I'm going to have about 22-23 thousand saved in a 10 month period.

So far I have most of it sitting in a high-interest savings account with my bank and ING, but I don't have any long-term savings or investments.

I'm assuming I should just go see a financial adviser, but I thought I'd ask here first since ATOT knows all. I'm in Canada btw.

Any advice is appreciated!

1 - Buy forclosed home.
2 - Live in home for 5 years.
3 - Sell Home
4 - Profit

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

I'd start by paying off that loan, and continue saving towards a nice down payment on a house. Maybe look into getting some kind of property that you can rent out?

 

[OdiN]

paypal it to me

 

[AMCRambler]

Pay off the student loan. It's basically eating the interest you're making now.

You cuold take the remaining 14-16k and invest it. Or if you plan to by a house or condo down the road, put it into a CD with higher interest rates then you're making now. The stock market is a little unsteady right now with oil prices jumping up and dropping down so be careful if you do invest. Bonds can be a safer place for your money too.

That's a lot of money to have saved over 10 months time if you're living on your own. Living at home then I could see it. Either way, if your company has a 401k or retirement type plan where they will match a percentage of what you put in, get yourself set up with that. It's basically free money you're losing out on if you're not contributing. If your doesn't offer it open one with a reputable bank.

 

[CycloWizard]

Invest in me. I can turn it into $100k in 4 weeks, but I want half of the profit.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I'd pay off the loan in one big chunk... You may be earning interest on your money, but you're also accruing interest on the student loan. It will SAVE you money to pay it off first, then figure out what to do with what you've banked.

 

[Alyx]

Originally posted by: Sabot
Hey guys, I've been working for the past year at a great job, and have been fortunate enough to make a very good salary for starting fresh out of school. At the end of this month I'm going to have about 22-23 thousand saved in a 10 month period.

So far I have most of it sitting in a high-interest savings account with my bank and ING, but I don't have any long-term savings or investments.

I'm assuming I should just go see a financial adviser, but I thought I'd ask here first since ATOT knows all. I'm in Canada btw.

Any advice is appreciated!

Does your work offer any sort of retirement plan where they will match what you put in? If so put in the max. (they won't match they money you've got in your bank, just what you take out of your pay check. )

After that I'd pay off loans and then save it in some sort of high interest account. If you could double it in the next 10 months it'd be a good down payment, and paying off the loans will make your credit better for thus said house.

 

[moparacer]

Seriously get out of debt if you have any and stay out of debt. Anyone who thinks the current financial crisis we are in is over is sadly mistaken.

 

[Genx87]

Pay off high interest loans(CC, possibly car). Then max out your Roth IRA. Then invest in a retirement account.

 

[bonkers325]

Originally posted by: rivan

Originally posted by: lozina
buy a huge plot of recently harvested & replanted timber land.

sell it in 10 years and profit!

:thumbsup:

It's pretty tough to lose on land.

10 years isn't going to give you lots of $ from timber

plant black walnut trees, by the time u retire they'll be worth thousands per tree (assuming u take care of them)

 

[yllus]

Are you planning on purchasing or renovating property in the near future? You can withdraw up to $20,000 from a RRSP account for use with the Home Buyers' Plan (HBP). Seeing that the cash you sock away into a RRSP is tax-deferred, this is a great way to save big on your taxes the next time you file - money that would otherwise be permanently sent away to the government.

In the future, Canadians will also be able to make use of the upcoming Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) unveiled in this year's budget. That'll let you deduct up to an extra $5,000 per year away that you've put into a TFSA.

In terms of investing, I recommend you read "The best investment advice you'll never get":

First to arrive was Stanford University?s William (Bill) Sharpe, 1990 Nobel Laureate economist and professor emeritus of finance at the Graduate School of Business. Sharpe drew a large and enthusiastic audience, which he could have wowed with a PowerPoint presentation on his ?gradient method for asset allocation optimization? or his ?returns-based style analysis for evaluating the performance of investment funds.?

But he spared the young geniuses all that complexity and offered a simple formula instead. ?Don?t try to beat the market,? he said. Put your savings into some indexed mutual funds, which will make you just as much money (if not more) at much less cost by following the market?s natural ebb and flow, and get on with building Google.