First time investor

[BDR]

I have a small chunk of change in a savings account, and I'm sick of it losing value due to inflation. I'm looking to invest some of it (~$1000). Any help on investing it somewhere? Given the small amount, should I bother a broker like Europac, or just do my own thing? Maybe gold, commodities, ETFs, foreign stocks?
Thanks for the advice!

 

[cubical]

i would suggest some commodity related stocks. COP, RDS.b, PWE or PGH are all good ones. if you dont have an IRA account, make sure you open one up and deposit the money there.

 

[BDR]

I have a small chunk of change in a savings account, and I'm sick of it losing value due to inflation. I'm looking to invest some of it (~$1000). Any help on investing it somewhere? Given the small amount, should I bother a broker like Europac, or just do my own thing? Maybe gold, commodities, ETFs, foreign stocks?
Thanks for the advice!

Edit: I should probably include that I'm a senior in high school and this is money from a part time job.

 

[ghengis86]

buy gold, guns and fooodddd!!!!

seriously though, do you have any debt? Paying that off early is a better return on your investment than just about anything. Plus, it will increase your cash flow for the future.

don't have any or don't want to pay it off? you can always go to a financial planner and see what they have to say. maybe a roth IRA would fit you best? a person who does financial planning for a living will be your best source for info.

since gold is at all time highs, buy some silver bullion with a few hundred bucks. spread your purchases out over the next couple weeks/months.

maybe stock up on some food (that you will eat). With the way prices are rising or portions are shrinking, it's always a safe investment. Plus it's prudent to have more than a few days worth of groceries on hand.

a quality firearm is a good investment, at least from the personal protection/self defense standpoint.

use your cash to start your own business and stick it to the man. nothing beats being your own boss.

there are tons of things to invest your money in besides a savings account; determine what your goals or priorities are and go from there. there aren't many 'investments' that return worse than a savings account's 0.3%

 

[ghengis86]

Edit: I should probably include that I'm a senior in high school and this is money from a part time job.

i'd start with some silver; no big downside, you'll learn about investing, speads, markets, what effects precious metals, etc. plus, there's no paper work (yet), no government regs, it's very liquid and can be converted back to dollars.

 

[RonPaulGetsIt]

HSGFX...go over to hussmanfunds.com and read his weekly market comments. Value investor who hedges market risk. (He is fully hedged right now) Invest directly with the fund and save brokerage fee. Set up a monthly deposit even if it is only 50 dollars.

The way to make money is to compound returns without taking the big loss. I can't say enough about him. Hussman and silver/gold are all you need.

 

[bwlibertyman]

forsmant has some silver for sale.

 

[Jordan]

Edit: I should probably include that I'm a senior in high school and this is money from a part time job.

Keep it in cash.

Planning on going to college? If so, you'll probably want it.

 

[Zippyjuan]

Is this money you may need for something in the next couple of years or so? If it is, you don't want to be taking risks with things like stocks or EFTs or perhaps not even gold. Invest only money you can afford to lose.

Do you have debts as Ghengis86 asks? If so, it makes better sense to get rid of that debt unless you can get a guaranteed rate of return after taxes higher than the interest rate on the debt. Do you have enough money put aside in something like that checking account to be able to pay all your bills for nine months or more (used to say six to nine months but unemployment is lasting a longer time these days than it used to) in the event that you lose your source of income? If not, that is where the money should go. Once you have taken care of those and can afford to potentially lose that money or portions of it, then you can afford to invest it.

 

[BDR]

I'm no doubt going to keep some in cash for college, and more than likely spend all of that. However, the other portion I want to put somewhere else. It seems like a Roth IRA (maybe a Hussman Roth IRA?) would be the best option.
BTW, I have no debts (but most likely will out of college/graduate school).

 

[Blueskies]

Get a Scottrade account (only $7 per trade). Play around with it.

If you lose it all, who cares. You're what, 17, 18 years old? You have a lifetime to make it back. And what you gain in financial education is invaluable.

 

[BDR]

Or what about a self directed IRA with commodities/ precious metals?

 

[Arklatex]

If I were you I'd buy some physical silver. Head to the local coin shop and buy Silver Eagles, Bars or "junk silver", or look on Ebay, or trade with a person here. I have rolls of silver maple leafs I'll mail you at a fair price just PM me.

 

[brandon]

Keep it in your savings. It's good to have some money on hand for emergencies or sudden impulses. You're young...worry about investing when you get older and have a full time career.

 

[Arklatex]

But savings in paper isn't saving. Silver is real savings and it's easily liquid.

One more holding silver and tossing paper is a win for liberty.

 

[brandon]

But savings in paper isn't saving. Silver is real savings and it's easily liquid.

One more holding silver and tossing paper is a win for liberty.

That's ridiculous. Savings is savings. Physical metals are fairly illiquid and have a huge bid/ask spread.

 

[Arklatex]

 

[Blueskies]

That's ridiculous. Savings is savings. Physical metals are fairly illiquid and have a huge bid/ask spread.

 

[Jordan]

He's likely going to need the money within a year.

I don't care how much you may think silver is a "store of value" over the long haul, it isn't a very good one for the short term. Brandon was spot on.

 

[Blueskies]

He's likely going to need the money within a year.

I don't care how much you may think silver is a "store of value" over the long haul, it isn't a very good one for the short term. Brandon was spot on.

Any reasonably populated area has a few cash4gold stores by now, or some other such similar business. I can convert my precious metals into liquid cash just as easily as I can empty out my bank account. (And I can sell all my stocks and wire the cash to my bank account with the click of a mouse)

And while precious metals may swing up and down from month to month, I can tell you that within a year, they will be worth more than they are today. The general trend is up.

People on this site seem to understand macro economic trends fairly well, but have terrible financial intelligence. When you're 18 years old, and you have some extra cash to invest, you buy ultra risky assets for the greatest possible return. When you're 62 years old, you buy ultra safe assets with virtually no return.

Its a very, very simple principle based on the fact that a middle class 18 year old is going to make $1000 thousands of times (and with high inflation maybe hundreds of thousands or millions of times) over their working life.

You don't need to worry about saving for retirement. That's utterly ridiculous.

Read Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Start doing some research on some ETFs and stocks you may want to buy. I recommend looking at precious metal mining companies, agricultural companies, and oil companies. If you accept the macro economics preached on this forum, then these are all great buys.

And, again, even if you lost 100% of that investment--which you won't investing in those sectors--that's $1000 of financial education that will probably serve you better than your $100,000 college education.