Investing

[James Madison]

Hey, all. I've recently been thinking about doing some investing, but I'm not sure what to invest in. What do you guys think? Any up and coming stocks or should I go into precious metals?

 

[newyearsrevolution08]

stocks and bonds I would stay away from with our economy so rocky unless you know some "sure bet" that is about to launch.

I would get into gold if you can afford it but rather focus on silver if gold is out of reach.

Silver is cheap enough that anyone can get some and if there is any short/long fall I think going from $20 an ounce to $0 (that would never happen) would be easier to stomach than gold dropping but then again I don't see gold tanking anytime soon either.

any pm's are great if you can afford it

other great ideas

income generating websites, they actually have a solid return on investment and aren't that hard to manage.

for instance

flippa.com has a ton of websites for sale with proven and trackable income and most won't sell them for over 6 months to 1 year of income.

So a site that is pulling $1k a month will sell for around $6k to $10k and to be honest a year return on your entire investment sounds solid to me.

Currently working well for me and hope to continue expanding. Also great for resell as well because by the time you sell the site you can prove an even LONGER earnings track record which people always weigh against the final selling price of websites.

just don't buy ebay epn sites, ebay is terrible right now as far as affiliate income goes with their recent change to some b.s. "quality click" tracking.

adsense sites and affiliate sites are winners in my book

 

[Zippyjuan]

What is your situation? Do you have an "emergency fund" established already? By that I mean enough money to be able to pay your bills for nine months to a year (used to say six to nine months but with this economy if you lose a job for any reason it could take at least that long to get a new one)? That should be in something safe and fairly liquid. No stocks, bonds, or commodities- more like savings account. This should be the first goal.

Do you have debt? If you have credit card debt in particular, it would be wise to get rid of that first. You want to get rid of any debt where you are paying a higher rate in interest than you can get from any other investment. If for example you are paying ten percent on a loan and can get 5% from an investment, you are losing 5% by not paying that debt.

Are you looking short or long term? When might you need this money? If it is money you will probably need in the next few years, you want to keep things at low risk. Sure you can make money on investments, but you can also lose money. You don't want to risk money you might actually need for something like say college or to buy a house or car.

 

[James Madison]

I'm still in college, so I can't really say I have any emergency funds. But I'm debt free. The main reason I was asking about investments is because I'm looking for a way to make some extra money until I get a full-time job (I'm pre-med so that'll be a while from now).

 

[specialkornflake]

Lots of questions:
1. What is your outlook on the economy? Recovery? Stagnant? Decline? Apocalypse? Hyperinflation? Deflation? Combination?

2. How much can you invest? If you got a 10% a year return on $1,000 that's a few pizzas. You could make that $1,000 up with a .50 cent an hour raise if you asked at your part-time job or pick up a few hours.

3. How much do you know about investing and economics?

4. Do you have a 'fall back' like a well-off family? Do you think you shouldn't have an emergency fund in college?

5. What are your plans to stay debt free through pre-med and med and how are you debt free now?

You don't have to answer any of these on here but asking for investment advice is serious business. My impression is that 'investments' aren't exactly your best focus. In your situation points of focus to me seem like (no order):
1. Doing well in school
2. Staying debt free
3. Alternative income (not particularly investments)
4. Learning new skills and new ideas
5. Emergency preparedness
6. Life experiences and connections

 

[Dforkus]

Debt free and med school don't really compute, unless your faimily has $$$$.
Just try to live as simply as possible. Still this is undoubtedly "good" debt as you are gaining an imminently marketable job skill...

Even residents get a decent wage, so if you can deal with living below your means for a while, you can have most of that debt wiped out by the time you get out of residency.

 

[Zippyjuan]

If you intend to go into med school you will definately be needing all the money you can get. I would urge being very cautions and conservative with any investments. No stocks, no commodities (including gold and silver), no day trading. You are debt free now which is a good thing but you do have some very large expenses coming up.

 

[StilesBC]

No stocks, bonds, or commodities- more like savings account. This should be the first goal.

Technically, savings accounts are still risky. Checking accounts are demand deposits and are much safer.

If you want return on your investment, and your investment is small, I would suggest buying a capital good and then renting it out - a truck, heavy construction equipment, or an apartment if you have enough. Ideally, you will learn some good business skills and be less pre-occupied with the daily ups and downs of the market.

The downside to this is liquidity. If you were to need the cash immediately to pay tuition or something, this would be a bad idea. Then again, you'll be less likely to use it for a weekend of partying or fancy rims on your car, or something else unnecessary.

 

[joshua1532]

I won't repost what has already been on the board, but the following thread was a discussion about our company that allows for small dollar amounts to be saved in silver on a weekly or monthly basis.

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=238851

Sorry for the plug everyone, but college students like the O.P. are one of the reasons we developed the site to begin with