vasudeva       12-29-2005, 03:32 pm

Invest it. It's free money and you won't notice it was never there, so you won't hate me now but you'll thank me later.

Maybe pull out $300 first and do something retarded with it so you don't feel like a grownup.

uart       12-29-2005, 03:50 pm

Smart move: Invest it

Safe move: Savings

FUN move: HOUSEE PAAARRTAAAAY

LORDKAHUNA       12-29-2005, 03:52 pm

I'll hold it for you.

autoshoes       12-29-2005, 04:12 pm

the question is : where to invest it? i've never invested before, so i don't even have an idea of what my options are....

qwerty       12-29-2005, 04:36 pm

I'm in the same boat I got $1000 but with the stipulation that I have to invest it.

I found that I can trade shares for $25 online now it's a matter of finding a good mining company to dump it in (they either make you rich or make you poor) @ .10cents a share who wouldn't give it a go.

The other thing is the Aus Stock Exchange holds a yearly comp for highschool kids. They get $2000 imaginary money and then each school has to duke it out. Over the period of a month the top school normally has about $25,000. So I figure that I'll copy whatever they're doing with their money.

Crackalackin       12-29-2005, 04:56 pm

Autoshoes:

At the risk of sounding financiallyconservative, I would suggest putting it into an Orange Savings account from ING.

The current interest rate is 3.75% (think >$6 bucks per month, >$72/year with a $2000 principal). The money stays liquid, i.e. you can cash out at any moment (without penalty) if you find better use for the money in the interim, and the account is FDIC insured.

I have been using it for a year and I also have a joint account with my GF, where we save up money for travels.

I can also hook you up with a referral code that'll get you a bonus $25 upon opening the account (full disclosure: I will earn $10). Same offer goes for any other LinkSwarmer, just PM me.

pchimp       12-29-2005, 05:06 pm

Use about 1500 for you IRA contribution, in an indexed mutual fund if you've never invested before.

hobo       12-29-2005, 05:15 pm

Donate the money to the B0bo Foundation for troubled Central New Yorkers.

SexNinja       12-29-2005, 05:21 pm

Buy a small Asian child for chore work.

Dumbskull       12-29-2005, 05:26 pm

Of course I was not serious when I suggested blowing it on drugs, whores and booze. A savings account for this cash would be good. This way when unexpected events come up in the near future (and unexpected events always do) you will have the cash readily on hand to cover it all. Investing the money in an IRA sounds good, but should you need to get a hold of the money fast you will often be penalized in big bucks for asking for your cash. As for stocks and other investments, it is often the case that people who are not familiar with the market will invest and then sit back and watch in horror as every penny goes away.

I prefer to have fast access to my cash; fuck stocks, investments and bonds.

vasudeva       12-29-2005, 06:08 pm

I prefer to have fast access to my cash; fuck stocks, investments and bonds.

And this is why your husband has dentures and you live in a trailer.

magicchex       12-29-2005, 06:21 pm

LOLx200 @ vas

middle_age_man       12-29-2005, 06:52 pm

I suppose you need to look at where you are at right now financially. Do you have enough money saved to cover three months of living expenses? If you don’t then this might be a good place to put your money first. If you’re going to invest it, how much risk can you tolerate? Crackalackin’s suggestion is sensible if you don’t want to risk your principal. If you’re young enough and aren’t to worried about losing the whole thing try the stock market or futures. If you have debt, pay it down.

mundhra       12-29-2005, 07:43 pm

Investing the money in an IRA sounds good, but should you need to get a hold of the money fast you will often be penalized in big bucks for asking for your cash.

traditional iras are like that, but if he has a 401k then all he can do is open a roth ira. most stay liquid (check to make sure) since it's post-tax money, and you can either invest in stocks or mutuals depending on where you open it through.

i would probably throw it in savings or put it somewhere else out of the way where i'd forget about it.

OH SHIT.

better ideas

watch this show:

or read a bunch of motley fool stuff

don't do what qwerty suggests. ever.

Acidburn       12-29-2005, 08:30 pm

a) spend it wisely on something important (a house?)
$2000 won't do much but it will help

b) put it in savings
Not all of it dude. 8 ballit this weekend and save the rest

c) invest it
Look at Computer and defense. General Dynamics is good to go as is "gasp" Microsoft

d) go on some nice vacation in europe or somthing (amsterdam anyone?)
Going to Amsterdam and getting high will end up as a blur and foggy memories. Do something like the south pole or some wild shit

e) start a business?
A hotdog cart infront of Dumbskulls house will bring loads o cash for years to come.

Stump       12-30-2005, 12:19 am

Send it to me, I know this dude that'll go to the city, pick up some stuff and cut it, then return like 5 grand to you (if he doesn't use most of the stuff he buys, get caught, or get robbed; as with any investment there are risks).

uart       12-30-2005, 12:28 am

Crackalackin -- you have a savings account?

I thought you were black!?!?

"A hotdog cart infront of Dumbskulls house will bring loads o cash for years to come." - Acidburn

LOLOLOLOLOLOL

dent       12-30-2005, 09:13 am

Dude, it's $2,000. You hardly hit the lotto.

Pay bills, then stick the rest in the bank.

$2,000 will not buy you a house. If your gonna get a house, either you put zero down, or a minimum of ten percent of the sale. Two grand won't do shit to your payments.

Infectionconnection       12-30-2005, 09:17 am

You ought to try the stock thing.

Do some research, find a good buy and go for it. Don't expect short term returns though. The market has a tendency to fuck with you unless you know when to hold em and know when to fold em. I don't claim to have this knowledge, however MOST of the stocks I bought over the past year have appreciated nicely.

XMSR, Yahoo.
I also have been buying (to hold for long term) GE and Microsoft.



Basically, I will keep depositing money into the brokerage cash acount, and when I get enough to buy a hundred or so shares, I make a purchase.

Once you open a brokerage account (I use Seibert - $15 trades) ) you'll start to WANT to put money in there...

The research part is the bitch though. I try to read a lot. If i see a lot of recommendations for a stock in various sources, I'll start to look at it more in depth.

A mutual fund is also an easy way to diversify - spread the risk.

IMBOLCPunxsutawneyPhil       12-30-2005, 07:48 pm

So the T-bill Idea is something I was throwing around... it's only 4 weeks and then it's able to be recycled again. Longer term are bonds...

It's bonds, treasury notes and such.

They have a shitload of options for investment that are:

a) Risk free. The entire faith and trust of the USA guarantees the money invested. [yeah they might be crooks, assholes, murders and hippocrites, but you gotta give them the ability to hold the world ransom with a currency]

b) is Inflation adjusted, meaning as the rate of inflation goes up, your investment loses value unless it is adjusted....

Ergo, the 3% return some cracklin' mentioned will actually loose you about 2% since we have a 5.7% annualized rate of inflation--that's not good for the ordinary investor. Meaning if you just put your money in a bank account, shoebox, mattress, or dumbskulls' coochie, it will just sit there and actually LOOSE value as the inflation reduces it's purchasing power. Ya can't buy an apple for a nickel anymore kid.

c) it's easy enough for old people to do. They buy bonds all the time. You can even get a banker to do it for nothing [usually] or just do it yourself.

It's a really stable investment and the easiest part about the whole thing is that you can just go down to your local bank and ask to have some help buying some bonds. I Bonds or EE Bonds--there are differences and there is usually a 3 month INTEREST penalty, which means you don't get the icing, but you still can take the cake.

Read up on the treasury's website, it's not that confusing and definitely less risky than stocks. The market is unpredicatable and more or less legalized gambling. Bonds are more like institutional bribery... but I won't get into that.

Mofo       12-30-2005, 11:38 pm

Save it in cash, wait for Nesara. You'll be rich!

BeachGoat       12-31-2005, 04:49 am

autoshoes       01-03-2006, 09:53 am

sorry, should have mentioned some of these things, and i've been off my rocker on mushies for newyears (+also reference beachgoat's post)...

anyway, i'm financially in a pretty good spot. decent paying job, no outstanding debt, even at least about 5 months worth of living expenses in savings already. more if i chanege my living habits. for now, this cash has gone into savings; but like others have pointed out, it is pretty much losing value just sitting in there due to inflation.

the notion of buying a house would include money already in savings to possibly cover the 10% down, but depending on the house, maybe not.

really i think i should do some sort of investment, possibly also a vacation. but on a smaller scale than a visit to europe. wierd, i had a dream about being in florence, italy last night (i did a study abroad thing there about 7 yrs ago).

I'm not really sure if i should trust my bank to suggest what to do with the money either; even though they are a huge bank and all. then again, trusting random people on the internet probably is just about as smart. :)

and i'm not sure how much time i really want to spend studying stocks and such. i already have trouble finding time to do things i really want to do in my day, let alone spend time watching numbers move around day to day.

i know if there was one easy answer everyone would be doing it, so i already know i'll have to spend some time investigating shit. thanks for all the advice and pointing in directions to look. when it comes to investments and such, i'm still learning how to read the damn map.