[rhettls]

I just want some unbiased opinions,
I have a ton of people giving me advice, but I want some from people who are not that close to me.
This is too important to screw up.. Ok so I am coming into a good amount of money in the very near future and I am totally confused on what to do with it..

So put yourself in this situation and tell me what you would do..
Ok,, 35yo, single, renting, good job, no ties, and say 900k- 1 mil to use for??
Rental properties? stocks? bonds? :confused :confused :confused

I would like to have that amount double in 10 years, I figure I will keep working during that time...

I will be the first to admit I am totally ignorant on finance, and I suddenly have more people trying to "help" me than I thought I knew :dowhat

So I figure there have to be some financial guys here right...
Please give me an idea on WTF to do with it to make my goal...I am an idiot...

Ok thanks...
M..

 

[Davcruz]

My suggestion to you would be not to listen to anyone but a VERY GOOD financial advisor, one that does not get paid based on a one time fee, you want one that gets a commission of some sort and hopefully will make a wise decision about how you can do what you want to do, I mean think about it, his future is tied to your future.

 

[1crock]

I can give you advice, but I don't think you need to be taking it from strangers on the internet either. What you need, sir, is a professional, licensed financial planner. Like you said, this is too big to screw up. Their fees will be well worth the cost if you look around a bit and get a really good one.

Okay, I can't resist one little piece of advice. You really need to look into using a little bit of the money as a down payment (do not, repeat, DO NOT pay cash) for a modest home for yourself. It serves as both a real estate investment and a tax write off and gets you out of throwing money down the old rent hole routine.

Edit: :doh Too slow. What Dave said, except the one time fee thing. Either method will work just fine, or really mess things up, if you find the right person.

 

[deltl1ks]

Dave has good advice and I think Duken4ever would have excellent advice.

My only advice is to buy yourself a home. Do not go crazy with a huge house but think practical if you plan to stay in the area. Pay maybe 150-250,000 for a home if you can in your area. No point in paying cash for it.
<o></o>
No point in throwing money down the tube with rent either. Homes will continue to increase in value.

Wish I was in your shoes.

 

[Loki-TLR]

I'd say buy a house as well. You can buy a lot of things depreciating but houses hardly do! I think I'd be wise to start investing a bit but with small amouths of money. That way you can try out how it's like to invest and you will be able to take the financial consequences of mistakes. After that you probably know when you invest in something good or not.

Stocks could be an idea but you really have to keep track of them all the time and try to forsee fluctuations because of certain things companies do. You can always try it with a few grand.. and look if you can make more out of it in one year.

Personaly I'd be thinkin alot about producing things which aren't there yet. Sometimes I have ideas which I think could make money. Probably not a consistent selling item for years but still.

If I was in your shoes I would have a hard time not buying too much. And be carefull with "friends" as you sometimes hear you can make a lot of friends when they know you got money!

 

[BikePilot]

+3 on the financial advisor. I'm not one, but I'd agree with most above. If your going to be in one area for very long, buy a house - if you take out a mortage you can write off the interst while your cash earns interest from your investments. As long as the interest from investments - taxes is greater than the home interst payment - tax write off your better off with a mortage than paying for the house outright.

Oh, and I'd probably end up using a lot of it for futher education.

 

[spacechimp]

what is a "Very good advisor"..that's the Question. I've seen plenty of ADVISORS who seem to be Idiots. First and second hand experience.

You can look into Tax lien certificates..a very nice return and low risk.
Mutual funds are good.
Roth IRA (don't know the requirements if any) is good.

Houses are dirt cheap in my area, market is Bottoming out. If prices are not inflated in your area, buy a home if you don't already have one. One that you can fix up is a good idea (we've flipped a few houses). But make payments on the house, don't pay it OFF with 1 check. Get the bimonthly payment through your mortgage company.

I trade Forex but I can't say I'd recommend you do THAT. :fart

BECOME AN EXPERT WITH YOUR OWN MONEY...just don't BLINDLY let somebody else take care of it.

 

[Davcruz]

what is a "Very good advisor"..that's the Question. I've seen plenty of ADVISORS who seem to be Idiots. First and second hand experience.



BECOME AN EXPERT WITH YOUR OWN MONEY...just don't BLINDLY let somebody else take care of it.

That is very true, be careful when looking for a planner/advisor. Don't just thumb through the yellow pages, talk to people that use advisors, get references, so on an so forth. You can probably guess that if an advisor advertises on TV or radio heavily they suck, ones that do their job don't need to advertise.

 

[Duken4evr]

Buy a house and put down enough that you can make the payments on your income. Might as well get the tax break and build equity and there is nothing to describe the satisfaction of owning your own place. Don't go crazy on a monster house though. Be the millionaire next door type instead

After that, I am a puss. If I had a million bucks, I would probably stick most if it in CDs and collect the 55 grand (at current rates) a year in interest for perpetuity. That, plus the income from my job would equate to more than enough to be comfortable for life with zero risk (except inflation)

Don't get greedy and "swing for the fence" trying to double it. Chances are better you will lose a lot of it if you do. Most lottery winners go broke because of their foolishness. My advice? Realize that you have a substantial but not unwasteable sum and don't be foolish. It can disappear.

Take your time and decide what you want to do. Time is on your side after all. If you are interested and have an aptitude, learn about investing and risk. Go to MSN Money and read the articles on investing, but don't jump into anything. Park it in a CD while you sort it out and at no time should you commit money if you don't understand what you are doing or investing in.

I sold my SoCal home and had a windfall, not like yours, but more money than I ever had before. The first year I parked most of it in a CDs of differing maturities, with a lesser portion in a couple of mutual funds, one a financial fund, one a REIT (real estate investment trust). Even with this fairly conservative mix of investments, the return was pretty amazing. Money makes money. I recommend REITs more for 401K and IRAs though, they generate a lot of taxes.

To this day I still have most of it in the CDs and mutual funds, but I took 50K of it and, after much study, embarked on buying and selling individual stocks. It has been quite an experience. As of today one year later, the account stands at 66K. My goal to make enough on returns to buy Mrs. Duke a late model used Honda Pilot

I also learned how fast money can accumulate and evaporate. Stock traders who have no clue what they are doing will inevitably lose money. I have had some great investments and I have had some that hit their sell stops 2 days after I bought them. Do I wish I had plowed more money into the stocks and gotten theoretically bigger returns? Hell no. I can sleep at night with the amount I have in, but I would not be able to if I had it all in individual stocks. Too volatile, too risky.

So take it slow. Park a decent amount of it in a laddered (different maturity periods, 3 month, 6 month, 1 year, etc) CDs. CD rates are good right now. For me personally, I don't want a planner, but I like investing almost as much as bikes. I spend about as much time reading investing stuff as I do MC stuff. If you are not like that, interview financial planners if you want to go that route. Only move when you feel comfortable and do it in stages. That is why I like the laddered CD idea for you. You can't dump it all at once even if you wanted to, or you would incur interest forfeiture. Also, I would not turn it all over to one planner. Ideally you will wind up with a diversified portfolio with the risk spread around.

Oh, and when oil bottoms out in October, buy a few shares of Frontier (FTO), Valero Energy (VLO). Also take a look at Mastercard (MA) and Stryker (SYK).

Sorry, couldn't resist :laugh

 

[tls-moose]

All the advice above seems excellent

The only thing I would add, is go for a mix of very safe, safe, and mildly risky investments based on what you feel you can afford to "lose" if needs be :confused Don't expect to double it all, but set aside a small amount for high risk, big gain investments whilst keeping a good bulk safe. As those riskier investments grow (hopefully) once again, portion a chunk out for safety and re-invest the rest.

The key is you have a stake to keep you comfortable for the rest of your life - don't blow it on one or two lame-brain investments....spread the risk :O

(pssst: wanna buy a piece of Buckingham Palace :O I know a man who knows a man, for a modest commision there's good money to be made :devious :laugh :laugh )

You lucky BA***RD !!

 

[crashtd]

:stupid finanical advisor for sure.

-:banana

 

[Foght]

donate some to charity. :O my fire department needs a new truck. :laugh :laugh

$150,000 ought to cover the cost of a new pumper.:laugh

 

[Dread]

maybe i should hold onto that for you :laugh

 

[Aredubu]

Buy a house and put down enough that you can make the payments on your income. Might as well get the tax break and build equity and there is nothing to describe the satisfaction of owning your own place. Don't go crazy on a monster house though. Be the millionaire next door type instead

After that, I am a puss. If I had a million bucks, I would probably stick most if it in CDs and collect the 55 grand (at current rates) a year in interest for perpetuity. That, plus the income from my job would equate to more than enough to be comfortable for life with zero risk (except inflation)

Don't get greedy and "swing for the fence" trying to double it. Chances are better you will lose a lot of it if you do. Most lottery winners go broke because of their foolishness. My advice? Realize that you have a substantial but not unwasteable sum and don't be foolish. It can disappear.

Take your time and decide what you want to do. Time is on your side after all. If you are interested and have an aptitude, learn about investing and risk. Go to MSN Money and read the articles on investing, but don't jump into anything. Park it in a CD while you sort it out and at no time should you commit money if you don't understand what you are doing or investing in.

I sold my SoCal home and had a windfall, not like yours, but more money than I ever had before. The first year I parked most of it in a CDs of differing maturities, with a lesser portion in a couple of mutual funds, one a financial fund, one a REIT (real estate investment trust). Even with this fairly conservative mix of investments, the return was pretty amazing. Money makes money. I recommend REITs more for 401K and IRAs though, they generate a lot of taxes.

To this day I still have most of it in the CDs and mutual funds, but I took 50K of it and, after much study, embarked on buying and selling individual stocks. It has been quite an experience. As of today one year later, the account stands at 66K. My goal to make enough on returns to buy Mrs. Duke a late model used Honda Pilot

I also learned how fast money can accumulate and evaporate. Stock traders who have no clue what they are doing will inevitably lose money. I have had some great investments and I have had some that hit their sell stops 2 days after I bought them. Do I wish I had plowed more money into the stocks and gotten theoretically bigger returns? Hell no. I can sleep at night with the amount I have in, but I would not be able to if I had it all in individual stocks. Too volatile, too risky.

So take it slow. Park a decent amount of it in a laddered (different maturity periods, 3 month, 6 month, 1 year, etc) CDs. CD rates are good right now. For me personally, I don't want a planner, but I like investing almost as much as bikes. I spend about as much time reading investing stuff as I do MC stuff. If you are not like that, interview financial planners if you want to go that route. Only move when you feel comfortable and do it in stages. That is why I like the laddered CD idea for you. You can't dump it all at once even if you wanted to, or you would incur interest forfeiture. Also, I would not turn it all over to one planner. Ideally you will wind up with a diversified portfolio with the risk spread around.

Oh, and when oil bottoms out in October, buy a few shares of Frontier (FTO), Valero Energy (VLO). Also take a look at Mastercard (MA) and Stryker (SYK).

Sorry, couldn't resist :laugh

Ditto. I would also add one more option. If you are interested in learning more about how to manage your windfall, pay attention to MSN Money, go to your nearest bookstore and find yourself a few books on managing your'e money and read up on sound investment techniques. Wit a decent job and sound investing, there's no reason you cannot live very well on whatever you are making from work, plus interest from your investments. Most of all, if you decide to buy a home, don't do it impulsively. Search the housing market for a good deal. This is a great time to buy a home.

 

[chopiesel]

realestate.

 

[bx-459]

...what ever you invest in, pay attention to it...

...what ever you invest in, pretend you don't have it (so you won't be tempted to waste it)...

 

[Duken4evr]

I hestitate to mention this but I will anyway in the interest of full disclosure. If you believe in Christ as your Lord and savior, regularly tithe to your church. It is amazing how many people who call themselves Christians trust the Lord with their salvation, but not with their financial well being. The Bible instructs us to tithe and I find I have a healthier attitude about money since I started doing this a couple years ago. Handle money recklessly and it will slip through your fingers. Hold onto it too tightly and you will inevitably lose it.

Since I started giving, I am less troubled when I have an investment that does not pan out. I tend to not be quite so greedy and have an easier time taking some money off the table when one does well. There is a grain of truth in the saying "it is only money". Don't let money consume you and take over your life. We are all greedy and we are all foolish. Giving cleanses this from the system. I am convinced that I am making more money than ever since I started giving some of it away

 

[Miles B]

My advice is be very careful with financial advisers. Buddy of mine is a doctor, and his parents (also rich doctors) told him to go see some financial adviser guy they knew. The guy recommended he invest in a property development. My mate has no balls and was telling me he was uneasy about it but was going to do it anyway. I told him hell no, get out of there. Turns out the adviser was getting paid commission by the developer to sell this property crap, and it tanked 12 months later.

Stick it in the bank in some long term shit where you CAN'T touch it, go see a load of different advisers, watch for a year or two and see the results of what they recommended. In the mean time, pick up 50k a year in interest. Avoid the temptation to spend it, except as above, on a good down payment on a modest house. Maybe take a modest holiday once the interest payment comes in.

My advice on charity, again, is research before you give, if you are giving an amount you care about. There are charities that will spend a high percentage doing good stuff, like Bill Gates's thing. There are others that lose a decent amount in administration, like the UN. Then there are others that will just spend almost all of it on fancy buildings and monuments.

 

[rhettls]

Thanks everyone, You have given some great suggestions and kind of confirmed my fears.
It is really strange how many people know someone who knows this other guy who can invest or whatever and make me tons af money..
I don't want high risk, I could go to Vegas and do that! No way..
The CD returns look good and no risk... May just do that...

Maybe a 2 family house, live in one unit rent other out to cover mortgage???

 

[spacechimp]

Maybe a 2 family house, live in one unit rent other out to cover mortgage???

It's generally a good idea..but remember that there are drawbacks to that kinda setup.

Also remember that it's just money and you can't take it with you...don't become Overly miserly,
enjoy life, u might not be here tomorrow to spend ANY OF IT