If you wanted to turn 25k into a steady income to live off of how would you do it? How would you flip 25k if someone just gave it to you? Would you invest it in a stock or would you start a buisness of some sort or real estate? I just think its an interesting question because 25k is not a huge amount of money but it is enough to say "hey if i had that.. id:___"

Your thoughts

buy a sh tload of crack on the cheap. and then sell it.

sell crack.

I'd find a sports book in vegas willing to give me 1000 to 1 odds that the knicks won't win a championship for the next 30 years and collect my winnings in 30 years, just in time for an early retirement.

LOL funny i want at least ONE real answer tho!!!!

Posted by Elite:

LOL funny i want at least ONE real answer tho!!!!

pay off any debt you have then get a roth IRA with the rest. safest investment out there and pretty consistent returns. if you had more, i'd say invest in real estate in harlem.

Posted by Elite:

If you wanted to turn 25k into a steady income to live off of how would you do it? How would you flip 25k if someone just gave it to you? Would you invest it in a stock or would you start a buisness of some sort or real estate? I just think its an interesting question because 25k is not a huge amount of money but it is enough to say "hey if i had that.. id:___"

Your thoughts

Put it in the bank and forget about it until you are ready to make a sound individual judgement. It's easy to say go spend in on education-this investment---a car or a number of things etc..--which may not be right for you. There is not enough information -- i.e age, employment, education level, housing situation etc.. to even make a suggestion other than bank it.

Posted by Solace:

Put it in a mutual fund, not the bank.

Banking it is the best option. Why? Because you have access to your cash without exception with no risk or fees. You need to have the ability to make a sound financial decision for yourself and elite does not have that yet. When he does--he'll have 25,000+ safely in the bank. If he needs it two days--he has access to it--if he needs it in two months--his mutual fund might not be down 3% with additional fees--understand? The only reasonable advice to give someone soliciting this type of information is to be as safe as you can until you can answer the question yourself.

I do this for a living......

and there are way too many questions to be answered.

25k for "steady income" is attainable but we talking an amount $1000-$2000 and there is some volatility associated with it.

If your talking about buying some power washing equipment and washing houses and restoring back yard decks (investment of equipment) than thats a different story altogether.

An "investment" needs time, but an investment in capital equipment (education, transportation, machine) to gain in adding income is alot more than just asking the UK braintrust.

All the advice here is good, just understand cash is cash, equities are volitile, and bonds are for income.

Or, Take at trip to Italy and make an investment in the mind! History is great to behold!

Briggs you are dead on.

I'd buy as many pair of Starbury's as I could wholesale($2-3/pair) and then sell them for $13.98 on the streets.

Posted by BRIGGS:

Posted by Solace:

Put it in a mutual fund, not the bank.

Banking it is the best option. Why? Because you have access to your cash without exception with no risk or fees. You need to have the ability to make a sound financial decision for yourself and elite does not have that yet. When he does--he'll have 25,000+ safely in the bank. If he needs it two days--he has access to it--if he needs it in two months--his mutual fund might not be down 3% with additional fees--understand? The only reasonable advice to give someone soliciting this type of information is to be as safe as you can until you can answer the question yourself.

Not exactly true. A money market fund through a mutual fund usually does as well or better than a bank cd. You can get checks and access your money quickly. In mutual funds, you can still access your money reasonably quickly, within a week. Money market would be the way to go if you're keeping the money in there for under 2 years. If it's long term, mutual funds are the way to go, almost null risk and very high profits. My international funds have been doing very well. Up 20% for the year and usually above 10% every year.

As for the fund fees, Vanguard fund fees are all considerably below 1%. Crappy overhyped mutual funds can be expensive, but Vanguard is extremely low. Maybe .4% or less on average.

[Edited by - Solace on May 02 2007 12:55 PM]