I want to invest. HOW?!?

Question

I am a college student, and I want to invest some money into something safe so that when i graduate in three or four years I have a little money saved up. How should I go about doing it?

Answer 1

First, learn basic principles:

1. Do not chase past returns. People that buy funds because they have done well in the past are doing exactly that.

2. Do not market time. Market timing is buying based on your (or your newsletter, or your TV, or neighbor's) guess about what is going to happen in the future. Even if someone knows something, you've already missed the boat. The price already reflects what you just found out.

3. Use index funds. Over time, index funds outperform actively managed funds, mostly because they do not have those high expense ratios. Some actively managed funds do beat their index, but the ones that do usually do not do so consistently. So why gamble? Use index funds. If you want to use a few actively managed funds, make sure that the costs are very low. Vanguard has some good ones.

5. Diversify. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Own a mix of bonds, domestic equities (large, small and mid cap funds), an international fund and perhaps a REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) and emerging market fund.  Four to six funds is all you need. Know your risk tolerance and set up an appropriate asset allocation. Rebalance as needed.  

6. Consider taxes. Use the least tax efficient funds in your tax-deferred accounts and the most tax efficient funds in your taxable accounts. Go here for an excellent general rule of thumb.

I set up a site to help people set up a good portfolio. It has a lot of links to helpful information and tools and books. It teaches you how to use Morningstar to look up fund information and returns. It talks about how to assess your risk tolerance and has links to quizzes. And, very important, it details why you should NOT use 'financial advisors'.

www.saveyournestegg.com

I hope it helps you.

You are VERY wise to start investing now. I started investing in my early 20's and I retired in my 40's. Try to make one of your goals longer term than 3 - 4 years.

Good luck!!

Answer 2

try savings insurance

Answer 3

Educate yourself about the saving options that you have, as ordinary saving account, online saving account, CD and so on.

Answer 4

Investing would depend on a lot of factors...

1. Where do you live?

2. How much money do you have to invest?

The value of US Dollar is falling fast, and Euro is growing. This is a great opportunity, because it is a changing market trend. The end result would be...

1. Oil would go higher

2. Commodities like Food would go higher in price

3. Gold would grow to new highs.

I am very bearish/pessimistic about the stock market. Its time is over, and there can be a major crash in the coming months.

So, if I were in your place, I'd try to buy Gold, or get into Gold bonds, or into the Commodities market.

Don't hold your wealth in US dollars. Keep them in Euros instead.

Answer 5

You could make ONLINE investments. Don't invest in HYIPs. HYIP=SCAM.

You could earn 10-40% per year investing in business.

Contact me for more details.