My husband and I have about 500 per month to invest..where should we invest?

Question

I want to get started investing money every month. We would like to retire in about 22 years when we are in our 50's. It would be nice to have around 500K at that time. My husband will receive a nice sized government pension every month, but we would like to have a cushion and we can afford $500 per month possibly more right now.

So first do you think investing $500 per month would get us to $500K in 22 years and my other question is do you have any suggestions for a place for us to invest. I have looked into vangard funds which looks ok. Any other ideas?

Answer 1

you should by foreclosures and fix them up and rent them to starving students. making one of them the property manager so they can run the renting and repairs of it.

Answer 2

Vertical Farming. Help save humanity from growing number of world crises by solving Humans number one basic need for food!

Answer 3

I'd invest on Propser.

http://www.prosper.com/?referrer=ustfu&u...

Answer 4

i  would suggest investing in stock of a good company like apple or mac or dell u no do the research.

Answer 5

According to my calculations, IF you can get about 10% return on that investment...in 22 years you would have $ 471,228.00.  That's close enough, right ?

Now the trick is...getting that 10+% return. Oviously the bank and CDs are out... so I suggest ( as a couple of others already have)...that you log on to Fidelity and open " retirement" accounts...and, yes, ROTH IRAs would be the most advantageous...but you could just as easily open one ROTH and one Traditional IRA. ( That $500. per month would put you pretty close to current yearly " limits")

As far as investments...you will learn that as you go along...the important thing is get it started... for right now, your simplest solutions would be what are called " target date" or " life-cycle" funds...( with Fidelity, they are called Freedom funds )  The company takes care of choosing your investments, and they get more cautious as you get older... it's very convenient, buy I see it as too cautious to begin with.

As you learn more...by watching your returns and comparing them to other available funds...( just browsing through your brokers' website)....you may wish to choose different funds...many posters here on "answers" have recommended foreign funds, energy funds, and other options...and they do work and return in the mid to high 20% areas...so you may want to learn a little more about aggressive investing at least for your first ten or twelve years...( that 10% is not hard to achieve if you build a big nest egg at the start)

...then " taper off" and " protect " your profits in the last 7 or 10 years...  also, by that time you should be familiar enough to make that nest-egg PRODUCE a monthly income...without touching the principal !! ( ...unless of course you start buying yachts, etc )

Good luck....P.S. Plenty of free info on Fidelity..planning, research, etc.

P.P.S. ...and if you don't want to go the IRA route, you just open a " brokerage" account... but it means tax paperwork at the end of every year.  More reason to STRESS the ROTH IRA...never any paperwork...and better yet: NEVER any TAXES !!!

Answer 6

Without having more information about your personal information, such as age, current income and other data such as risk tolerance, martial status, and demographics it would be very inappropriate for me or any other person to provide specific investment information in this type of media

There are many people just like you that are, or were looking to invest and those that did bought Mutual Funds and/or Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).  One purpose of mutual funds is to help investors like you, who are either just entering the investment world or who have no investing experience.  Once you feel you at least have an understanding of investments you should look into ETFs which are similar to mutual funds but are traded on the exchanges.

Mutual Fund companies as well as ETFs have an entire array of products many will fit your needs. You can go to the MSN.Money website

http://moneycentral.msn.com/home.asp  it has an entire section on mutual funds and Exchange Traded Funds.  Read about the various products and in doing so you will be getting investment ideas and at the same time educating yourself about investing.

You could also contact the funds companies for more information.  I have found that Vanguard & Fidelity can meet your needs for mutual funds.  The service and information they provide is all free and you will find it helpful

Answer 7

Do you and your husband have Roth IRA's?  If not, you should open one as soon as possible.  Any money that you invest will make money and be tax free when you take the money out.  Also, if you are new to investing, buy a good stable index fund that has been around for a long time.

As to Darker:  What makes you think that she is not working?  Just because one does not work for money does not make the work itself of any less value.

Answer 8

If it's long term, I'd say growth stock mutual funds.

Answer 9

Hi,

You probably would like to see this blog:

http://where-to-invest.blogspot.com/

Answer 10

I'd suggest either the S&P 500 index via Vanguard which has one of the lowest (.15%) fees or the S&P 500 tracking spider which you buy and sell like a stock "SPY".   SPY has an even lower expense ratio then Vanguard on this tracking ETF.  Personally I do the SPY etf.

Doing this will allow you to capture the rise in US companies prosperity which includes capture of inflation and profits.  There is zero homework with this strategy so unless you know alot about a particular industry or are good at stock analysis the index is the way to go hands down.

If you want international exposure I suggest some of the indices that capture emerging markets like Brazil, India, China, Indonesia, Russia, etc.   Look at ETF's EWZ, GUR, PIN, RSX, PGJ, EZA, FXI

Answer 11

Do you have children?  If so, you probably need to investigate life insurance.  Most people do not have enough...

Another thing to think about is the pension you mentioned...When a pensioner retires, there are several options that need careful consideration, depending on the health of the people involved.  Since you  have a number of years until retirement, this is a great time to prepare yourselves.

An example:

$2000/mo = Full Unreduced Pension

This amount is what the employee is to get if no "Survivor option" is requested.  This option is chosen by unmarried people, or those who are healthy at or near retirement, or those whose lifestyles require the maximum income due to poor financial circumstances.

The next option is the default in married situations.  This allows for the surviving spouse to receive a check for about 1/2 of the Full Unreduced Pension.  This option comes at a price and assumes the spouse of the pensioner SURVIVES the pensioner.  

From the example above:

  $2000 = F.U.P.

- $400 to 600 (20 - 30%)  = COST OF SUVIVOR BENEFIT

  

  $1400 to $1600 = Amount of check while both are alive and also if spouse dies first!

  $1000 = Amount spouse of pensioner would receive if spouse survives pensioner

There is a catch:  If the spouse dies prior to the pensioner, there can be no other survivor chosen, i.e. children or a new spouse...AND the cost of the SURVIVOR BENEFIT CONTINUES for the rest of the pensioner's life! (see above)

Life insurance is the best solution for this.  It allows much more flexibility and usually is the more economical solution.  

Usually, people do not discern the meaning of "Survivor" when the options are being considered.  In the insurance industry the SURVIVOR is referred to as the BENEFICIARY.  It would be a good idea to sit down with a qualified life insurance representative, one who is versed on these items, to help you where you live.  

One caveat to this is that many SPONSORS of pension plans have started requiring retirees to receive SOME form of the monthly pension to allow them to keep their health insurance during retirement.  The effort here is two-fold: It helps keep the pension solvent for the future AND allows the SPONSOR to have a mechanism to collect PREMIUMS for the health insurance.  The requirement is for SOME, not ALL...

Answer 12

You should be seeking a tax deferred vehicle. If you are eligible for a Roth IRA, that is the first place you would put your money. Almost any of the online brokerages are good places to do that -- Schwab, TD Ameritrade both maintain local offices in most cities where you could sit across from someone who could help you get started.

If you're not eligible, then you might consider a life insurance contract, which would accomplish the same thing. My suggestion would be a Northwestern Mutual agent, but there are other good companies. You would invest in a policy with a premium of $6000/year. Depending on your ages and medical condition, a joint life policy might give you a face value of, say, $800,000-$1,000,000. After 22 years you would have a sizable cash value to the policy, from which you could withdraw (technically borrow) each year as needed. Any agent could explain this in more detail and give you an illustration. Won't cost you anything other than an hour or two of your time to learn.

Answer 13

Mutual fund will be fine

Answer 14

I have tons of posts on this question. May need to mull through my posts a bit, but here is the skinny.

1. Max out ROTH IRA for each of you first.

2. Consider investing in the S&P 500 Index (no load fund). 80% of all fund managers can't beat this historical index, so I tell people why not just own the index?

3. Dollar Cost Average each month. That way when the market is high you are buying less shares. And when the market is low, you are buying more shares at a discount.

$500K in 22 years won't be enough to retire on. By historic inflation terms, for every $1.00 worth today is worth about 30 cents in 30 years. So $500K may be worth $150k in actual buying power in 30 years. This is due to long term devalue of the US Dollar, and inflation.

I would highly advise seeking a professional financial advisor who has 10-15 years of investment and investment planning experience. Anyone who just suggests or just puts you into a stock, or mutual fund without looking at your over all picture is doing you a a disservice.

Since I don't know your situation completely, I could not offer more than these basic suggestions.

Vanguard is good company. Great S&P 500 Index fund with low fees. You can further diversify, but for people who don't want to get caught up in the day-to-day market grind, I'd prob avoid sector funds such as oil, gold, bank, etc. Sector funds are hot when they are hot and die when they are not.

Proof:

Hot right now: Oil-energy

Not right now: Anything financial.

Warm right now: Gold

Dead for 26 years: Gold (1980-2006)

http://goldprice.org/30-year-gold-price-...

The old adage, keep it simple is true when it comes to investing. Make sure you can sleep well at night and not get caught up in the market-media noise.

Good Luck!

Answer 15

If you are looking to invest I just put about $5,000 into an account called a "Partner Account" you have to contact them for it.

This account yields anywhere between 8% and 18% per MONTH!!! Not a joke. I have had this account for three months and it is already the best investment I have ever made.

Month 1: I put $5,000 dollars into the account with a 10% investment fee ($500) Before the month ended I had already earned that back ($491.16)

Month 2: I kept that interest in there and I earned ($570.86)

I am still waiting on this months earnings but the great thing about this account is that it is totally liquid meaning that you can take it out whenever you need within 24 to 48 hours WITH NO FEE...

please don't contact me for this I don't work for them but you can visit their site for more information www.victorypartnersfinancial.com

Answer 16

I really like Vanguard also. i found them very easy to use too. Consider talking with a financial adviser from there. they can help you diversify what you buy so you are not selecting just one or two funds.

Also look at Fidelity and Smith Barney, i think they will give you more options for the funds that you can buy from. Good Luck.