Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with investment

I live in the UK, where's the best place for me to save £10,000

mairuzu — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 05:18:16 -0800

I have £10,000 which I made from the sale of my house. Eventually I want to use it as a deposit to buy a new house, but don't envisage this happening within less than a year. Where's the best place in the UK for me to save this money?

Invenstment - Option Orders

bright77blue — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 10:49:00 -0800

I have traded stock Options for a while but would like to have the following order type: Example - Option Price = 3.90 Put in a order to sell if price goes below 3.50 or sell if price goes above 4.50 I have looked at stop, stop limit, limit, trailing and the works, but is there a technical name for what I want, and do brokers offer it? Thanks! BB

Credible returns on investment in virtual world finance?

vizsla — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 21:30:37 -0800

Anybody have experience in investing in virtual world banks/businesses/markets (such as those in SecondLife.com etc)? Do they provide a serious way of making a sensible risk/reward on five or six figure investments? I have found discussion of investing in virtual worlds in this article for example which concludes its very high risk but maybe someone has heard of a viable diversification strategy out there?

The business of blogging

hadjiboy — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:35:56 -0800

Help me find a way to earn some money through blogging. I'm trying to support my self and my family now that they are not able to do so themselves. My dad has been retired from work for the past 15 years and in the interim has been running a stationery for the past decade or so. Now, he has reached the stage where he will soon be selling the shop for my younger sister's marriage and keep whatever money that's left for his and my mom's future. What I would like to do is contribute as much as I can for their financial survival. In this regard I've wanted to start a blog (which I have before, on a couple of occasions) and stick to it (the longest that I have lasted is a couple of months--three or four perhaps) and would like to add advertisements to it. I had tried to do this before, but ran into a couple of difficulties with Google Adsense, telling me that I had to fulfil some conditions. If anyone could help me out with this I will be extremely appreciative. Thanks in advance.

Resource for evaluating past stock recommendations?

ibmcginty — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 07:10:23 -0800

Is there anyone (especially online) who's collected reasonably well-informed stock picks from, say, 2, 5, or 15 years ago and explained why the recommendations did or did not work out? Is there a better way to track that stuff down than hunting around for old articles on financial websites? It seems like making the effort to learn from mistakes in the past would help guard against over-optimistic, irrationally exuberant picks today.

Which source of $$$ to use for medical school?

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 13:46:53 -0800

Paying for medical school -- which money to use? I'm starting medical school in Canada in September. I've got about $50k in US mutual funds and treasury bills, $15k in a Canadian RSP (which can be used to pay for education if repaid at a certain point), and the banks are offering a line of credit at prime + 1%.

The question is: how do I start paying for school and living expenses? Withdraw and use the investments, and then move to the line of credit when they're exhausted? Use the line of credit, and wait for the investments to grow in order to repay the LOC? Are the investments likely to grow in the next few years? Buy lottery tickets?

VTIVX FOF FTW?

selfnoise — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 07:24:57 -0800

What, if anything, is a "Target Retirement" fund like VTIVX missing? I am about to roll my 401k from a previous employer into an IRA at Vanguard. (The previous employer's plan doesn't have great plan options and the webacccess/customer service is crap).

I'm currently 29 years old, so I was thinking of putting a large portion of this rollover into VTIVX, which is a bundle of different Vanguard Index funds. It seems like a cost effective way of buying into funds that I would probably just have purchased separately otherwise.

My question is, should I be looking to add anything else from Vanguard's offerings to diversify or enhance my overall selection? For example, this fund of funds does not include REITs... would it make sense to invest in something like VGSIX in addition to it? Or am I overthinking this?

I realize that there probably isn't a scientific answer to this question. Any thoughts are appreciated.

Profitable Golf Course or Sub development?

CWitt — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 19:08:13 -0800

How profitable is a golf course? I love playing golf and would love to own a golf course. However, with the price of real estate the way it is, I wonder if it is even really profitable? Is it more profitable to buy couple hundred acres and put a course on it or put some homes down? I would think that it would be more profitable to put homes down, because the course would take several years to get out of the red.

Lazy Money

Anonymous — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 10:56:26 -0800

What is the best way to invest $10-15,000 if you don't want to tie the money up for longer than, say, a year? I have money that is currently sitting in a bank account doing nothing. I would like it to start working for me, and I was thinking CDs might be the way to go since they're easy, but I'm wondering what the other options may be. I don't want the money to be tied up in any investment for longer than a year at a time. Another way of putting that is saying I want to be able to get it out without too severe a penalty if things start going haywire. Also, how do I, as an investor, beat our current high rate of inflation?

Help me stash my cash

t0astie — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 05:22:10 -0800

I am absolutely crap at saving and live pay cheque to pay cheque. This must change. Help me find the best place to squirrel away a small amount of cash each week, where I *won't* be able to withdraw it easily. Despite my general uselessness with saving, I've become quite good at paying bills. But only because I make micro payments on each bill, each week on pay day. So, I pay $60 for my car loan, $12 for health insurance, $5.50 for my landline… and so on with six or seven different bills. Hurrah! For the first time ever, I am not getting angry overdue letters from phone/electricity/credit card providers.

I've tried to do something similar with savings, putting money each week into online savings accounts like ING. But it hasn't worked, because, well, I can take it out.

I really want to find somewhere, or some sort of investment strategy, where I can put away $25-50 a week for an emergency fund, until I have $1000. And not access it. I mean, I'd like to be able to access it if it's life and death, but not overnight, or the next day, like with ING.

But I'm a complete investing novice and have no idea where to even begin looking for something like this, or what name / names it might have.

Any suggestions for what sort of place I should direct the cash would be great.

And can I just clarify – I'm *not* looking for general advice about being a better saver, like cutting out my daily coffee, or being more disciplined or whatever. I'm looking specifically for advice about *where* to put the small amount of surplus cash I do have so I can't spend it easily. ING and online banking are waaaay too easy to access, so no tips in that direction, thanks! And I'm in Australia, not the US, if that makes any difference in advice.

I crave age.

greytape — Thu, 29 May 2008 03:25:15 -0800

What's the oldest man-made thing I can buy for €1500-2000? I remember watching an antiques program years ago and seeing a Native American sculpture that they dated to around the 5th century, being sold for not all that much. I'd really like something like that.
I'm guessing coins are probably my best bet, or maybe arrow heads, but I'd really like a bit of pottery or something. So taking into account the coolness/oldness matrix, could I pick something suitable for a few thousand dollars that was a thousand years plus? If so, what?

Trying to Buy Low so I can Sell High

SlyBevel — Mon, 12 May 2008 20:17:21 -0800

Please to give ideas on depressed stocks/funds/securities to put some money into during the downturn. I have a new job! For the first time in a long time, I'm going to get to aggressively pay down my debt, and I've also budgeted a hefty percentage for savings.

With the world of finance what it is right now, it seems like there should be something out there that's seriously devalued but relatively safe that I can put some money into. I'd rather not invest in a company like Countrywide, which is suffering due to its own stupidity, but rather one that's hurting mostly because there's plenty of hurt to go around these days.

I'm not looking to turn $100 into a million in six months, or anything so silly. I'm fine with putting money somewhere and letting it sit for five years or more. I'd just like to strike while this iron is hot and maximize my chances of growing what money I can put away.

I'm not in stocks, but I've been interested in them for a long time. I'd be fine with opening an Etrade account to buy them with.

I don't want something that will need a lot of babysitting. I know people who play the options markets, and it just seems like way too much work.

Suggestions and Reasoning please?

(For the sake of brevity, let's just assume YANMIA {You Are Not My Investment Advisor})

Income Stream

kapec — Thu, 08 May 2008 09:00:09 -0800

What is the best investment vehicle for "income stream", i.e. where can you put your money and get a return that you could live off of? Any recommendations?

finance proz

goldism — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 09:12:53 -0800

Short-term investments question: In your opinion, what stable foreign currency should I invest my money? I am new to investing and was looking for some other opinions\ideas on which currency to convert my money into today and convert back to the US dollar, in say...6 months.

Tax lawyer to move to investing or general management?

shivohum — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 17:14:45 -0800

A friend's been a tax lawyer of six years at a law firm. With that and a CPA, he wants to change careers: either manage investments or be a general mgmt type. What positions should he pursue, esp in this business clime? Recs for headhunters? He likes money, prestige, and is somewhat risk-averse. He's willing to go int'l, but only speaks english.

How to get money to start a business?

frijole — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 08:14:31 -0800

Some friends and I are looking at starting a business, and we need some up-front capital. About $100k. What's the best way to try and get this? Running the numbers, it looks like we'll be able to re-pay it well within the first year of operation, anywhere from 3-4 months (if everything goes perfectly right) to 8-10 months if it gets off to a rocky start. Chances are if it doesn't take off by then, it won't and we'll be hosed.

Should we try to pitch to VC companies, and if so, how does one go about doing this? Should we just try and get a bank loan? Or an SBA loan?

Thanks in advance!

How to form an equitable business partnership

billyfleetwood — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 15:53:43 -0800

How to structure a business partnership? Imagine this scenario: Two people want to go into business together. One person has the money to start the business, but no ability to actually run the business. The other person has the expertise to run the business, but no money to actually invest. How do they co-own the business in a way that is fair to both parties in respect to profits, debts, responsibilities and decision making? If there are any books or resources that cover this sort of thing, let me know. I'm not making any business decisions based on this advice. I recently found myself in a conversation about the subject,and realized halfway through that I didn't know as much as i thought I did.

Should I cancel my life insurance policy and use it to pay off my consumer debt?

Anonymous — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 16:33:49 -0800

Should I cancel my life insurance policy and use it to pay off most or all of my consumer debt? I'm Canadian, 50 years old, single, self-employed, with no dependents. I have about $15,000 in consumer debt and about $200,000 owing on my house. I'm covering my mortgage payments well, and am currently spending about $300/month on servicing the credit card debt. (I have 3% interest until October, but it goes up to 9% after that). There's a good chance that things will be busier for me in the spring, and I may be able to increase my debt repayment to about $1200/month, but I can't count on that.

My retirement savings are lower than I would like them to be, but I do have house equity, several RSPs, and two life insurance policies. One policy will pay out $250,000, which will cover the house and any outstanding debts. This policy costs $25/month and has no cash value. The other whole life policy would only pay out $100,000 but can be cashed in when needed. I'm paying just over $100/month for the latter policy, and it is projected to be worth $40,000 when I'm 60, $55,000 when I'm 65, and $120,000 if I make it to 80.

To my understanding, there are three reasons to have life insurance: to cover debts when you die (my major debt is the mortgage, which is fully covered by the $250,000 policy); to provide for dependents (again, I have none); and to act as an investment vehicle (I have other investments I'd like to improve).

This whole life policy's current cash value is just under $15,000. If I cash it in and apply most or all of this to my debt, it would allow me to put a lot more money towards my other retirement investments every month ($400-$1300, counting the insurance premiums and current/projected debt payments), and give me some peace of mind and breathing space. I have been watching my budget and have been paying down my debt as much as possible, but it's been a horrible year on a number of levels and I'm actually deeper in debt than when I started. Optimistically, I'm about 18 months away from clearing the consumer debt. Pessimistically, it could be another 5 years before it's clear. If I cash in the life insurance, I could be free of debt significantly faster.

The possible drawbacks of cancelling the whole life insurance:

1) The tax hit of about $3000-$4000 on the $15,000 I get from the policy. This would mean paying only $11,000-$12,000 to debt immediately, which is still a huge improvement, or paying it all off and budgeting carefully for the rest of the year to cover the expected taxes.
2) The loss of potentially $40-55,000 (taxable income) at retirement age. I could almost certainly make this up or exceed this with other investments once my debt is gone.
3) At 50, if I do need to buy a new life insurance policy for any reason, it could be much harder to get and more expensive. But I can get $10,000 of coverage for $20/month from the same company that provides my supplemental medical insurance. I don't need lavish life insurance, just something to cover any remaining small debts and a funeral. I do need to be out of debt as soon as possible and to have a much larger retirement fund.

Given these issues, is it worth cashing in the policy? I think it is, but I could be missing something important. If necessary, you can contact me at debtclearance@gmail.com.

Getting grounded in airport deals

Gordion Knott — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 04:51:21 -0800

Say you're a real estate investor. Say an airport in the New York region is expanding to become a major hub. What would you do? What would you buy? The facility in question is Stewart International Airport, which was recently acquired by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey via a lease buyout. The plan: Expand the airport so it can handle an increased amount of traffic, easing congestion on the remaining three airports in the metropolitan area. So extreme is the congestion in New York that 50% of flights, according to local papers, miss their intended arrival or departure times. Apparently, $500 million has been earmarked for the ten-year expansion.

Stewart is located near the sleepy (but somewhat drug-addled) town of Newburgh, about 55 miles north of New York City. Its runways are already equipped to handle international flights. The airport is currently surrounded by fields and a smattering of hotels.

Obviously, the airport expansion will require a considerable investment in new buildings and infrastructure, both by the government as well as private enterprise. Right now, I'm trying to picture what types of opportunities might be in store for savvy real estate investors. The following things spring to mind:
-Raw land
-Warehousing (including mini-self storage)
-Hotels and bars
-Housing for the families of airport employees

Of these, raw land is the least attractive, because of the negative cash flow due to high property taxes. I'd prefer an investment with a near-term payout, such as income from a rental or warehouse, rather than a speculative property or a flip. But I'm not averse to going into a larger investment as part of a syndicate or partnership.

Put on your thinking caps, people. What opportunities, both in-the-box and out-of the-box, can be envisioned as likely due to this deal?

... Insert witty remark here...

bitteroldman — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:51:54 -0800

CanadianTaxesFilter: Can I legally claim some of my debt as an "investment expense" if I give up my second job to focus on my business? I currently work 2 jobs - one full-time as well as a part-time job to help bring down my debt. Whenever I have free time, I am trying to work on a business that I would like to develop, but there is not much time left at the end of the week.

So I would like to quit the part-time job and spend more time working on the business.

If I would have made about $10-$20K annually with the part time job, could I legally claim $10-$20 K of the debt (and associated interest) as an investment expense?

My rationale is that had I not decided to invest in the business, I would have time for my part-time job and thus would be $10K-$20K richer by the end of the year.

I guess I could always "borrow" $10-$20 K and then pay down $10-$20 K of my debt, so that on paper, I have this amount specifically tagged as a "business investment expense", but I would rather avoid all the paperwork associated with it and besides, I think I have maxed out all my cards!

Thanks!

FX gives me a headache

barrakuda — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 06:46:02 -0800

I am permanently moving from the US to Europe in about a month. I have about $50K in savings in HSBC high (and ever-falling) interest account. I am at a loss as to what to do with this money. Money-savvy Mefites, please come to the rescue. So I have all this money sitting in savings. For the next four months my salary will continue to be paid in dollars. I am a horrible, albeit charming, investment ignoramus. On one hand, I feel terrible about converting my savings to euros, on the other I don't know whether I want to leave my money in the States especially if the dollar is to further depreciate against the euro. I considered buying an apartment in Washington, DC and renting it out; but I wonder if there are other means of managing my hard-earned money and assuring that it will not loose its value. Ideas? Comments? Anyone? Bueller?

Ever been in an investment partnership?

ijoshua — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 08:52:33 -0800

Tell me about your experience with investment partnerships. (Multiple questions inside.) I’m interested in pooling some funds with some friends and to try our hands in market investments. (This is in the US, Georgia)

I gather that we’ll need to establish a tax identity with the IRS. Where can I find more details about the tax implications?

How did you decide how to assign ownership of the partnership’s assets? What happens if a new person wants to buy in, or someone wants to cash out?

Which banks and brokerages work well for multiple account owners with low costs?

In investing, what is a structured note and what is it good for

willnot — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 07:37:42 -0800

Can you explain Structured Notes to me? Somebody suggested these as an investment vehicle that minimizes risk while magnifying the potential for gain. That's the kind of talk that makes my BS meter go off, and searching online produces a bunch of investo-speak that's probably clear if your a finance person but seems designed to muddy the waters of understanding for everybody else. Using non technical language, can you tell me what they are, what/who they're good for and what/who they are wrong for?

What Percentage of Equity for Soft. Eng. at a fresh startup?

morallybass — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 09:23:51 -0800

What Percentage of Equity to expect from a Startup in Options? For a Senior Software Engineer position within a very early (6-10 employees) startup. How many stock options, as a percentage of the total equity should you expect?

What do I do with a big check?

Anonymous — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 23:44:19 -0800

I'm about to receive $40,000. How do I deal with this much money? I'm about to get $40,000 as part of a divorce settlement from the sale of real estate (frankly, I'd rather have stayed married but that is not to be.) Can I just deposit it in my savings account or do I need to do something special? I may need to spend most or all of it in the near future: while I have it is there something very safe I can put it and "earn" interest while still being able to take it out?