Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with investments

Help a smart but inexperienced young man manage my money (UK)!

Anonymous — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:22:02 -0800

You Are Not My Financial Planner. But I'm a (still barely) young man living in the U.K. Took a long time to get a career together, with 2 good degrees, but finally achieved slightly below average salary with slow growth prospects. What approach to savings / investments should I take? Further to the above, I earn just below the national average (aout £1,300 monthly after tax etc) but hope to increase this in the next few years to just above the average (say £30k p.a. before tax). My job is in higher education libraries, which doesn't have huge prospects for salary increases. I guess maybe £40 or £50k in ten years is doable? I live frugally, don't even have a car, and rent at the lowest possible rate (about £400/month in !).

I've just got the point where I'm a "young professional" hanging out with others of my age (28) and realising they have way more financial sense (and success) than I ever have. I have about £1000 in a cash ISA. I add £50/month to it. That's it. Some of my peers have saved, invested and are now looking into buying houses. Why the disparity? Is it purely down to salary and willingness to risk on the markets?

Given that my aims in life are mainly just to get a modest house, raise a family, continue working like a dog until (or beyond) retirement, run a modest, boring car if I really need it for kids, work etc, take cheap inland holidays and live frugally til I die, what savings and investments should aim to get?

I'm already aiming to "save 3 months salary" as recommended by popular financial advice books. My bank supplied me with an "advice session" where the talk escalated quickly from my idea of investing £500-£1000 upfront then £50 per month in an investment ISA (in a medium risk band) to more like £200-£300 split 50-50 between medium and second-from-top risk bands... at this point I got cold feet and split.

I have a Masters in Physics so I can handle algebra but all the arithmetic makes my head spin (the sales pitch doesn't help!). I'm reading basic guides but I'm struggling to understand what I should do. My family never discussed these issues and I wonder if I'll ever afford to raise one of my own to teach them to... can anyone "hope me"?

PS. I know about moneysavingexpert.com etc and will continue to look into that. Pointers to specific relevant pages would be really welcome though! :)

PPS I have no debts except the usual UK student loan at about 20k, which I just ignore as a graduate tax. I only have credit cards in case I need to sign up to online stuff or prove I have a good record

How to form an equitable business partnership

forwebsites — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:44:37 -0800

How to setup a business partnership in an old-school brick-and-mortar manufacturing business between four friends - two of whom will be the major investors (say A and B), one guy is partial investor who will work full time but is new to this business and doing business in general (C ie: me), and the last guy is the one (D) with the entire business knowledge. He is in the field for past 7 years, already running a profitable trading shop (buying in Saudi, selling in India) in this field and is interested in expanding by setting up 'our own' manufacturing facility in Saudi. This is my first time venturing into a business setup after quitting my job. Some things which are different than the norm. We don't plan to take any debt. This is an all cash setup we are planning in Saudi and there would be no lawyer involved it's all mutual agreement and trust between us. Treat this as business amongst friends. There are no trust issues and nobody is fighting for the last margincal percentage. All of us are pretty ok with the plan being a bit flexible and we cover each others backs anyways. As long as it 'looks good and fair overall' it's game.

The investment capital ratio is :
A - 45%
B - 45%
C - 10% (ie me)

Entire capital is going to be invested upfront in setting up the business, visas, licence, machinery etc. There is no staggered investment. The only thing variable in the above plan is: B might decide to remain as just investor or investor + working full/half time based on the need.

D having the full business knowledge is going to do the initial work of sourcing raw materials, setting up shop and selling. He is the only one at this point with all contacts, knowledge the works. Apart from my 10% investment, the idea is I (and maybe B) be working full time alongside with him and learn the trade, eventually come to a position 6 months down the line where I (and B) be managing the Saudi shop and he'll concentrate on the selling side in India.

I will be working full time on this. But since I'm new to it, one way to look at this is also that I'm getting an opportunity to learn the trade. Same applies to B if he becomes a working partner.

All the working partners C, D (and B) are okay with not taking a salary for, say first 6 months or so.

How should we divide the stake in this setup between all of us and how much salary (or any other form of compensation - increased stake in lieu of agreeing to not take any salary) should C, D (and maybe B) get?

Thanks.

How risky are bond mutual funds?

david1230 — Sun, 10 May 2009 03:03:21 -0800

How risky are bond mutual funds? Help me understand the risk of bond mutual funds. Is a fund like VBMFX a good place to put some money for 1-2 years? How likely is this sort of fund to lose money during those two years? What general economic conditions affect the performance of bond funds?

Should my recession dollars go into my 401k, or my wallet?

logovisual — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 15:03:38 -0800

Where is my money doing me, and the world, the most good right now: going into a 401(k), or going into my wallet and getting spent? I'm in my mid-twenties, in a stable but low-paying job that I expect to be in for a while (he said, in a fashion that he hopes does not prove ironic). I am basically living paycheck to paycheck in NYC -- not starving, but not really saving in any meaningful way whatsoever beyond my company 401(k), which has quite a good matching program. For the last couple of years, I've been paying the maximum match into my account, and had built up a reasonable little stash (about a third of my annual salary) only to, of course, watch it take a 30%+ hit over the last few months. I only have a couple thousand dollars in credit card debt, which I would like to pay down/off, but the tight squeeze for what's left over from my paycheck doesn't really allow for that.

I was rebalancing my 401(k) into some less aggressive investments today -- I know that I am young, and there'll be plenty of time for a rebound, but there's no sense in wasting money when you know the market is probably still on its way down -- and began to wonder where my dollar is doing the most good for the economy: going into investments, or going into my wallet to be spent on consumer goods? And yes, that definitely is where it would go if I reduced the percentage of my paycheck that goes into my 401(k): food, home goods, etc.

Thoughts on this matter? I am obviously loath to give up much of the "free money" that comes from a company match, but I am also loath to watch every dollar I put into my 401(k) turn into sixty-five cents when it could turn into a dollar's worth of food, or furniture, or entertainment. And on the larger scale, do I help America more by buying a new couch instead of another share of a mutual fund? Should I reduce (not eliminate) my contribution to my 401(k)? Or stick to business as usual and try to make my budget work another way? I'd like to hear some thoughts that go beyond the conventional wisdom of "you should never ever stop paying into your 401(k)," unless you can make me see that argument in a whole other way.

Betting on Inflation

Wallzatcha — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 14:54:08 -0800

What are some investment strategies that would protect against and profit from (hyper)inflation? Specifically, I'm looking for info on a strategy to short T-Bonds that would not expose me to an insane amount of risk.
Other ideas are welcome as well.

How do I start investing my money?

curiouskitty — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 19:48:04 -0800

My New Year's resolution is to develop a grown-up financial plan for myself. What should I be doing in terms of investments? Please spare some financial advice for a total beginner. Some background info: I'm 29 years old, have a steady income and have managed (finally!) to amass some savings. Not a lot, but it's a start. For a number of reasons, I've never gotten financial advice from anyone. I bank almost exclusively via ATMs and online, and I now realize I don't know what I am supposed to be doing to make the most of my money. Beyond my savings accounts, right now my current "strategy" basically consists of a modest RRSP (I'm Canadian). My husband and I also own a condo (and have a sizable but manageable mortgage). He has a well-paying job but also quite a bit of debt, which we hope to finally clear off this year. I'm otherwise debt-free, and we have nobody to care for financially besides ourselves.

I have read that this current economic climate presents an opportunity for potential investors, in that there are some bargains to be had. Also, the Canadian government just introduced TFSAs (Tax-Free Savings Accounts), which allow people to invest in securities and the returns are never taxed. I am clueless about investments, but I've been thinking for a while that I should buy some stocks for the sake of diversifying and I'm young enough to tolerate some risk right now. I would be comfortably playing with $6,000, maybe a bit more. My questions:

- Is getting involved in the stock market a good idea right now, given our situation? Or should I be putting my savings into 1) a lump-sum mortgage payment, 2) against my husband's debt or 3) some other strategy I haven't thought of? I am very reluctant to pay off my husband's debt on his behalf, since he is prone to splurging on stuff and I don't want to "bail him out" and reinforce his bad spending habits. His parents have, in the past and on more than one occasion, paid off his debts, only to have him rack up more, hence my position on this.

- If buying stocks is a wise idea for me, how should I go about this? Can I trust the financial adviser at my local bank, or would I be getting better guidance from an independent adviser? Do these people have any kinds of biases that I should be aware of? What kind of fees should I expect to pay this person (i.e. what rate is reasonable and what is too much)?

- Would it be incredibly foolish of me, a total amateur, to just sign up with a discount online brokerage and pick my own stocks? I'm admittedly not good with numbers, but I am good with research and I'm reasonably bright. Since the market has been slumping, wouldn't it be good to just pick up some well-reputed stocks and wait for a few years? I know there are no guarantees, but again I can tolerate some risk and am looking for a long-term plan since I'm still young.

- What are some good resources for learning about investing (ideally, content in plain language that even math dunces can understand)?

Thanks in advance for your insights!

Corrupt financial advisor?

northernlightgardener — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 21:20:04 -0800

Is advising a client to write a bad check be considered unethical behavior for a financial advisor? What should our next steps be and who monitors financial advisors' professional actions? As usual, there's more inside... Dad recently passed away. Within a year before he died, Mom & Dad discovered that their $250K+ investments had shrunk to $70k only by calling their broker to inquire about their account. He hadn't notified them of anything despite the precipitous drop in their balance. They transferred $40k to bonds at that time. Now -- 1 1/2 months later and after Dad's death -- the broker advised Mom to write a bad check to cover a bill and she (unfortunately) followed his advice.

How can a broker ethically advise that to a client? Do we have any recourse? She followed his advice and now is $2k overdrawn and facing fees and penalties as a result.

This month's investments report says her account is down to $51k. She's 77 years old and lives 2500 miles away from us. Mom and my siblings and I have agreed to move her funds to someone she trusts, but I'm not sure how to find the right person to work with her (and probably me, since Mom doesn't appear to be up to managing her own finances), and who to report this guy to in the hope that they can stop him from repeating this behavior with another senior citizen. Advice, Mefites?

What should we be thinking about as we allocate our savings?

Anonymous — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 20:26:30 -0800

We are a newly-wed, youngish couple (both 30 years old, both professionals) trying to allocate funds to two different projects: purchasing a first home in a very expensive metropolitan area and saving for retirement. What should we be thinking about as we allocate our savings? Things we are already thinking:

1. A first home in the DC/Southern MD/Northern VA area is likely out of our reach for four years at least, and we won't be retiring for at least thirty years, probably closer to forty. Conventional wisdom says that young people saving for retirement should invest in high risk/high return stock indexes, but that if you need the money in the next four years, you should keep it relatively safe in CDs and bonds. Obviously this conventional wisdom is in tension: a house is partly a retirement investment, isn't it?

Caveat: While we don't want to sit out a potential market rally over the next few years with our money in CDs, we also want to someday live in something larger than our current one bedroom apartment. The prospect of a depression destroying our down payment has my partner pulling out hair. I say: who wants a house during a depression, when joblessness might require relocation and force a sale of the real estate at depressed prices?

2. We'd like to maximize our 401(k) contributions, but after maxing out the matching funds from our employers, we're wondering if it would be better to put that money into the house fund. Another possibility is piling the money into the 401(k) and then taking a loan from the account to pay for (part) of the down payment. Here, we are especially thinking of this advice.

3. Though we'd really like concrete answers to this question, some of our issues are definitely just about how to match our discordant risk-tolerances, and of course about the current uncertainty. Because of this, we'd appreciate general advice/tips/reading suggestions for young professionals in our situation, in this economic climate.

How do I stop the bleeding?

anastasiav — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 22:03:25 -0800

I know you are not my broker. Despite my personal contributions and my employer match, my 401K has 7% less money in it now than it had a year ago, which is, in turn, is 6% less than it had at this time two years ago. I understand that I'm supposed to be in this for the "long haul" but at this rate I'm losing money faster than I can contribute it. How do I fix this? I know you are not my broker. I know getting investment advice from a bunch of strangers if fundamentally dumb ... however, your opinion would be helpful.

We don't have much money. I contribute as much as I can and take advantage of the maximum company match, but over the past two years my fairly conservative investments have been losing money hand over fist, and it seems to me that no matter what I do my 401K is going to continue to lose money at a faster rate than I can contribute to it.

I know someone is going to say "educate yourself" but the bottom line is I've been trying to educate myself and use the information my plan makes available, but I a) don't have a lot of study time to devote to this (I work two jobs and parent a toddler) and b) I just don't have the head for it. I just need someone to point at a fund and say "do this" but I can't afford to pay a financial adviser. (At one point I shopped around for one, but at the income level we're at it seemed ridiculous to pay that amount of money to someone when I could be, you know, saving it instead.)

My 401K is with Fidelity. Although I know this probably isn't true, it feels like the only time I haven't seen negative numbers in a three month stretch is when I put the entire thing in the bond index, but at that point I'm only earning less than 2% -- I could do better with a CD (although obviously without the tax help). I'm currently in Royce, which has lost about 8.5% over the past 30 days.

Should I just dump everything in bonds until the crisis is over? Leave everything alone and hope that when the market turns around I'll have enough money left for it to accrue back up within a reasonable amount of time?

I'm about 25 years from retirement. At this point, I don't even have an amount of money equal to a single year's salary left in my 401K, despite having contributed to it over the past ten years. What's my best course of action to preserve what I have left but get at least a better rate of return than I would on a CD?

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?

What is a fair price?

ubiquity — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 03:27:40 -0800

How do I assess the value of an offer I received for an investment I own? I own a tiny interest in some property which produces oil revenue — about $125 per quarter. I have been offered $2,140 for it. How can I assess the value of this offer? At 5% annually, the future value of $125 per quarter overtakes that of $2,140 in about five years, but I don't have a good feel for what that means in terms of the fairness of the offer. Obviously, if someone offered me more than $12,000 for the property, I'd take it, because the quarterly interest (again, at 5%) on $12,000 is $125. On the other hand, $125 is clearly too little, because I can get that much from my investment in a single quarter. So a good price is somewhere between $125 and $12,000. But where? If there are any good rules of thumb for dealing with this sort of problem, please tell me.

I went to art school to avoid math... sigh.

miss lynnster — Thu, 08 May 2008 08:17:40 -0800

Can you recommend a kickass financial advisor/planner in Southern California, por favor? You'll be my new best friend. Thanks!

where to invest?

locoindio — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 21:09:38 -0800

so ive got like $3500 or so that i want to put into either a roth ira and some index funds.....or that id like to put all together in the market. there are these funds ive been reading about a little in the market itself that are labeled as 'safe' bets. they pay anywhere from 10-15% return and are pretty much all in energy, oil, gas, drilling, and that sort of thing. it's buy and hold on a smaller scale. anyway, that's one option and the other option is to just put the minimum in a roth and buy about a grand's worth of fidelity funds. my goals are to be able to help pay rent and to build small amounts of wealth. alright, lemme know what you think.

Investment advisor advisor

schrodycat — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 14:33:45 -0800

Investment advisor advisor. Is it unreasonable to ask for a complete one-page list of all my investments with account numbers and approximate values? I'm using a commission-based investment advisor. I trust the guy about as far as I can throw him, and a lot of his advice hasn't been great, but he's a family friend and I detest anything financial, so I'm not really motivated to change. I know I should eventually drop him for a fee-based advisor, but that's another question for another day.

My question is simpler: Is it unreasonable to ask my advisor to give me a single page listing of all our investments with account numbers, values, etc. My wife and I have about a dozen different mutual funds, annuities, etc, and it's difficult to keep track of. If $10K were to just disappear we wouldn't even know.

When I asked the advisor for this information in a concise printed form he balked, saying in effect that "I have all that information in my files, and I don't have time to summarize it for you".

If this is a completely reasonable request, could I at least use this as a reason to throw the bum out? (He and my wife go way back). What information do other advisors give you on every meeting?

DIY Decide It Yourself

Xurando — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 11:47:45 -0800

Help me create a template for determining when I should DIY or not. In general, I always vacillate when trying to decide whether or not to do something myself or hire someone to do the task. I've decided it would be helpful to have a decision making template. Here are some othe areas I have been struggling with.
1. Bathroom
2. My tax person just made $4,000 mistake that I wouldn't have made myself. I could do both my business and personal taxes with turbo tax but thought a professional would be simpler.
3. I recently switched my retirement money to a broker who has put it all into mutual funds with high expense ratios as well as his own fee. I tell myself I don't have time to follow the market but I could save money doing it myself.
4. I tore the door baffle/rubber ring on my front loading washer. I have the replacement part. I'll save $200 by doing it myself but frustration/aggravation costs may be high.

Is there a simple formula for making these decisions in terms of time/cost/frustration?

Please help me decide between Fidelity and Vanguard.

salvia — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 16:37:09 -0800

Questions about opening a Roth IRA -- particularly, does it matter where I open it? If so, Fidelity vs. Vanguard? I want to open my first Roth IRA. I've read past questions and some online resources, but I still have some questions.

- First, does it even matter where I open it? If I figure out I screwed up, how hard is it to switch from one of these to the other?

- I will (very soon) have a 403b with Vanguard through my employer. Does that tilt things in favor of Vanguard for an IRA? Would I be able to "pool" these funds? It sounds nice to make one phone call rather than two. But is there some reason that tilts things in favor of Fidelity? Would it be better to have them both as options? Then I could hold, say, some of both group's target retirement funds.

- To make a good decision, do I need to figure out where I would invest the money first? They have different expense ratios even for their S&P 500 index funds (VFINX is .15% vs. FSMKX is .10%). I realize this isn't much of a difference, but if they differ on the simplest index fund, they're going to differ by more in other things, right? (I'd be deciding between S&P 500 index funds, some index fund with non-US companies, or a target-date retirement fund.)

- If you do think I should decide where to put the money first by actually looking at fees, how do I find that out? There are these scare stories (eg) about hidden fees. Are they still hidden if I look at Morningstar's front load %, back load %, and expense ratio? Or is there a better place to find all this out?

- All over the web people are saying that Fidelity's customer service is better and more informed. This has me leaning toward Fidelity. Do you think this still holds true?

- Lastly, what does this comment from jak68 mean, "Also -- in case you didnt know -- there is a small difference between buying funds via a trading account at a brokerage house (as with fidelity, schwab, ameritrade etc), VS. buying the fund directly from the fund family's website (vanguard, etc)?" Should this influence me in some way?

Thanks for your help. I'm interested in learning more over the long term, but I also have the feeling that I'm making this too complicated and should find a way to make this simple.

What's In It For Me?

divabat — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 14:28:59 -0800

What could I offer my sponsors/donors in return for sponsorship? I'm fundraising for an educational venture, and I'm thinking of different things I can offer in return for sponsorship. As I am a sole young person who's trying to get to school, I don't really have anything like free art or film credits or anything of the sort. All I can think of:

* Eternal gratitude
* Writeups on my blogs
* Thank-you events
* Regular updates
* Short-term consulting (since my are of study would be entrepreneurship and business design)

What else could I offer? I write well and like to do things to help people. I'm a novice at crafts/arts (though they aren't directly relevant to my pursuit). Whenever I ask my dad what people would like in return for their investments, he always says "Money" - which is what I don't have (otherwise I won't be asking this question!).

I've heard of people who got people to buy "shares" in their venture. Crowdfunding sounds like a great idea; however, I don't know how it'd work if you don't have a product to fund. What have other people offered in return for sponsorship/investments? Crazy is good but realistic is best.

Interesting investment strategy?

mateuslee — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 03:22:17 -0800

How can I wisely invest US$15k? I have an unconventional idea, but could use your advise: buy land in new EU countries. Of course the obvious safe-bet for an investment portfolia is a mix of C.D.s and mutual funds, right? I guess the return on mutual funds should be around 9%, depending.

However, my idea was this: land. What if I were to buy land in those countries on the verge of accepting the Euro - namely Poland/Romania, for example. These countries (esp Poland) seem pretty stable and the transition to the Euro should be straight-forward and easy (esp given the recent elections in Poland: pro-EU).

Surely after the switch from the zloty, the prices will rise as they did in most other countries, and there will always be a need for land, right?

OK, 12K can't buy much - but a few acres near the sea or outside some medium-sized city might prove lucrative one day... no?

Not sure if this is wise... Any other ideas for creative/non-conventional uses for this money are appreciated, so long as they are lucrative, practical and don't contribute to the military/industrial complex (sorry for sounding like a hippy).

Thanks!

Recent grad trying to gain employment at a boutique bank, how?

geoff. — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 08:53:51 -0800

How do I (a recent grad) find a job at a boutique bank/hedge fund, preferably in NYC/Manhattan? Is there a Monster.com for this? Or will I find good results with large job hunting sites such as Monster? Suggestions on banks to contact or list of banks are appreciated. I recently visited friends and contacts (exhausting my networking) in NYC and found out a few things:

- Lehman, Goldman, etc. are great places to work but unless you are an Ivy or you have great contacts impossible to get into. I know people in the aforementioned firms but they are below 25, and thus have no sway. I think I would rather be in an atmosphere of a smaller, boutique firm anyway.

- Again, I went to a college no one would have heard of. Great local reputation, and my standardized test scores are high (and graduated very high in my class, etc. basically have done everything right except start wanting to have a career in this at 17). I have exhausted networking options but unfortunately these were from friends who went to exclusive large banks from feeder schools. I arrived at wanting to do finance from philosophy of science courses, so I have a greater intellectual bent in this (I love Karl Popper, et al).

This sounds somewhat self-deprecating, but these are merely facts that friends have told me. I was hoping someone would have suggestions on banks to apply to or a more specialized version of Monster. E-Mail in the profile for those who rather not post here for whatever reason.

N.B., Something along the lines of Taleb's firm (Malcolm Gladwell) would be a dream. I care not about the long hours or doing grunt work if advancement is possible. I would gladly sacrifice pay for a bank with a good reputation.

I know markets have a vulgar reputation but I think they're wonderful examples of emergent behaviors that should be studied as empirically as possible.

RESP...still don't know what it means for me

acoutu — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 19:47:28 -0800

College savings: Does the government care how you spend a college savings plan in Canada? More than a year ago, I asked about registered educational savings plans. Now I'm wondering how the (Canadian) government regulates how you spend them.

I understand when my child(ren) can withdraw the funds and that they have to be registered in a post-secondary program. But, aside from that, how does the government check to see what you spent the money on?

I see that there's a $42,000 contribution limit over your child's lifetime. Let's say this grows to $78k. Tuition in, say, 2023, is $12k per year and my child needs a total of $50k to cover four years while living at home. My child also works at some internships and part-time jobs that cover, say, $24k of expenses. After they kick that in, there's around $50k left in the RESP. Heck, let's say there's even $25k left.

Do you have to spend this money on room and board? What's to stop someone from using this to save for a downpayment on a condo that they help their child upon graduation? Or for a car to help them get to school? Or for some other purpose? (I recognize the money is taxed in the child's hands upon withdrawal, but let's assume the child hangs on to the withdrawn money.)

And, if your child only does a one-semester program, can they pull all the money out at once? The government's RESP page is pretty vague.

Taxing a reinvesting business

blueplasticfish — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 14:42:12 -0800

Can I start a LLC (or similar) who's only business is to manage investments and reinvest any gains? What are the tax implications? If I always reinvest all the gains and dividends of the investments my theoretical net income will always be 0, right?

However, I am sure there is some way I (or the company) would have to pay taxes on this. What would the taxes be, and how can you be taxed if you have no profit? Or, would there be a profit? If so, how is this calculated? Can you be taxed if you reinvest the gains and never take a distribution? What are the different implications for different legal stuctures (LLC, S corps, C corps, etc)?

I will eventually seek legal and CPA tax advice on this matter, but wanted to feel out the Mefi community first.

Getting Started in Investing

blim8183 — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 18:43:02 -0800

I just got out of college and started my first job and am looking into investing some money and learning what the stock market is all about. What's the best way of going about doing this? To begin I'm looking at putting away around $500. Is that too little to begin with? What are my options?

I want to make some money duing the hours / day I spend on the internet.

dawdle — Sat, 14 Oct 2006 21:27:16 -0800

What's with these FOREIGN EXCHANGE programs / workshops that I've recently seen advertised in infomercials recently ? Can one really make money doing this ? Do I need a lot of capital ? Have any mefites any experience or insight ?

Investing for my daughters future

the_epicurean — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 07:14:46 -0800

A question for UK based Mefites... My girlfriend has recently given birth to our first child, and we've received our £250 surestart from the government. I'd like to invest this money sensibly, in an account that pays good interest, allows me to top up whenever I want, and restricts access until my daughter is 18. Does anyone have any experience and recommendations. Thanks in advance

Where do I find investors?

Galen — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 11:28:00 -0800

MoneyFilter: Where would a 21 year old college student look for investors willing to help said student get started building wealth? I'm 21 and I want to build houses on vacant lots in cities near where I live. I am fairly sure (though I have excellent credit) I can't qualify for a $200,000 construction loan (even interest only).

So, I need people with money to help me through the first two or three projects. How do I meet these people? Where do I find an investor? What companies that make their business investing in upstarts like me? Are there parties I should be crashing?

I just want a boost into the investing world. I don't want to wait till I'm 30 to start building wealth and cashflow. I have the vision now. Please point me in the right direction.