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Effective ways to start investing money

I'm sure this is quite the rabbit hole to go down, but I've always found this community very helpful, and I don't know where to start. So I was hoping to learn from people that may have good experiences.

To get to the point, I have some goals for the future and this requires me to have more money than I do now. I'm not hurting by any stretch, but I also would like to do things to more future proof my investments.

I'm sure there are plenty of you out there that have tips. I'm not looking for a get rich quick scheme by any means. I was just hoping you guys could share some insights on things that worked for you.
 

Haint

Member
The easy mode "safe" long term investment recommendation is typically buying a total market ETF like VTIAX and holding it for decades. Some people like to hedge the bet with 15% or so in a total bond market ETF and 15% or so in a total international market ETF.
 
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AJUMP23

Member
Does this work? Can you withdraw your cash at any point?

you can withdraw the initial investment at any point without penalty. growth can be withdrawn tax free at 65 or under hefty penalty prior.

if you need to withdraw cash along the way use a traditional Ira. You will pay taxes on the growth and dividends annually.
 

cormack12

Gold Member
you can withdraw the initial investment at any point without penalty. growth can be withdrawn tax free at 65 or under hefty penalty prior.

if you need to withdraw cash along the way use a traditional Ira. You will pay taxes on the growth and dividends annually.
Are you US based? I think in the UK these are just ISAs yeah?
 

Doom85

Member
To get to the point, I have some goals for the future and this requires me to have more money than I do now.

someone vision GIF


“Goals”, eh? That require “more money”? Rather vague wording, yes, very vague wording indeed. Almost as if you don’t wish us to know what sort of goal this undefined amount of required money will be going towards….

You wouldn‘t happen to be one half of a certain mouse duo…..WOULD YOU?!

pinky and the brain GIF
 

Raven117

Member
We have no idea how old you are. What your “goals” are. But..

Open a vanguard account have a weekly or biweekly transfer peg it to the sp500. Leave it alone.

Roth IRA for the first 5500
Is a great way to start.

There is a lot of flash out there OP. Promising higher returns quick, safe, etc.

But man, just look at how compounding works. Getting a solid baseline of index tracking investments early sets you up long term without much sweat. As you get older (but not close to retirement age), you can start looking into riskier types of investment, but whatever happens, you have already working from a solid base.

This is slow and boring. But, if history is any indication, it works.

(None of this is financial advice… you really should get in touch with a financial advisor to help you)
 
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someone vision GIF


“Goals”, eh? That require “more money”? Rather vague wording, yes, very vague wording indeed. Almost as if you don’t wish us to know what sort of goal this undefined amount of required money will be going towards….

You wouldn‘t happen to be one half of a certain mouse duo…..WOULD YOU?!

pinky and the brain GIF
God damn it delete this now 😡😂
 
Just to be clear I'm in my 30s and I want to be able to afford some land and potentially do some farming. And by farming I mean like small scale vegetable gardening. Nothing too crazy, but I'd like to own some land where I can fish and target practice. I already have a house so that's something, but I know I'll need to think bigger financially.
 
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AJUMP23

Member
Just to be clear I'm in my 30s and I want to be able to afford some land and potentially do some farming. And by farming I mean like small scale vegetable gardening. Nothing too crazy, but I'd like to own some land where I can fish and target practice. I already have a house so that's something, but I know I'll need to think bigger financially.
Then you don’t want a Roth and you probably want and IRA where you can access the money when you need to make a down payment. I would still peg an index on the sp500 but I would use a traditional IRA.

IN 10 years you should double an investment without any additions.


You should be planning long term too though.
 

Rival

Gold Member
Kind of depends on what your exact situation is and when you want to achieve your goals. Do you already own your current home outright? Do you have any high interest debt like credit cards? Do you have a 401k at work with a company match? The best way is to invest consistently over a long period of time. Personally my plan is that I have paid off all debt minus my current mortgage which is locked in at a great rate of 2.9% which wouldn’t happen today. I’ve been saving cash over the last year and a half and will soon have 6 months of my current salary in a high yield savings account. Once I have that I will continue to increase my 401k each year until I am maxing out my allowed yearly contribution. I am already contributing more than enough to receive the full company match. After that I will continue to save in an IRA until I am maxing that out. At that point I will start making larger payments on my mortgage monthly until that is paid in full at which point I will have zero debt. Then possibly start investing any excess cash into other types of things. I do not have any kids which would completely change all of these plans.
 
Then you don’t want a Roth and you probably want and IRA where you can access the money when you need to make a down payment. I would still peg an index on the sp500 but I would use a traditional IRA.

IN 10 years you should double an investment without any additions.


You should be planning long term too though.
So what exactly is SP 500
 

AJUMP23

Member
So what exactly is SP 500
S&P 500 is an index.


The S&P 500 is a stock market index maintained by S&P Dow Jones Indices. It comprises 503 common stocks which are issued by 500 large-capcompanies traded on American stock exchanges (including the 30 companies that compose the Dow Jones Industrial Average). The index includes about 80 percent of the American equity market by capitalization. It is weighted by free-float market capitalization, so more valuable companies account for relatively more weight in the index. The index constituents and the constituent weights are updated regularly using rules published by S&P Dow Jones Indices. Although called the S&P 500, the index contains 503 stocks because it includes two share classes of stock from 3 of its component companies.[1][2]
 

Trogdor1123

Member
I gave my wife 50k a while to start investing with and my only stipulation was that she should only buy stocks that pay dividends. She did it through wealth simple as it has no fees.

Is that the best way to guarantee growth? No, of course not, but we were willing to have a bit smaller growth but have passive income. It’s been fairly lucrative so far.
 

MaestroMike

Gold Member
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I'm sure this is quite the rabbit hole to go down, but I've always found this community very helpful, and I don't know where to start. So I was hoping to learn from people that may have good experiences.

To get to the point, I have some goals for the future and this requires me to have more money than I do now. I'm not hurting by any stretch, but I also would like to do things to more future proof my investments.

I'm sure there are plenty of you out there that have tips. I'm not looking for a get rich quick scheme by any means. I was just hoping you guys could share some insights on things that worked for you.

It's not that deep of a rabbit hole in 2024. If you want to accumulate wealth over a long haul then the best investments for the long term are:

1. Register to a crypto exchange (like Kraken), buy Bitcoin (BTC) weekly/monthly/etc. at a fixed price, say, 100$? or 50$? Up to you. Just keep accumulating. The price will fluctuate, but 1 BTC will always be 1 BTC. Accumulate over a 5 year period, at least.

2. Register to a stock exchange, buy an ETF, i recommend the S&P 500 ETF weekly/monthly/etc. at a fixed price. As with Bitcoin, just keep accumulating. Tho this is for the longer haul - 10+ years.

Learn the ins and outs (like what an ETF is) through google and chatGPT. Just put aside an hour or so of your time, per day, to learn some shit, for a week. And start doing it. Time flies fast, you're in your 30s.

There are many, many other methods of accumulating wealth, but all of them are very risky. I suggest the above for a safe ride IF you're not in a hurry.
 

jason10mm

Gold Member
There are a couple of considerations for "investing"

A. Money for your retirement? Then a IRA is good start, it is capped with what you can add ($8k/yr currently) but if you start one early and let it grow till you hit 65 it's gonna be a million or more. If you do NOTHING else, at least consider this option. Roth IRA will grow and you can take the money out tax free. Traditional IRA reduces your taxes now, but you will pay taxes on it when you withdrawl. Personally its a bit of a wash I think, unless you will have a dramatic swing in income before or after retirement. A work related 401 is another vehicle like this.

B. Money for a short term "rainy day"? Then right now the High yield savings accounts or money markets/CDs are around 5%. Good way to stash money you might need but still have it grow a little.

C. Anything left over can go into taxable investments, of which there are plenty. Some prioritize growth, others dividends, etc, but you gotta file them on taxes and it can get a little complicated. Mutual funds or stocks indexed to the market are usually the easiest way to do it versus trying to guess what stocks might do well and day trading.
 

dave_d

Member
Are you at least maxing out your 401k or whatever your job offers? (Since there's usually a match and that's free money.) But like everyone said IRA next. (But you might want to just do a 3 fund portfolio like vtsax/vtiax/vbtlx and just keep adding money to it.)
 

Cyberpunkd

Member
Make a very diverse investment with something like Fidelity. Stocks have been kicking ass in the US and most of Europe the past four years. I've made well over 100k just choosing a moderate mix with Fidelity.
Stocks are always killing it, it’s just a matter of not panicking during short and medium term dips. Which a lot of people do and they lose money.
 

eddie4

Genuinely Generous
Take out loan, build time machine, go back to 2008, mine bitcoin, invest in stocks that will split/grow/etc, wait, profit.

On a serious note, open investment acc and invest in s&p500, its not quick cash, but it will build slowly.
i also have an acc in my home country that is tied to some euro dax & px1, and i deposit some cash there since i'm planning to retire back home.
 
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