Lux Investing - How to invest my money wisely ?

How to invest my money wisely ?

I need some help with investing all the extra money I have been making working overtime at my job. I have projected that I can possibly invest $400-500 a week. What or where can I put this money so that I can see a good return on my money since I have a 5 year plan to accomulate $200k dollars and retire to the caribean. Please only serious contributors should respond to this question that have some knowledge about investing. This is a serious deal for me and all your help will be greatly appreciated.

Public Comments

Seriously: your first step needs to be educating yourself about *how* to invest. There is absolutely no substitute for at least a little bit of financial education. If you can find the time (I own a small business so I know what time pressure is about), read the recent book by Mary Buffett about her father's methods for evaluating companies. It is very short, and every page has useful information. Try and also find some books about other asset classes like bonds. If you don't know what you are doing, you're likely to lose money. I speak from hard earned personal experience.
um so like wouldnt you rather leave this to the professionals, like the ones at your bank? or maybe a stock broker, or...basically ANYONE BUT the yahoo community? or am i wayyyyy offfff on this one? :-\ id say close your money for the next 5 yrs, invest it in cds, but sigh, theyre not brining any moneys in lately either. seriously, if you speak w/ a financial advisor at your local bank, they can help you invest your money wisely. you can even go to h&r block, but theyll charge you for their services, so why not do this over at your bank for FREE? hmmmmm????? i know i wasnt much (read: ANY) help, but hey, i was feeling especially generous today (found an old 1952 wheat penny today worth all of 3 cents! thats 300% profit!). wish there was more i could do. best of luck in THIS economy.
Buy an index fund now....
$200,000 will last about 6 years, short retirement. Put it into an IRA, that will relieve temptation and allow it to accrue tax deferred, the index mutual fund is not a bad idea, call Vanguard. irea
I'd go: 60% Vanguard Total Stock Market Fund 40% Vanguard Ginnie-Mae Fund Vanguard has the lowest costs. Buy the Ginnie-Mae Fund only when the money invested is tax-deferred. ((IRA, 403(b), 401(k), etc) Don't put the Ginnie-Mae Fund into a taxable account.
As some have advised you, you need to learn more about investing before you plunge in. A good approach for a novice is to locate 3-4 good mutual funds and open accounts in them. Then each week add to one of them rotating among them. Stay with no-load funds. A good one is TIAA-CREF. By selecting 3-4 funds you minimize your risk by diversifying. Now is a good time to get into stocks because they have fallen and there are some bargains. Your 5-year goal is a bit low. Assuming $500 per week, you would need an annual return of about 16 percent to accumulate $200,000. At 8%, which is more realistic, you would need 6 years to have $200,000, which is not a lot to retire on. You could also go to an investment advisor but be sure you pick one that charges a fee for services. Many of them are free, but they only get you into investment from which they get a commission, so they tend to be biased. Another place that you may want to consider later when you have accumulated $10-20,000 or more is real estate, but that takes considerable study and expertise. You may also want to look into an interesting situation that requires very little money, minimum $100, and is rather risky, but risky investments often lead to huge gains, and in this case you would not be risking a huge amount. It's a private offering for a start-up business, and these are usually available only to wealthy investors, but this one is small so it is offered to anyone who likes the concept. The potential is very high and the concept is very interesting. There is no obligation in looking, The web site is below. Good luck, and let me say it is wise of you to plan early for your retirement. Things may change over 5 years, and your plans may change, but whatever you accumulate will be there to help with your plans.