Which funds would you suggest are better? Thanks.

* Country you live in: USA
* Income: 50k
* Risk Tolerance: Mild
* Timeframe for investment: 5-25 years
* Debt: 0
* Any other information you might have that would help us: Just bought a triplex for $250k. Also planning on looking into other non stock investments and real estate down the line so would like at least 100k (out of 200k) to be liquid. I have no idea what my future plans are (I'm 25) which is why my time frame for investment is so vague.

Thanks!

Country you live in: USA
Income: $70k from work + $30k from poker
Expenses: $50-60k/year
Amount Investing: $20k
Risk Tolerance: Low
Time frame for investment: 15-20 years
Debt: none
Other Information: I just graduated from college, and lucky for me things are going well. I have $20k to invest ASAP which is just sitting in my stoooopid Wachovia MMA account. I've done some speculative trading in emerging markets before, but I don't have the time or inclination for that anymore. I'm looking for a more passive investment. I'm relatively new to investing in the US.

also a question for all the awesome ppl in this thread who have been giving advice, like specific Vanguard ETF's to invest in, how are you arriving at those ETF's? I mean I see a gazzilion different ETF's, with no real info.

Is it just from experience? or are you looking at returns and the reports?

I'm not sure what you are asking here. That page shows that VTSAX is slightly better than VTI if you're looking for a specific example of where one of their funds is better than the ETF.

If you're looking for suggestions on which funds I personally like I tend to look at the Modern Portfolio Theory from (http://www.fundadvice.com/articles/b...-strategy.html) and it mentions funds here (http://www.fundadvice.com/articles/b...vanguard-.html).

Country: Sweden!
Income: Extremely shifting. Sometimes losing, sometimes 30k+/month. Avg 15k/month
Expenses: Around 100$/month
Amount investing: Around 20-30k, maybe more depending on how well I do at the tables
Risk tolerance: Well I want to become rich, so I guess I could take some deacent risks.
Debts: 0$
Time Frame: I want to get rich fast! 5 years!

Other info: Well, I'm an 18 year old guy that started with poker last year. Still living home, so no expenses. Had some great succes, and I'm still doing well. I feel poker is not for me though, I don't really like it, but I still want to become rich I have absolutely zero understanding of finance. What do I do?

Thanks!

Country: USA
Income: Right now about 1.5k/month w/ fairly low living expenses (graduate student), 55k/yr in the near future + ~5k/yr from poker.
Expenses: Right now about $700/month, this will increase in the next few months to what I'd estimate at about 2k.
Amount investing: I have about 42k, with about 10k in bank 1 checking earning next to nothing, 26k in bank 2 MMA earning > 0, but not very much (maybe like $20-$30/mo), and about 6k in CDs, 2.5k is maturing tomorrow.
Risk tolerance: Medium-High
Debts: Nada.
Time Frame: Some for the immediate future (5-10 years or less) and some of the distant future.

I'm a complete noob.

Since there's a lot of overlapping advice going around, I've decided to create a new megathread dedicated to passive investing of a large lump sum. If you have a complicated situation, feel free to post a dedicated thread. Otherwise, all request for investing advice go in here.

PLEASE INCLUDE:

Country you live in: United States
Income: 30,000 year
Risk Tolerance: Medium/High
Timeframe for investment: ?
Debt: 0

Any other information you might have that would help us

I have 25,000 in Wisconsin Electric (WEC) that I just inherited. I want to take some risks with it.

All threads with a simple line "I have $25000, what should I do?"

treasury bills, very little risk

Age/loc: 23, live in US

Income: 50k/year for now (student), am about to quit poker and start grad school full time (30k/yr for 5 years), then post doc (40-50k/yr for 1-2 years) likely to be followed by an academic position (80-100+/yr, + consulting $ on the side if I end up as one of the best at what I do). I am looking to invest my current poker bankroll in whatever is optimal for retirement.

Amount: 45k, the remnants of my poker bankroll that I won't be needing to gambool anymore. This is all money that I have already paid taxes on. 10k of it is already in my ROTH IRA.

Risk Tolerance: low/medium

Timeframe for investment: likely 40-45 years

Debt: none

Other info: I will likely be spending most of my income for the next 5 years, so I was thinking of using my poker $ to put the max amount possible into my ROTH IRA every year for the next 5 years. I will have less emergency money with this plan throughout my graduate career, but I will also be closer to better paying jobs. Liquidity is also not a huge issue for me, because I have a financially stable family that would support me in case of an emergency, or would loan me money if I needed it.

My current plan: I want some split between stocks and bonds, and between the US and emerging markets. My parents have had good success with PIMCO bonds, but a lot of smart people that I know swear by Vanguard. I am willing to have some medium risk investments in the portfolio, but I would be very happy with the majority just growing at 6-8% per year indefinitely.

I want to start continuously putting money away into a taxable account to save for the future. Should I go with commission-free Vanguard ETFs or a Vanguard tax-managed mutual fund?

Advice on this portfolio (Hardard/Yale style distribution):

Domestic stox, direct 5%
Domestic stox, index 23%
Foreign Stox, Developed 10%
Foreign Stox, Emerging 1%
Fixed Income 24%
Liquid cash or similar 6,06%
Real assets 0,19%
Private stocks, domestic 30,3%
Absolute Return funds 0,42%

TOTAL 100%

The portfolio is quite big in size. Any thoughts on diversification? Owner of the portfolio is under 30.

Cliff:
Stox public 39,05%
Stox Private 30,3%
Fixed Income (bonds etc) 24,39%
Liquid cash or similar 6,25%

No gold or properties.

Country you live in[/B]: Canada
Income: Varies, but roughly 15-20k/month
Risk Tolerance: Low - Med. Learning more towards med since I have no debt/major expenses. Main thing holding me back is lack of knowledge/investing experience.
Timeframe for investment: Few years, more long term than short.
Debt: non
Any other information you might have that would help us: Mostly looking for somewhere to put my money that'll allow for more growth than just sitting in the bank. I am looking to purchase a home / property in a year or two and am hoping this will help out a little.

Any help is appreciated, thanks.

Read The Wealthy Barber and look into putting the money into your RRSP or TFSA. When you contribute to your RRSP you can withdraw 25k to purchase a new home and then pay it back interest free over 15 years (research the advantages and disadvantages of this method). If you're a poker player and don't claim income then you probably don't have much room in your RRSP, so max out your TFSA with a low risk fund until you have more knowledge.

I just play poker for now and do not claim income. I do the TFSA thing right now with some basic knowledge (Econ Degree), and was looking to move into something else with higher potential returns.

You invest in whatever you want within your TFSA, so I'm not sure what you mean by moving into something else with higher potential returns... I can't help you much beyond the basics though and it seems like you probably have your TFSA maxed, so GL.

Hi, I could really use some advice on my current financial situation. I going to soon become a 24 year old college freshman. I want to make sure that when I leave college I am in good financial shape. So I am looking for a rough guideline of what to do over the next 3 years.

I have $30,000 in savings, stashed away in a savings account with my bank. This money is a years worth of college tuition (3 semesters - books, expenses, etc) + years worth of living expenses (12 months rent + utilities + insurances + throwaway fund). There is roughly $3,000-$4,500 in excess funds in this account, however, its a safety net per say in case things run more expensive then my plan. I am going to need to make payments monthly (rent, utilities) and three payments a year (tuition - August 21, Jan 3, June 6). So I am going to be accessing this money frequently.

On top of that I have a checking account with $2,500 in it. I use this for most of my day-day spending and just general expenditures.

So I have roughly $32,500 in money. I plan to spend most of that on tuition and living expenses from June 1, 2010 - August 4, 2011.

As far as money coming in is concerned, I play poker. Have been playing poker for the past 2.5 years. Mostly MSNL and MSPLO (1/2-2/4) - I have a designated poker bankroll off $25,000 that is split up between the major online sites - Merge, Pokerstars, FTP, Cake. I am a small to moderate winner in the games, 2.25bb/100 over 1.5million hands. Over the course of this year, I would like to make $50,000 from poker.

So if I make $50,000 from poker annually for the next three years while I am getting my education. I would finish college with roughly [$30k + $50k - $30k + $50k - $30k +$50k - $30k] $60,000ish in savings (accounting for taxes and everything). So I would be happy to three years from now have $60,000 in savings and a college degree. I feel like at 27 that isn't to bad of financial shape and I should have some upward mobility with my life.

Is that feasible? Obviously, this is with no financial planning and just stashing everything I save away. However, could I accomplish that? If yes, are there ways I could tweak that plan? Maybe be investing my money as I earn it, in what ways would you recommend. Obviously, the poker landscape could change soon and with the legality an issue, depending on poker is a risky endeavor, also variance can play a roll in things as well.

So if I could just get some guidelines on tweaking my financial plan somewhat, that would be great thanks. I'm sorry about not being perfectly clear or good at explaining. I tried my best. Thanks a ton in advance. It is much appreciated.

I'm not english, but I try to explain it.
If you short EURUSD, than you sell EUR and buy USD.
For example at price 1,3 you short it.
If the price is 1,2, and you close your short position, you will earn the margin (1,3-1,2)

First you have to choice a forex broker (it is hard to find a good and trusted one).

They offer different minimum order sizes:
1 standard lot = 100.000 unit (100.000 EUR)
1 minilot = 10.000 unit (10.000 EUR)
1 microlot = 1.000 unit (1.000 EUR)

And there are different leverage and margin %.
For example with 1:100 leverage and 1% margin requirements you can trade with your 100$ in a size of 10.000 EUR.

So your profit and your loss will have a 100x multiplier.
As beginner this leverage can be dangerous.

* Country you live in: USA
* Income: ~300k
* Risk Tolerance: medium high?
* Timeframe for investment: im 24, i want it to be towards retirement of sorts but at least 15 years.
* Debt: 0

basically i just paid taxes for 2009 in full and first quarter estimates for 2010. i have enough online and in a checking account to want to invest 200k. im in the process of moving that into vanguard money market fund. i am setting up an ira but i am confused what i am eligible for (i thought my income level precluded me from a roth ira?, it seems a sep ira you can max out with a higher amount than a traditional so i would want to do that if possible but im confused with what i am able to do.

advice on basically asset allocation of the money and info on ira's (what im able to/not able to do) or a direction where i can find this info better would be really appreciated. thank you.

Country: USA
Income: ~100-125k
Amount to invest now: ~50k
Risk Tolerance: medium-high
Timeframe for investment: long term
Debt: none
age: 23

I graduated last June, so I've been playing poker 'professionally' for a year now. I am on pace to make ~125k this year, made 80k last year. I have a good amount to invest right now so I've opened a vanguard account recently. I am pretty new to investing, so I am not sure where to allocate my funds at the moment.

Where do I start? How should I allocate my vanguard account? Also, would be interested in books that could help me wrap my head around all the types of options something like a vanguard account offers.

Thanks in advance for any tips.

Country: USA
Income: 50kish (Rental Property)
Amount to invest: 750k
Risk Tolerance: low
Timeframe for investment: short term
Debt: 0
Age: 44
Mental State: Confused

Is it possible to find current investments that earn a low risk, passive 5%+ with a term < 24 months?

CD's and Treasuries don't pay enough to make me want to lock my money up and risk principle loss if I need to exit early. I have a line of credit tied to this capital and can borrow 65% of the value for any investment opportunities that arise (I am a homebuilder and will buy properties to fix up and sell if the situation is right).

I'd like to maximize my return on the cash I have and then still be able to leverage it when a deal makes sense.

I'd be thrilled to supplement my rental, income with another $30,000 to $40,0000 in income from whatever I put my money in but I don't want to put it in stocks or mutual funds.

I'm assuming there is nothing out there that meets my desires, but figured it couldn't hurt to ask

Country: USA
Income: 58k military
Amount to invest: 115k
Risk Tolerance: 5 years
Debt: 0
Age: 26 / single
Mental State: ugggg


I have 115k in my checking account. 10k in vanguard funds, 10 k in BOA and MCD stocks.

I live in southern cali, and like it here was thinking of buying a house? BUt houses are pretty pricey for a Single family home, and heard condos are not great investments. I was thinking of buying a condo and charging some fellow military guys money to live with me (like 550$/month) but is this really the best plan for me?

thanks

yimyammer: No, unfortunately there's no way to earn a risk-free 5% with interest rates at this level.

mcmarky: If you want to get involved in real estate you'll need to do some reading and learn about ROI and how to find good buys that provide solid cash flow. It'll depend on your mortgage rate + purchase rate + how much it'll cost you to rent, there's a lot of considerations and its not something that can be done on a whim. Also if you're in the military you have to consider that you might not be in the country to manage your property, and may need someone to do that for you. You may not be able to rent to your military buddies or problems may arise.

Vanguard funds are excellent, if you want some ideas have a read through this thread, there's been some good ideas posted about how to balance. The key is to diversify, but once its locked in, don't touch it for a long time and let time do its work. Diversify with some international exposure/domestic exposure, invest and forget.