Hi Exo,

I would figure out a way to separate how much of that 120k you need in the next year, 5 years, 10 years, etc. For example - if you're expenses in Jamaica amount to 14k a year, then you don't necessarily need to be conservative with the whole 120k. Have 14k set aside in money market and short-term fixed income securities. Then have another amount set aside that is more diversified in order to provide you with more opportunity to see more return, over time. If your funds are increasing because you're doing well at the tables, just transfer $$$ from money market into this account.
Finally, you should start to think about setting aside some of that money for very far into the future. You're self employed, have no pension or 401(k) to stand on. You are going to need to self-fund your retirement, or at the very least, give yourself the opportunity to have spending money when you can no longer put in the grinding hours that you're currently putting in. For this, I would also recommend a target date as tyler is suggesting.

Of course, this is assuming you decide against the rental property - since I don't know the market or how much you'd need to get that going. As someone mentioned earlier, being a landlord/property manager presents a number of new unforseen challenges that make it less of an investment and more of a second job.

I like what both previous posters have written. In addition, I have a general tip for you. If you haven't already, make sure you spend some time learning two concepts, "dollar cost averaging" and "time value of money." Then do some serious regular reading of the personal finance section of the wall street journal online, one of the more unbiased sources of personal finance writing.

I began investing 15 years ago because a friend was reading a lot on the subject and it made me curious. At first, I put my extra money into a 401k. I got a business degree later and haven't drastically changed my investment style.

After five years, I had a decent sum of index funds, mostly in an S&P 500 fund. I opened a stock trade account with a major online provider and invested a couple of years in certain blue chip stock. However, the fees added up and I made timing mistakes simply because you can't predict the markets.

I capped my exposure in the brokerage account to $5K and now everything goes into a Roth.

I would put all of your money in 3 to 4 index funds. AFK: this is an exchanged traded fund which can have more fees than an index fund. You may consider an emerging markets fund which spreads your exposure to Asia, Africa, and South America (you're not tied to one continent).

IBM: solid company but almost a third of your investment is way too high. If you buy an S&P500 or technology fund, you are buying some IBM.

I'm not sure what "lifestock atm" is but unless you have a 401k or similar retirement plan, you are just speculating. There are managed precious metals funds out there but they are subject to swings from geopolitical
factors and you're limited to investing in mining companies. If you have time, google "precious metal fund finance" and look at the list of companies that are in the fun.

Out of the last five years, Silver seems really volatile in the last two years. Are you sure you want to deal with the variance?

$50,000 to $150,000 USD

Country you live in : UK
Income : n/a
Risk Tolerance : Low to very low
Timeframe for investment : 6-24 months
Debt : $0
Any other information you might have that would help us : Currently earning nearly 0 interest on this money, wondering if there are any low risk investments that could yield enough interest to be worth doing.

Hello,
I am French, 30 yo and I moved in London UK 6 month ago.

I would love to invest in small businesses but I have no idea how it works in UK.

When I talk about small businesses,
I am not talking about some kind of Internet/Start Up 2.0 for which I don't understand a thing. (but I can be proven otherwise if the guy is convincing)

I am talking more of old school businesses. typical examples:
- A guy who is selling a specific product he believes to small shops
- A guy who is offering cleansing services to other companies.
- A guy who is offering services for russian tourists...

I have around 50k GBP to invest. Of course invest the full amount into 1 unique biz in not my preferred option. I would prefer to spread the risk.

Is there any UK guy here that can simply indicating me where to find more info in Investing in small businesses (Or even contacting me if he is looking for an investor.)

hey gull,

given your risk tolerance and timeframe, a "high-yield" savings account is the best you can do.

come back after your and your brother's startup goes off and we'll have more to discuss .

Thanks Tyler! I'll probably take a look at some of those then

I don't know if this is just in the Isle of Man, or whether you can access them in UK, but Barclays have a Monthly Saver account which gives ~5% interest. They say you are limited to adding money to it via standing order, but they don't actually enforce that restriction.

Stock market, dividend paying stocks, no mutual fund

http://www.dividendgrowthinvestor.com/

dividend paying stock =/= low risk

Country you live in: US
Income: $2500/mo
Risk Tolerance: Low to Medium
Timeframe for investment: 3 to 5 years at start with going more long term after the end of that time span
Debt: Owe my parents a couple 100 dollars they are not too worried about it i pay when i can


20 Years old Estimate living expenses as $1k a month so have about $1k a month to invest every month with $2k starting at this moment set the other $400 into a separate savings account and the remaining $100 into yet another account which i try to entirely forget about

I am willing to be pretty active in this investing experience just for the knowledge.

Looking around this forums a little more this whole prosper/lending club thing has me interested and willing to put in the required time to make it work

Country you live in: Australia
Income: $2000 a month
Risk Tolerance: Low
Timeframe for investment: 2 years I think, (new to this)
Debt: No outstanding debts

19 year old been making a bit of extra cash the last few months and looking at investing. I've been investigating different asian opportunities and a friend recommended me to a few different places.
I was reading up on some stuff here http://asianinvestmentforum.com.au/ and it seemed to be making a bit of sense. Also posted this in the what to read thread, (as wasnt sure where to put it.)
anyway pretty new to the whole thing,
so 1.) Whats some general advice on investing? (particularly smaller amounts of money, and possibly asian (chinese) investments?)
and 2.) do you think its worth researching at places like this http://asianinvestmentforum.com.au/ for useful information? Signing up for small subscription fees? $1 a day type stuff?

cheers for the help

Country you live in: Canada
Income: depends on poker
Risk Tolerance: 5-6
Timeframe for investment: 10+ years
Debt: none
amount to invest: 30-50k

Country you live in: USA
Income: $1400ish/month (varies from 1200-1400)
Risk Tolerance: Medium/High
Timeframe for investment: Short
Debt: owe parents $1k but they dont care/i dont care
Any other information you might have that would help us: I don't have a lot of living expenses or expenses in general. Not doing a lot with my life right now and looking to invest my money somewhere. I have money saved up so looking to invest like $1k or something

what happens after 3-5 years? why do you "go more long term" after that period? what happens to the money you've invested up until then?

(a guy with screen name "A$AP" with one post, eh? i expect a lively discussion!)

i'm not convinced you're a spammer (...yet -- you've made two posts and both include links to some goofy website) but i'm not clicking that link. gl with that.

given your risk tolerance and time frame, i'd recommend sticking to "high-yield" internet savings accounts.

you don't have enough capital, time, portfolio, or domain knowledge to consider specific bets like "asian (chinese) investments". imo.

first, i would have a larger-than-normal emergency fund since your income source is high variance.

that established, i'd put the rest in a target retirement fund (2025 or so) or a basic "lazy" portfolio.

before investing, i'd make sure that the $ ROI you'd get from an investment is really greater than the Life ROI you get from not owing money to your folks.

pursuing medium/high risk investments with a short timeline is a high-variance game. if you're young and really don't care about losing your capital, then something like a small cap value index might be appropriate.

what happens to this money at the end of your short investment horizon? i suspect you'll be better served by socking it away for retirement instead.

After 5 years I'd like to put a substantial payment on a home as I am currently renting. The reasoning for going more long term after that period is to set my self up for a decent retirement as the job i am currently working at is pretty hard on myself and i cannot foresee my self working forty more years.

ok here is some broad advice:

- with $1500 surplus coming in every month, i'd just pay off that loan with your folks. all families are different but i'd say that's the responsible thing to do and that your parents will appreciate the gesture.

- acknowledge that you have two financial goals -- buying a house and retiring -- with different time lines.

for your down payment, you have a horizon of 3-5 years and you want to be fairly conservative. you said low-medium, so i would recommend a Target Retirement 2015 or 2020 fund. or, since you indicated a desire to be a bit more hands on, a lazy portfolio tailored for someone hoping to retire in the next 5-10 years.

for retirement, i'm getting the sense that you have unrealistic expectations about how much of your life you get to spend working, but regardless it's a separate goal with a much longer horizon. given that horizon, you can take on more risk there. i'd start with a TR fund or lazy portfolio, this one with more equities to expose you to more risk.

there are a few ways you can actually implement this portfolio. you could open completely separate accounts for your separate goals. you could also keep the money in one pool and enforce the different goals "on paper" only. it boils down to your tolerance for complexity and your financial discipline.

- tactically, open a Roth IRA and fund it as much as you possibly can!

- i don't know anything about lending clubs, but i think they are insufficiently diversified to trust with a significant portion of your portfolio.

So here you're suggesting to keep all funds in one account and allocate a certain % to take out after that 3-5 years? Or what would be the smartest way to enforce my goals "on paper"?

yes, that's what i meant. i use a spreadsheet to keep the different goals separate.

note that i'm glossing over some details here[1]. when you want to use the money you've invested, you always have to think about taxes and penalties[2]. in your case, you can get away with sticking everything into a Roth. you can withdraw your contributions from a Roth at any time and "first-time" home buyers can withdraw an additional $10k of returns -- all tax-free[3].

an article i found which explains the early withdrawal rules:
http://www.fool.com/money/allaboutir...boutiras12.htm



[1] this seems like a good time to remind everyone that i'm some dude on the internet who is not a professional financial anything. do your homework before spending thousands and thousands of dollars on any investment.

[2] taxes are the rake, man. they are the ****in' rake.

[3] Roths are funded with after-tax dolars, so this is free like raising for a free showdown is free.

^ reported

Country you live in: UK
Income: $4000
Risk Tolerance: Medium
Timeframe for investment: 1-2 years
Debt: No outstanding debts