For your long term money I agree with other guys. This would be a great starting point:
"From Vanguard's list of "core funds," the funds that are best for a three-fund portfolio are:
Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund (VTSMX)
Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund (VGTSX)
Vanguard Total Bond Market Fund (VBMFX)

So, a "three-fund portfolio" might consist of 42% Total Stock Market Index, 18% Total International Stock Index, and 40% Total Bond Market fund.

One could, of course, use ETFs rather than mutual funds. For example, one could use Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) [1], Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund (VXUS) [2] for international, and Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (BND)."

Source:
http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Three-fund_portfolio

As far as the gambling money, I can't help you. If you really want to go this route I would suggest you are better off developing your own ideas rather than asking for tips. At least then you will know what you own and have some idea of when to sell it.

For the record, I would suggest putting all of the money you have in something like the 3 fund portfolio above, at least until you figure out to analyze stocks on your own.

Country you live in USA
Income No income at this time
Risk Tolerance Moderate
Timeframe for investment 6 months+ would like to have access to money
No Debt
Have a rolled over a 401k and have a roth. I will not be working this year so i won't be contributing to either of those. My 401k is in VXF(70%) and VTI(30%) and i don't have much in my roth, have PFE and GE.

I have about 50k in a saving account that i want to invest. Can I just open a brokerage account at Fidelity(where my 401k is) and do 70 30 in VXF a d VTI? Any problems with this? Better options?

Also if I have losses wouldn't i be able to deduct that from my earnings if i were earning income? I pay taxes on any profit at the end of year or when i withdraw? How does all of that work since I am taking a year off?
Thanks

IJS or VBR. IJS is free trade because I have fidelity account. Should i just pay commission and get VBR since i am buying 20k worth?

Is there anything I can realistically invest in with 1k? If I'm willing to take on a medium to high level of risk.

Ya in theory investing 1k is fine, assuming your time horizon is big and you're not shifting it around a lot and getting chewed up by fees. But in a week like this one, I doubt anyone can give you sound advice on what that something is.

depends on what your goals are, are you a long term buy and hold investor?

Ok, im going to give this a shot.

Country you live in: Norway
Income: $67.000 (amount to invest $0-8k)
Risk Tolerance: Medium/ Medium+
Timeframe for investment: 0-5 years
Debt: 0
Other: Never invested before, but have started to look into it now as I have extra money lying around. Picks up on stuff like this fairly fast, so wont mind to do some work if i get a tip about where to start. Just reasently discovered this subforum, and must say it turns out to be my favorite one! A lot of interesting threads, with a lot of information, but even so i just cant help thinking about investing as gambling. But meh, its all about getting the right odds and winning long term.

Having a time frame of 0 years and 5 years is a huge difference. Tough to give any kind of advice with out having this range narrowed and/or explained.

I pretty much don't have a time frame. I could go for anything, as long as it will pay off better than having the cash in the bank. I guess I'll just go for whats most +EV

Country: U.S.
Age: 25
Status: Single

Income: $100k

Immediate investment available: $3000

Monthly addition: $500/mo

Risk Tolerance: Medium-high

Timeframe for investment: 2-3 years

Debt: mortgage + small student loan

Other: I recently purchased a house, which is why I have low immediate funds to invest, but I would like to develop a strategy to invest $3k and add $500/month to. I used to invest in the stock market (stupidly and without much strategy) and eventually put that money into an ETF (Vanguard Windsor II, VWNFX), but I cashed that out when purchasing the house. I thought about starting to deposit back into that ETF, but figured I would ask for advice here first.

Thanks, I really appreciate any advice

Wonder how long it will take before one of the ETF providers creates an ETF that's (Long X, Short Y) all combined into one. At that point you could offer a dividend and be (partially) short at the same time. Can't be too long I wouldn't think, since the competition to get people into these things is fierce. Or it could just be a stupid idea, lol.

Why do you think you will only invest the money for 2-3 years? You have already purchased a house, what other major expense or purchase would you have that you would be withdrawing the $15K to $21K you would accumulate in the next 2-3 years?

I see a lot of posts like yours that specify a short time frame when in reality I expect it could be a very long term investment, but people put a short time frame because they are afraid to commit to a real plan.

Since you have already had a relationship with Vanguard, I would pick the Vanguard Life Strategy fund that most closely matches your goals. Windsor II is a good fund but in my opinion I would want a little more exposure to market outside of the US.

That's a good point. I said such a short time frame because I was thinking about big purchases in the near future but I guess there really aren't any major ones that I couldn't use my savings account for. Thanks for the thought

Those exist already.

Country you live in: Canada
Income: I'm an international student since 1 yr, planning to apply for PR next yr
Risk Tolerance: Low-medium
Timeframe for investment: Long-term oriented
Debt: None

Have 5-fig (~6) online poker winnings to invest that are lying stagnant at the bank/online, have no idea whom to approach/how to invest as I'm new in the country. Any help will be highly appreciated. Feel free to PM.

Oh wow, I've never seen them in the lists. Who makes them?

http://etfdb.com/etfdb-category/long-short/

1. United States
2. Fluctuating income due to poker. (Between 80-120k/year)
3. High risk tolerance.
4. I have $100k that I want to immediately invest and I am hoping to add $20k/year.
5. Horizon: 5-20 years

I am basically looking to find a way to smartly gamble it up and have a shot at $2 MM after 20 years. (Starting with $100k and adding roughly $20k/year)

You need just north of 10% annually to get to 2M over 20 years with the numbers you gave. This thread seems to fit you:
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/30...ategy-1457223/

Here is a link that might be of interest:
http://investorcookbooks.blogspot.co...urns-2012.html

im about to turn 28 guys, married, one child. cant go into to many details right now, dont have the time

I have inquired about this before also: i currently invest through prudential, through a local guy, theres no way its the cheapest option. ideally, i was just going to get it all over to vanguard and let it sit, seems like it would be the lowest cost/peace of mind/easiest, a combination that i think i would be satisfied with

Anyway, sharebuilder( I have an account there) is offering a promotion, i qualify for the highest promotion - if u rollover $125,000 or more u can get a $600 bonus. i would have to let it in sharebuilder for 9 months minimum or the bonus would be voided. but they credit the bonus within 4 to 6 weeks max, pry sooner hopefully, so that is $600 additional i could get interest on potentially, assuming things perform better than what i get in for.

thoughts?? how would i diversify my money?? after 9 months, i could go vanguard or let it in sharebuilder if i like that approach.

Thanks Brian. That lead me to HSPX. Kind of fascinated by it. You have an opinion on these? That one is out of the money puts and a pretty big dividend.

No opinions on them.

Moving between accounts sucks. $600 shouldn't cover the tax bill should you get average returns.

As far as diversification goes, scroll up. There are about 1000 posts where people say things like "buy some stocks and some bonds and some real estate."

could u elaborate a bit on $600 not covering?? is that because i would be taxed upon moving prudential funds to sharebuilder? my prudential funds would get taxed?? here is my current breakdown:

$138k total - $125,600 in SEP, $9,100 in Roth, $3,200 in traditional

If you think parking your money in vanguard will give you greater piece of mind and will be easier than sticking w/ your guy at prudential then he is probably doing a bad job or you don't understand whats going on.

I'm not familiar w/ sharebuilder, but I don't care what it is nothing is worth rolling over an account of $125k to collect only $600. I'm sure some ITT may disagree since there are a lot of people who think minimizing costs are 100 times more important than maximizing gains or increasing piece of mind.