Invest in stock, or...?

[theultimatebrucelee]

recently I've saved up a little tiny bit of money away, but I think it'd just be a waste to have it sitting in the bank doing nothing, so I was thinking perhaps maybe I should invest in stock or something to make some money with it.

so I'm just really carious if anyone here at beta happens to know a good way to invest the money away for a profit, aside from stock. and what would you do if you have a few thousand dollars or more that can be put to use for profit purpose?

feel free to post here or PM me, if PM I'll not discuss it with anyone else on the net and it would just really help me to gain knowledge I need in life ahead of me and I would really appreciate it.

thanks in advance!

[Quacker]

Your best bet Lee is to meet with a local Bank Manager or Financial Planner, making sure to check their creditionals & qualifications.

It is actually illegal to give 'advice' (especially via an internet forum) without getting to "know your client" first - such as ascertaining risk profile, Fin.goals & timeframe for each investment.
Every individual has their own unique goals & views on investing, be it short or long-term and it is up to the Adviser/planner to determine those securities best suited to your needs.

In saying that, if you do go, only invest in securities that you ultimately feel comfortable with - not the Adviser.

[sensei]

Ditto Quacker: Sadly, one way in which Ponzi and Pyramid schemes work is that they enlist networks of friends and family. As the first ones in usually get good returns (because they're paid from the principal invested by the later investors), they often are quite enthusiastic, and because they are friends, they don't raise the usual alarms that you'd get from a random tip from a stranger.

But the end is usually the same: the scheme inevitably collapses and the organizers, if they have hidden their money well, escape with your proceeds and those of the friends who advised you into it. Madoff was captured simply because the economic downturn made his scheme collapse earlier than he and his conspirators expected.

You should go with a professional financial advisor, who will charge you a fee for managing your money but who will ensure that you stay clear of dangerous deals like these.

[theultimatebrucelee]

Ah thanks a lot Quacker! didn't even know about the legal issue, I will go talk to the financial adverser from the local bank and see what he has to say about investment and risks related.

@sensei: yeah, I don't think pyramid is much of an investment either(and it doesn't cost too much to begin with on some), unless of course, I'm the creator but I was thinking more like buying bond and such and get long term interest. that I think is at least more efficient than money doing nothing and devalues over time.

[Quacker]

It's all Good Lee, not a problem.

In Aust.& NZ. that is the law; I have an 'Authorised Representative' number & then a further three licences under that allow me to advise in certain segments of the markets, which again according to law -have to be clearly displayed or have "convenient" whenever a request is made. Not too sure what your local US laws are, I imagine it would be something similar?

When you first go to meet or have your first proper meeting, it should go for a minimum of at least 90mins - when I meet new clients, I take about 2hrs - where you discuss your Fin.goals, income, time-frames, what securities you like & do not like etc.
One thing I am noticing lately is that some 'advisers' are only accepting clients if they are investing above a certain amount or have an high income. Personally I hate that, it is our job to help you earn & increase your savings, if ever you do not feel comfortable with the Adviser or their recommendations, do not go with it - it is your money, you are the one in control, not the Adviser.

Wise words from Sensei too - In my field, if something sounds too Good to be true - then it usually is!!

I am glad that you are seriously thinking about investing at such a 'young' age, the earlier you start properly investing, the easier you will find things later down the track. Putting aside just 10-15% of your income each month now (and not touching it!!) will make a HUGE difference by the time you are thirty! Sacrifice a bit now to achieve a Bigger pay-off in future.
It's sad that I meet with a lot of 30-40yr olds with mega salaries (150k+) but have absolutely nothing to show for it - and now wish to buy a house!? But cannot because they have no assets, just Credit Card bills, a car and/or a cash account?

[theultimatebrucelee]

yeah, I used to be spending until the last penny all the time and didn't really care for when the next check would come in. but my life changed and I realized money is power/easy button, and without it its a lot harder to do just about anything and be stock in crisis all the time. another thing is that I want to be able to support a kind of life style later in life and my goal is to become a mluti-millionaire before I turn 40(yeah that sounds funny but I want to see if I can work toward this goal in long term and eventually have it happen) and I think that can eventually happen if I do the savings right, spending them right and make enough money later I think investing would be an important step to start. start early and I can fail early with little lost at this point and succeed later on.

think I should add another major and become a financial adviser since I have to learn and master the knowledge to be able to get money anyways. and that way I'll be able to help others to change their lives as well

[iceman57]

Investing in Japanese Animation Art is about 6% per year gross on long time expectation, way of use and rates are approximatively as good as a life insurance (wich is approx. 4.1%).
You can raise up those 6% by using a wallet of investment to about 10% (i.e. some "obligation" like Ghiblis, some "stock" like Dragon Ball Z...), once again this is a long time expectation.

[theultimatebrucelee]

Thanks iceman for the advise currently I've put part of my money into anime merchandise basically I'm doing a little bit buying and selling which for every 100$ I usually expect 20-30$ of pure profit after getting my money back. which is somewhat of a faster pace than yearly investment because anime merchandise can usually go out pretty fast and I would expect payments pretty much within a week in full after buyer agrees to buy. the thing is, like all anime merchandise field related, its risky and very unstable. as well as I know about my field and years of personally collecting exp(none animation art) I can only educational guess on what the buyer would want and what kind of buyer have no problem pulling out a few hundred dollars within the week, especially when my target buyers are around age of 18-24 usually, do you have any idea how hard it is to (do)deal with those young adults with insane spending habits but nothing to backup?!??! lol so with all the profit I earn usually its ended up spending on the extra stuff that is not sold after awhile and I cannot possible invest too much into this simply because I'd be end up with a bunch of leftovers that I'll have to cut price on. so currently I'm very hesitating on starting on anime art because what I mentioned above and that I don't currently have the exp to handle it.

another thing though, I have some connection in china(always a pleasure to have) and we all know that just about everything is made in china, for cheap nonetheless so I'm thinking about importing and exporting clothes related stuff that might sell here and other parts of the world. perhaps there is a better chance of getting an ever raising profit as well as a relatively lower risk.

[Quacker]

another thing is that I want to be able to support a kind of life style later in life and my goal is to become a mluti-millionaire before I turn 40

I am guessing you meant 'multi-millionaire'? Yeh Go for it Lee!

Glad you defined it as your 'Goal' rather than a 'Dream' - a dream infers a nearly impossible or unreachable target, whereas a goal is something that may be attained & achieved through work and perseverance.
Rather than a having a big 7/8 figured number to chase, try giving yourself easier targets to reach (such as 5 or 10k) and each time you reach your 'mini-goal' you set the next target even higher, until eventually you are saving towards the bigger numbers (250-500k).

[Captain Haddock]

Personally I'm thinking about getting into trading myself, so am currently comparing various online trading accounts, tax rates etc. It will only be a smallish amount at first like £500 but I'm hoping that as long as I'm pragmatic about things it will grow year on year. This all started because there were companies I wish I'd invested in, but at the time just didn't have the money (or setup) like RBS and BP when they both took a tumble. In general though I have started to get alot smarter with my money, principally because I've seen first hand what happens to people who live by the seat of their pants. So yes even if you don't make your millions, at least (if your smart) you'll have a reasonable amount of capital to make things easier. Only good on both counts as far as I can see, though the former is obviously preferable

[theultimatebrucelee]

@Quacker: thanks for your supporting I want a life style where I have the power to immediately decide weather I want to buy something/do something or not by the "value" it possesses, and not let the finance be a big factor and possibly ruin my final judgement and decision and with everything I buy I can feel good knowing that that is how very financially independent I am. I realized sometime ago that I am born a collector of things by the way I appreciate "gems" and the strong desire to "own" them. I'm prably the kind of person that would sell my living quarters(don't own any currently) in order to obtain the right to "own" something truly special, and so to support this life style I'll prably be needing a bigger budget than most people would. my taste and appreciation'll prably escalates as I get older so I should prepare for it as early as possible so this natural desire and living style won't get hindered.

your suggestion is great, it is what I imagine would be most efficient as well. if I don't build up from small goals I'll just be overwhelmed by the grand goal and ending up not achieving it. I guess I learned something good from attending Pyramid scheme meetings...making a "goal board". being a party led by schemers they really teach some useful tricks as well as giving you this positive mind set. I remember meeting this incredibly intelligent japanese ancestry professor that teaches math in university. he was this middle-high level representative over at ACN(giant schemer party backed by Donald Tramp) with a very humble way of communicating and told me that he did much calculation on ACN's promised profit and finds it unbelievably profiting to each lower individual of level 2(basic team leader of 3) and up. looked like he was doing well of course, so I'm really carious on his view on this entire foundation of scheme and I wonder if it can still be considered as a scheme if every member of the individual will profit from it just by using their service or even attend their meeting in longer term(regardless of course, I can't even convince myself so I won't bother join


@Captain: yeah, awhile back on the front page of yahoo I saw some headline about investors who invested in netflix for the past 5 years earned a 500% profit from it...that's like...if its 200,000$ invested in the beginning it'd be a mil+after 5 years!! that's doing even better than gold had done for many years. well, its always good to build up on small goals that are steps toward grand like Quacker mentioned, so I'll just start from there. I currently have about 10k saved up started fall last year. tiny as is, its what I will do with it that matters and that's why I'm spending time researching and discussing what I should do next. looking at it positively, its one/100 of a million lol