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15 year old with $1500, what to spend it on and how to make more?
- Thread starter G5Unit
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No problem. Always good to save your money. Hint hint OP! Too bad I can't follow my own advice! I'm a technology whore.
Speaking of the market, IRAs and such.
There is nothing more sweet than to see your investments rise more each month than your pay.
To the OP, if you start early you could retire when you are in your 40's instead of waiting until you are 60 or older.
There is nothing more sweet than to see your investments rise more each month than your pay.
To the OP, if you start early you could retire when you are in your 40's instead of waiting until you are 60 or older.
I don't get it either but it seems like I just spilled coffee on my keyboard. :goes to put electrical tape on my magsafe:
If I had that kind of money, I'd probably buy a refurbished MacBook Pro, so I only have one laptop instead of an iBook and a Dell C640.
I'd blow it on drugs and women.
Savings with reasonable interest are a good idea though.
However if you want to start investing, I'd suggest you start by buying this, having a little read, then looking around at other funds and then deciding what you want to do with your money. As always, only invest what you can afford to lose.
Savings with reasonable interest are a good idea though.
However if you want to start investing, I'd suggest you start by buying this, having a little read, then looking around at other funds and then deciding what you want to do with your money. As always, only invest what you can afford to lose.
Yay!
"Hypothetically" speaking, i would buy a pound of dank weed, and resell it. You could make so much money...
I think the question still stands
Sean
Perhaps I don't need one but the benefits of my having one greatly outdo the disadvantages.
Not quite. A CD (certificate of deposit) is far more illiquid. Basically you put your money in, and then it earns interest that gets paid either monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or annually. And your money is free when the CD expires (depending on what you buy, anytime from 1 year up to I think about 10 or so...really depends.) Point is, if you want access to the money, a CD is not the way to go. A money market is basically a mutual fund that just buys treasuries and other very short term securities, and so generates an interest rate off of them. A money market is very liquid, it's basically cash but it generates interest. I would look into a savings account or talk to your bank to see if they offer a money market+atm card, and what the minimums are for those...1500 isn't enough to really invest in anything that'll generate serious money, and it's enough that you want to be able to access it when you need/want it.
To the OP, if you are 15, just think if you would invest $1,000 of the $1,500 over time.
Let's say that you put your money into a S&P500 Index mutual fund which earned an average of 10% per year.
At age 65, you could have $145,369.
Not a huge amount but still a nice amount. It sure beats having nothing!
However, what if you tried this instead? Just put $100 per month into that same fund. In this case you would be putting a total of $1,200 away per year by contributing $100 per month. And you keep doing this for the next 20 years until you are 35. Then do not contribute any more money and let it ride.
In this case you would have contributed a total of $24,000 over the 20 year period and then contributed nothing for the following 30 years.
If you did this, at age 65 you could have $1,506,390 which is a nice chunk of change!
Of course if you doubled your contribution amount to $200 per month, you could have a little over 3 million at age 65!
While no one can guarantee your rate of return over time, 10% is a good estimate based upon average performance since 1929.
Anyhow, just some food for thought. Good luck!
Let's say that you put your money into a S&P500 Index mutual fund which earned an average of 10% per year.
At age 65, you could have $145,369.
Not a huge amount but still a nice amount. It sure beats having nothing!
However, what if you tried this instead? Just put $100 per month into that same fund. In this case you would be putting a total of $1,200 away per year by contributing $100 per month. And you keep doing this for the next 20 years until you are 35. Then do not contribute any more money and let it ride.
In this case you would have contributed a total of $24,000 over the 20 year period and then contributed nothing for the following 30 years.
If you did this, at age 65 you could have $1,506,390 which is a nice chunk of change!
Of course if you doubled your contribution amount to $200 per month, you could have a little over 3 million at age 65!
While no one can guarantee your rate of return over time, 10% is a good estimate based upon average performance since 1929.
Anyhow, just some food for thought. Good luck!
Sometimes I am concerned though if the US(in its current form) will last economically until I am 65. With our 9 trillion dollar debt and the chinese buying all our bonds and factor in some other things it does not look pretty.
I could be totally off, just the impression I get.
I could be totally off, just the impression I get.
To the OP, if you are 15, just think if you would invest $1,000 of the $1,500 over time.
Let's say that you put your money into a S&P500 Index mutual fund which earned an average of 10% per year.
At age 65, you could have $145,369.
Not a huge amount but still a nice amount. It sure beats having nothing!
However, what if you tried this instead? Just put $100 per month into that same fund. In this case you would be putting a total of $1,200 away per year by contributing $100 per month. And you keep doing this for the next 20 years until you are 35. Then do not contribute any more money and let it ride.
In this case you would have contributed a total of $24,000 over the 20 year period and then contributed nothing for the following 30 years.
If you did this, at age 65 you could have $1,506,390 which is a nice chunk of change!
Of course if you doubled your contribution amount to $200 per month, you could have a little over 3 million at age 65!
While no one can guarantee your rate of return over time, 10% is a good estimate based upon average performance since 1929.
Anyhow, just some food for thought. Good luck!
Wow, thats impressive! I wouldn't mind having $3million at 65!
On topic: Save it. I am also 15, and am saving practically all the money I get atm to buy a car. Or even better, get interest on it!
Get started investing early, you will not regret it!Wow, thats impressive! I wouldn't mind having $3million at 65!
On topic: Save it. I am also 15, and am saving practically all the money I get atm to buy a car. Or even better, get interest on it!
Another option to consider instead of an S&P 500 Index fund is a retirement fund.
Looking at a recent mailing from one of my brokerage companies, I see where a retirement fund for the year 2045. The Data for the 2055 not out yet. The 2045 retirement fund has the following returns:
Since May 05, 16.41%
One year return of 16.15%
3 month return of 7.33%
Right now the market is strong. There are always ups and downs. Since 1929, the US stock market has averaged around 10% which is why I used that figure. But the way things are currently, the long term average may be increasing a little bit.
The new retirement type funds may prove to be even better since folks will leave their money in for the long run. The key is to get an automated system. Most folks simply do not have the time, nor do they want to spend the time, learning the market. It is easier for most to let others do it for them which is why mutual funds are so popular. All you need to do is set up an automatic investment system through your bank to your brokerage/mutual fund company.
Some people prefer to invest in stock directly. You can have huge returns provided that you pick the right company and get in at the right time and sell while the stock value is high. But consider this, if you had invested in 1,000 original Microsoft shares, you would now have 512,000 shares assuming that you did not sell any of them.
At about 30 per share that is 15 million dollars.
However, if you invested 15 million dollars in Microsoft in 2000, you would now have about 7.5 million dollars. You have lost about 50% of your investment!
This is why I recommend starting with an S&P500 Index fund (or maybe a in a retirement fund in a good established company). It is an easy way to learn the market and see the natural ups and downs of the market.
Of course there are other investment vehicles such as income producing property, commercial property, DRIPS, Bonds, Bond funds, etc. But first, get your feet wet with an S&P 500 Index fund or a retirement fund.
Happy investing!
Get started investing early, you will not regret it!
Listen to sushi there - it makes a lot more sense to invest than waste your money on stuff you don't need!
Sure, having some new toy may be amusing for a bit, but in the long run buying useless gadgets is a poor use of money indeed. Which isn't to say you can't buy things when you actually have a legitimate use for it - but buying something just to use up money isn't going to get you anywhere.
Buy a guitar, get lessons! OR buy a say 1980's fender strat and keep it stored nicely and then when your about oh 45 sell it for thousands!
If i was you i would go to as many gigs and concerts as i could...also i would buy CD's they are always good. Clothes are also a good one!
But then again investing your money will probably make you more money in less time than doing anything else. Find the bank account with the highest rate of interest and stick most of it in there!
If i was you i would go to as many gigs and concerts as i could...also i would buy CD's they are always good. Clothes are also a good one!
But then again investing your money will probably make you more money in less time than doing anything else. Find the bank account with the highest rate of interest and stick most of it in there!
I have never understood why people would invest in an index fund. This only insures that you will own some good stocks and some crappy ones. Why not do the research and try to invest in only the good ones? Obviously, this is easier said than done. But, I will take my chances over an index fund any day of the week.
Donate it?
A few good charities:
Rokemispoor
Rokemlikesexpensivestuff org.
rookemneeds1500foraMacpro
helpinghandforrokem
i can think up *cough* find some more charities for you if you want.
A few good charities:
Rokemispoor
Rokemlikesexpensivestuff org.
rookemneeds1500foraMacpro
helpinghandforrokem
i can think up *cough* find some more charities for you if you want.
My friend's 13 and he has a Treo 700wx, and I'm 14 and I'm really itching for a Nokia E90. So pending, a teen can really want a smartphone and not a lame ol' RAZR.
That said, I suggest you invest a little in some company. Practice on the Virtual Stock Exchange so you have some practice. Besides that, you could buy 1GB Micro SD cards on Amazon for $7 and sell them for $30 to people with RAZRs etc who want them.
and to think i survived without a cell phone until i was 19 or close to 3 years ago lol