Are you currently in a position to invest? Congratulations! This is a very exciting time for you and I’m sure you have plenty of questions! The first of which might be, “How much do I invest?” For starters, you want to be sure that you have enough cash on hand to cater to an emergency. For most, this is an amount close to $10,000. If you have extra money besides that, I would strongly suggest that you invest it. But in what? Let me give you some options.
- Index Funds – You have probably heard of mutual funds, but most haven’t heard about index funds. They are actually quite similar. Mutual funds are a bunch of similar stocks (usually they’re all investments in stocks from a similar category like restaurants or real estate) that you can purchase without having to buy multiple shares of every single stock. An index fund is similar, but it is set up to mimic a particular index. For instance, there’s an S&P Index that models the S&P500. There’s an index that is modeled after NASDAQ. These funds usually do quite well and their fees are ridiculously low!
- You, Inc. – Have you ever been entrepreneurial? Perhaps you’ve always dreamed of starting your own business? Well now is your chance! With the Internet, absolutely anyone can start their own business for less than a thousand bucks. You’ll be able to make all the decisions and make as little or as much money as you want.
- Bonds – While bonds aren’t nearly as popular as they used to be, they still are an option. If you purchase a highly graded bond, it’s almost a guarantee that you’ll earn back your money with interest.
- Bank Account – This one seems a bit ridiculous, but there are credit unions that will pay you 3% or more on your checking account. It’s a great motivator for beefing up your account and you can easily earn hundreds of dollars per year in interest!
- The Casino – You may have taken a double take here, but I believe in having a little fun. After all, if you never have any fun with your money, chances are that you’re going to blow a huge amount in the future (like on a yacht or something). Set aside 1% or 2% of your money each month and gamble! Try you luck with casino games Canada. Of course, the house typically wins, but there is always the possibility that you leave with more chips than you went in with. And, it’s some fun entertainment as well.
So are you still interested in investing? I hope so! By investing early in life, you can easily retire as a millionaire. Most of your friends will be cruising around in their boat or driving their fancy, expensive cars when they’re young, but when they grow old, they get old they aren’t going to have two pennies to rub together and you’ll be sitting on a fortune. Just remember that, and keep investing for tomorrow.