I have 30 grand. What should I do with it?

[universe]

I would ask myself why I want to invest.

Do you want to have a passive income because you fear working in a boring 9-5 for the rest of you life otherwise?

Do you feel like you need to up your income and if yes, for what?

Are you afraid to spend money because you think you might not get it back?

[Bow24]

@benny Very good summary. I just want to note that "learning about crypto" is basically just understanding how Bitcoin works & why there will never be a better/safer cryptocurrency than Bitcoin. You don't have to spend hundreds of hours learning about Smart Contracts etc., you could just learn about Bitcoin for 10 hours and then invest a part of your savings into it. Not financial advice 

[ZenAlex]

You don't need to do anything with it except live and pursue your interests. You don't need to become more wealthy than you need to survive and pursue your hobbies/interests. 

Appreciate that you have 5 figures in the bank when many people are living from day to day, paycheck to paycheck with little disposable income, if any.

I'd just focus on maintaining those savings, having a job that allows you to continue building savings, and spend it on stuff that really matters.

[Bow24]

13 hours ago, A_v_E said:

@Bow24  proof of work is not the "eternal futur" it's just pure religion, no pragmatism, no realism, full delusion, bitcoin sectarism is the second worst religion after christian faith.

 

@A_v_E  I don't want to turn this into a crypto discussion, so this will be my only answer.

• Proof of work is the only way to achieve hard money.
• Every PoW network that will be created in the future will be subject to manipulation from states and other entities from its inception.
• Cryptos without PoW have many more "points of failure" than Bitcoin.
• Even if the CIA created Bitcoin and controlled Satoshis Wallet, it wouldn't matter. No entity can control the network.
• I didn't say that every other crypto project is worthless. Just that there will never be a safer decentralized network than Bitcoin.

[PenguinPablo]

I would move to a cheaper country in Latin America, Europe, or Asia and then start working on it. That's my plan once I pay off all my debt here in America...

Get some online gigs, learn to program...

[Leo Gura]

On 4/27/2022 at 2:29 PM, bazera said:

@Leo Gura Hey Leo, wanted to ask you a question kinda similar to this thread.

For the last couple of years, I've been working and developing highly demanded web-development skills. I'm 27 years old and I don't have my own house, paying rent at the moment and when I calculated my monthly expenses, it's about 1700$ (I live alone but also I'm providing for my family).

I was thinking of maybe collecting 100k$ and buying a house in 2-3 years. But what you said above got me thinking. My long-term plan is to have my own income source (I don't know how yet) and to figure out how and try some things, I need some free time, months maybe. 

The good thing about web development is that I can do freelance jobs even part-time, or work for a couple of months, and then take a couple of months off. Making 5-6k$ each month, and considering that I only need ~1700$ to support myself and my family, I am able to take time off and even travel a bit with my savings and explore spirituality a bit as well.

But if I decide to buy a house, that won't be possible yet.

So basically my question is, what do you think, is it a good idea to buy a house in late 20s? 

I would advise against buying a house when you're so young because you probably want to keep your options open. Buying a house really ties you down. You want to be as agile as possible and keep your expenses as low as possible if you want to start your own biz or make a career transition. Owning a house comes with many extra expenses and it's also a pretty big time sink to take care of it. It's also expensive to sell a house because you will lose like 5% on commission alone. Nevermind all the other fees and mortgage stuff.

Buying a house right now is a bad idea because the market is so inflated. Maybe it will make more sense in 2-3 years if the real estate market crashes and you see some great deals. But even then, at your age I'd say agility and freedom are more important than owning a house. You can always buy a house in 10 years. When you are young you should be focused on developing the best biz and career you can so that you get a great income. Then buying a house will be easy.

But of course I don't know your situation and priorities so this advice may not apply to you.

[Leo Gura]

On 4/27/2022 at 2:42 PM, benny said:

Option 6: Put my current savings into an ETF and then work to build an addition 30k to use on LP

Pros: I get the benefits of the cash for LP/investing in self and I put myself on track to generate wealth

Cons: It will take me roughly 2.5-3 years to generate the 30k. During that time, very little time to invest in personal dev or my LP. I'll also be 29-30 and still not on track with LP. Also, all the work (or at least some of it) that I've done in the LPC will be outdated.

Your youth is worth way more than $30k. Everything gets harder as you get older. So strike while the iron is hot. Delaying your life for 3 years just to put $30k into an ETF is not wise. Get started on building the core of your life right away. Success here will pay dividends for the rest of your life. The sooner you invest in your LP the more it will pay off. Youth is the time to be aggressive and highly active. Building up an investment portfolio is something best done when you're in your late 30s and 40s once you have a solid career/biz/income. You are not going to get rich from investing, you are going to get rich from building a high income which you can then invest. The key to good investing is income.

[benny]

@Leo Gura I probably wasn't going to go with this option, and this really seals the deal for me. Thanks for your guidance.

 

I've been running this by people in my own life who I really admire and respect. One of those people is my uncle, who, over the course of his career as a serial entrepreneur, has generated vast wealth for himself. Let me run his perspective by you and get your thoughts, if you don't mind.

Three points to put the conversation into context:

1. My money is actually already tied up in stocks. I didn't include that information in my initial post because I didn't realize how relevant it would be to the discussion.

2. My portfolio is being managed by a highly reputable manager who works for one of the big investment firms. I was able to leverage family connections to get my foot in the door (i.e. he manages my parent's money, so he took me on despite not meeting the financial requirements for his typical clients).

3. The stocks are in a TFSA (tax-free savings account). I'm not sure if you have something similar in the US, but essentially I can withdraw that money whenever I want without penalty and it is 100% tax free, including any dividends and capital gains I make from investments.

 From my uncle:

·       Do not cash out. Stay in the market. You want exposure.

·       Do not put the cash into the S&P 500. A good money manager is supposed to be able to beat the S&P 500, or any index for that matter

·       Get my financial adviser to explain his strategy for the next 12 months, then run it by my uncle.

·       For life purpose

o   Create excel spreadsheet

o   Know what resources you need, their cost, and why you need each resource.

o   Create a budget: what are you going to spend, on what, and when? If need be, you can liquidate part of the portfolio to cover expenses.

 

That's it. Your insight and guidance is greatly appreciated.

[LordFall]

Depends on who you are and what you value in life. If you want pure wealth then obviously crypto is the only answer here. Because it's an emerging market that's so speculative, if you put in the research and fundamentally understand it, I'd say the chance for pretty crazy returns is here. 

The other alternative to that is to fund your own business as Leo emphasized. Using that 30k as a cushion while you take time outside your job to develop a side hustle is a solid plan. 

If you're not too heavily invested in your current place of residence then using that money to move abroad to a sunny low cost of living place and make an income online is a pretty solid move. https://www.youtube.com/c/nomadcapitalist This channel has some great videos on this.

I'm gonna go against your uncle's advice and say take it out of the fund. You live in a wild west era of civilization, might as well play it a bit risky, especially if you're under 35. TFSA stocks are great to get a good return of maybe 7-20% and slowly become upper-middle-class over the next 5-15 years but unless you're a really safe person that hates risk that sounds like an underwhelming way to live one's life but I am a life advisor, not a financial one. 

Also, keep in mind what social circle you want to be a part of. In general, stocks appeal to an older crowd and crypto is more hip. In big cities there are plenty of crypto events and meetups around so investing in that industry will lead to you being able to make friends with a lot of the men and women involved in that space; that's a good way to help both your financial and social life. 

 

Edited April 29, 2022 by LordFall

[BuddhistLover]

@benny What you need to do is figure out what job/life purpose you're going to be working over the long haul. That is where you will get all your revenue and input for investment portfolio. The only way to make a lot of money on stocks is with a lot of money, So go figure out your job/career/life purpose you're going to do, and then grind super super hard on it everyday. No days off, no slacking on your life purpose. Your career is the most important part of your life, not the friends, the stocks, the gossip, the food, the sex, is as important as the job/life purpose you pursue. The reality is stocks and crypto is going to hardly get you anywhere, but maybe a 20 percent increase per year. You need to focus on the work you are going to do, and the grind it will take to achieve your goals. Now it's time to do some thinking about the work you are going to do and the grind you are going to put in day in and day out. 

[Leo Gura]

On 4/28/2022 at 8:31 PM, benny said:

My portfolio is being managed by a highly reputable manager who works for one of the big investment firms.

Hahahahahaha....

You gave all your money to someone else to manage?

I am done wasting my time here.

[LSD-Rumi]

Jesus dude, 30k is literally nothing these days. many people make >30$ a month. invest in yourself bro, raise your standards.

Edited May 1, 2022 by LSD-Rumi

[Gesundheit2]

25 minutes ago, LSD-Rumi said:

Jesus dude, 30$ is literally nothing these days. many people make >30$ a month. invest in yourself bro, raise your standards.

30 grand = $30,000

[LSD-Rumi]

3 hours ago, Gesundheit2 said:

30 grand = $30,000

30k is nothing dude. especially if you are in the US or Europe. real money starts after 100k.

P.S: oh my bad, I put $ insteasd of K, lol.

 

3 hours ago, Something Funny said:

@LSD-Rumi how much do you make per month?

I will be making thousands in a couple of years, hopefully

Edited May 1, 2022 by LSD-Rumi

[Gesundheit2]

5 minutes ago, LSD-Rumi said:

30k is nothing dude. especially if you are in the US or Europe. real money starts after 100k.

You can easily return at least 4-5k out of 30k and without much work.

[LSD-Rumi]

3 minutes ago, Gesundheit2 said:

You can easily return at least 4-5k out of 30k and without much work.

I don't think this is the right mentality. Also, big gains = big risk

[Karmadhi]

On 4/27/2022 at 9:47 PM, Leo Gura said:

To me the biggest point of building up a savings is to be able to use it to launch your own career/LP/biz by taking time off from a grinding 9-5 job.

Do you think this is also somewhat personal taste? Personally, i prefer a 9/5 job than doing my own thing. I am not really an entreprenuer kind of person, i enjoy working in a decent firm more. However the nature of the job is really important so doing something you like in a firm versus doing your own thing.

Is one clearly superior to the other or is it subjective depending on individual taste

[benny]

@Leo Gura What's wrong with that?

Edited May 2, 2022 by benny

[benny]

@Gesundheit2 Please say more.

[Mada_]

In theory, 3 months emergency savings (your expenses x3 months). 

Put money in an index fund. 

Invest in self help products.