What is the best way to invest $870?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4940657

by ely-s • 14 years ago

7 25 14 years ago

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DRMAN• 14 years ago

saving it

kombinatorics• 14 years ago

compound interest is money's best friend.

joshschreuder• 14 years ago

I think it depends on where your knowledge lies.

If you have the know-how, you can probably make a bit off sports betting, or stock investments, but otherwise high interest savings or a managed fund / superannuation would probably be best.

persona• 14 years ago

By defining what "best" means first.

Higher return? Lower risk? Long or short term? You can buy a lot of books with that and it could be (if you read it) the "best" investment.

drcode3• 14 years ago

Money isn't worth anything right now (beyond its face value) because we have extremely low interest rates at this time. I would suggest using it to buy some stocks in a sector you have some understanding about. If it goes well, you will know a place you can put money in the future. (This only is feasible if you can afford to lose your $870 if it doesn't go well.)

Also, if you have any debt at all (school loans, etc.) you can probably make a better percentage profit paying your debt off early than you can in any other way.

elliott99• 14 years ago

If it's a government college loan, the interest rate is like 5%, and mutual funds are giving more than that right now...so technicallly speaking...I don't know how quick I'd say that

drcode3• 14 years ago

Where is there a mutual fund giving more than 5%?

polyfractal2• 14 years ago

This, although I would say that you are probably better off just investing in a low-fee index fund like Vanguard's Total Stock fund.

Even if you have an understanding of a sector, most people are horrible investors and a simple index fund will out-perform them.

sharemywin• 14 years ago

education. send me a check and I'll teach ya...lol...

jpau• 14 years ago

$870 is a really specific figure, as though it's your whole bank account. Keep it liquid (cash or something easily and quickly exchanged for cash) in case of emergency if you're not sure what to use it for.

Note that an emergency may not necessarily be an extensional crisis; an emergency can simply be a need to take advantage of an opportunity.

pdog• 14 years ago

Not really. $870 could just be a sudden windfall.

I'd suggest paying off some debt, if you have any.

aymeric2• 14 years ago

Buy online courses to teach you some marketable skills.

lawlessone• 14 years ago

reccomend any?

aymeric2• 14 years ago

http://www.udemy.com/

fhmalik• 14 years ago

pick up some venezuelan government bonds. they are trading at about 85 cents on the dollar currently so you should be able to pick up one. the return is about 13% annually (haven't checked in a couple weeks). They're backed by black gold so you're set.

brutuscat• 14 years ago

I wouldn't do that now that Chavez is in very bad shape...

rigelstpierre• 14 years ago

Apple stock! It's holding really strong and if it were to start to tank you'd have enough time to sell your stock before losing in a bad way.

Donito• 14 years ago

Hum, have you looked at the stock recently?

polyfractal2• 14 years ago

"Buy high, sell slightly lower" is not a great investment strategy.

digitalWestie• 14 years ago

Don't do this thinking you're going to make money.

ixacto• 14 years ago

Get a cheap thinkpad off of ebay (t4xx/t5xx) and put linux on it, use the rest for buying textbooks, pen/paper and what you don't spend on that save for emergencies/get health insurance. Then learn how to program, python is a good start with MIT 6.0x classes.

ely-s• 14 years ago

I already have a powerful linux laptop and know how to program. That's a great suggestion though.

shail• 14 years ago

buy NOK. Warning: You will a problem of how to invest $1500 in next few months. But we can talk about it then :).

What is the best way to invest $870?

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