I have $350 to invest, where to put it?

[nate895]

Since that won't be able to buy a half an ounce of gold, let alone any amount of any real value, I was looking to put it into silver. I am 16, so I am looking for long-term investments, since college is pretty much covered. Is there anything besides silver and other precious metals that is undervalued and will increase or maintain its value as we enter into a recession with temporary deflation before we get massive inflation?

I'd ask my parents, but when I ask them they don't say anything and quickly change the subject.

Edit: Thanks for all the advice!

[LibertiORDeth]

Silver.

[RJB]

The way the economy looks... food and bullets :p

[priest_of_syrinx]

Buy some of these:

http://www.tulving.com/bullion/2008%20Silver%20Eagle.jpg

2008 Silver Eagles. That's what I've been buying.

I'm down to $18 cash now. :p

[Cali4RonPaul]

$350.00 of Fiat Dollars is very small. Continue saving for the long term, If you have limited capability to grow that $350.00 in earnings beyond 3 fold within 2 months. You might as well just spend that $350.00 and enjoy being 16.

[eric_cartman]

rice or silver

[LibertiORDeth]

rice or silver

Your username rocks my friend.

[nate895]

$350.00 of Fiat Dollars is very small. Continue saving for the long term, If you have limited capability to grow that $350.00 in earnings beyond 3 fold within 2 months. You might as well just spend that $350.00 and enjoy being 16.

I have enough money to enjoy myself, this is less than half of my $835 I currently have and I will start a job soon enough, and I have another apx. $500 in cash coming down the tubes for Christmas (assuming I get the same amount of money as I have every year since I was 10).

I guess I'll just put this into silver, nothing else seems affordable or stable.

[tmosley]

You think silver is stable? It's been volatile as Hell!

Of course, it's also way down right now, so it's a good time to buy.

[nate895]

You think silver is stable? It's been volatile as Hell!

Of course, it's also way down right now, so it's a good time to buy.

I know it's instable, but this seems to be the floor. If I get in on the ground level, I can go nowhere but up.

[Dorfsmith]

rice or silver

I've been stocking up on both. Rice and silver is the way to go :D

[Kludge]

$350 in New World Fund (http://www.americanfunds.com/funds/details.htm?fundNumber=36) for 50 years = 350 * 1.1099 (fund's lifetime avg. return after sales charge)^50

Future Value = $64,207.35 for retirement.

[Knighted]

Given your age, you should invest it in the stock market. What happens over the next 10-20 years will be irrelevant with the time frame you have at your advantage.

Nothing will beat stock returns over the long run. Gold and silver are for preserving wealth. You don't need to preserve it yet. You just need to grow it.

[BCR_9er]

Buy silver! With the likeliness of the dollar to fall, your silver will protect you from that.

[nate895]

Given your age, you should invest it in the stock market. What happens over the next 10-20 years will be irrelevant with the time frame you have at your advantage.

Nothing will beat stock returns over the long run. Gold and silver are for preserving wealth. You don't need to preserve it yet. You just need to grow it.

Is there any particular stocks I should look at, or would something like Kludge suggested work? My hope was to get enough money to eventually help finance the down payment on my first home, so 50 years isn't exactly my time frame, I'd hope to get into my own home by age 30, so apx. 14 years.

Edit: Of course what I could do is put $350 down as my initial investment, and pay in 25-50% of my earnings while still in HS. I am participating in a program called "Running Start" where I can get two years of college and my AA degree done while in HS and payed for by the state, so I will have a two-year head start on earnings on most people.

[Kludge]

$350 in New World Fund (http://www.americanfunds.com/funds/details.htm?fundNumber=36) for 14 years using given avg. = $1,506.75 (or a 431% return) for reference.

And food for thought and a warning against single-stock/commodities deals, gold would need to shoot up to $3,348.87 (in the past 10 years, the highest price was ~1,000 an oz.) to be equal to that of the expected return from NWF or a similar fund. Silver would need to be at $45.04 an oz. (10 year high is something like $22 I think).

For both gold and silver, it'd have to be at that price when you go to sell it.

Commodities are NOT long-term investments.

[FrankRep]

Silver.

Yeah, Silver.

$350 isn't a lot to invest so silver would be the best option.

[Josh_LA]

If you're looking to buy silver, here's what I do (and would do).
Go to coinflation.com and look at silver dimes, silver quarters.

They'll say, at today's silver price
dimes are worth 80 cents at melt value alone
quarters are worth $2 at melt value.

Add about 10%, dimes will cost about 90 cents, quarters will cost about $2.20 if you account in shipping fees.

Go on eBay and shop! Narrow your search down to sets between $100-200 so you can find the best deal (and look for "completed listings" so you know what's been sold in the past at what price).

Silver looks incredibly low on the market price, but eBay reflects that its still sells as if we're at spot price $15. ALWAYS COMPARE.

[Josh_LA]

$350 in New World Fund (http://www.americanfunds.com/funds/details.htm?fundNumber=36) for 14 years using given avg. = $1,506.75 (or a 431% return) for reference.

If you can wait 14 years, let me have it, I'll give you that in 4 years realistically.

[Josh_LA]

I know it's instable, but this seems to be the floor. If I get in on the ground level, I can go nowhere but up.

Look on eBay or call a coin shop, they'll tell you they're either gone, or they won't sell it to you at anywhere near the market price, so the market price really doesn't matter if you can't find a seller willing to sell.

[SeanEdwards]

Toilet Paper.

[Kludge]

//

[123tim]

No amount of money is too small to save.
Buy Silver.

[Josh_LA]

//

deleted your response? Just sent you a message!

[ThePieSwindler]

Don't buy PMs with so little money. PMs are a nice LONG term store of value, but they don't work for you (dont pay any interest or dividends) and they are illiquid. Put it in an index fund, dividend fund or stock, or bond fund, and reinvest the interest/dividends. Look into DRIPs (dividend reinvestment plans) and the like. You need to get the money working for you - and PMs don't do that. Sure, you can make capital gains, but it means very little unless you can take those gains and reinvest. Or hell, find some sort of real-world "investment" that can generate some passive income flow. Warren buffet started out buying pinball machines and putting them up in barbershops - not something thats necessarily feasible in this day and age, but if you want a small amount of money to start working for you, thats the sort of thinking needed to really jump-start it.

[Kludge]

deleted your response? Just sent you a message!

That's why I deleted it ;)

[123tim]

That's why I deleted it ;)

Ahh.....Now we're all wondering what it was! :)

[rockandrollsouls]

Since that won't be able to buy a half an ounce of gold, let alone any amount of any real value, I was looking to put it into silver. I am 16, so I am looking for long-term investments, since college is pretty much covered. Is there anything besides silver and other precious metals that is undervalued and will increase or maintain its value as we enter into a recession with temporary deflation before we get massive inflation?

I'd ask my parents, but when I ask them they don't say anything and quickly change the subject.

Edit: Thanks for all the advice!

You can't by stocks at age 16 unless you have a joint account with a parent. $350 dollars is a good way to start saving...put it in silver bullion at a small amount. By the time you're 18 and learn a little more that should be worth far more and you'll be ready to get down to real business.

[rockandrollsouls]

Don't buy PMs with so little money. PMs are a nice LONG term store of value, but they don't work for you (dont pay any interest or dividends) and they are illiquid. Put it in an index fund, dividend fund or stock, or bond fund, and reinvest the interest/dividends. Look into DRIPs (dividend reinvestment plans) and the like. You need to get the money working for you - and PMs don't do that. Sure, you can make capital gains, but it means very little unless you can take those gains and reinvest. Or hell, find some sort of real-world "investment" that can generate some passive income flow. Warren buffet started out buying pinball machines and putting them up in barbershops - not something thats necessarily feasible in this day and age, but if you want a small amount of money to start working for you, thats the sort of thinking needed to really jump-start it.

Very little you can invest in at his age....PMs are a good way to "begin" investing at a young age, in my opinion. By the time he can really trade and invest that silver is going to be worth 10 an ounce....

[nate895]

Don't buy PMs with so little money. PMs are a nice LONG term store of value, but they don't work for you (dont pay any interest or dividends) and they are illiquid. Put it in an index fund, dividend fund or stock, or bond fund, and reinvest the interest/dividends. Look into DRIPs (dividend reinvestment plans) and the like. You need to get the money working for you - and PMs don't do that. Sure, you can make capital gains, but it means very little unless you can take those gains and reinvest. Or hell, find some sort of real-world "investment" that can generate some passive income flow. Warren buffet started out buying pinball machines and putting them up in barbershops - not something thats necessarily feasible in this day and age, but if you want a small amount of money to start working for you, thats the sort of thinking needed to really jump-start it.

I was also considering putting the money to work in some sort of business scheme. I just couldn't think of a business scheme that would cost so little. I guess I will put it into the stock market if I can find a relatively cheap or stable investment with my parents, but the usually avoid the subject. I have tried to invest at least three times (2/3 went sky high after I wanted to get them, the other has stayed roughly equal) in the stock market with my parents, but they just ignored it and I spent it on the latest video game/book mostly.

[Kludge]

Ahh.....Now we're all wondering what it was! :)

I challenged him to pay off my student loan in four years by giving him 50% of the debt value. He explained in the PM that the return rate wouldn't be proportional if given tens of thousands of dollars, so I deleted it since it came off overly-assholish anyways.

[123tim]

I challenged him to pay off my student loan in four years by giving him 50% of the debt value. He explained in the PM that the return rate wouldn't be proportional if given tens of thousands of dollars, so I deleted it since it came off overly-assholish anyways.

:) I guess that it all comes out even in the long run.....You gave excellent advice on page two.

[Knighted]

Is there any particular stocks I should look at, or would something like Kludge suggested work? My hope was to get enough money to eventually help finance the down payment on my first home, so 50 years isn't exactly my time frame, I'd hope to get into my own home by age 30, so apx. 14 years.

There is money to be made above the market averages investing in individual stocks, but you have to be willing to invest the time/research into it. If that doesn't sound interesting to you, the best bet would probably be index funds. I'd look at a basket of diversified and liquid ETFs with the lowest expense ratios you can find.

In 14 years, the dollar amount you can receive for gold or silver might be a lot higher if the worth of paper money goes kaput, but the value of what that gold or silver buys will not have changed much. The ounce of gold you buy today will purchase roughly the same amount of goods that an ounce of gold in 14 years from now will. In other words, it's not going to get you a down payment on a house. Of course, if the stock market plunges with a magnitude comparable to the Great Depression, it's possible an investment in the stock market won't have gained anything after 14 years either. Historically, over long time periods, stocks have had the highest rate of return though.

[nate895]

There is money to be made above the market averages investing in individual stocks, but you have to be willing to invest the time/research into it. If that doesn't sound interesting to you, the best bet would probably be index funds. I'd look at a basket of diversified and liquid ETFs with the lowest expense ratios you can find.

In 14 years, the dollar amount you can receive for gold or silver might be a lot higher if the worth of paper money goes kaput, but the value of what that gold or silver buys will not have changed much. The ounce of gold you buy today will purchase roughly the same amount of goods that an ounce of gold in 14 years from now will. In other words, it's not going to get you a down payment on a house.

That is why I was thinking about silver. Silver seems to be volatile, and a good investor can make money off of silver (I found some 2.31-3.05 over spot, in stock). I'll price everything out, see what I can afford, and what my possible returns are on each investment over 14 years, and which one maximizes money over the years, without too much risk.

[revolutionist]

I too am 16 and I took the money I made from work and bought silver. I'm planning on keeping it until I can get some capital gains and find something to invest in after I'm 18. I'm not sure I would like to give partial control of my finances. I just don't feel comfortable with anyone in control of my money.

[CUnknown]

I agree with the person who said that $350 is too little to invest in anything. First thing is that you want to have an emergency fund of a few thousand dollars to pay for any unexpected expenses such as medical bills, crashing your car, etc. This money should be mostly in a savings account. After that, then you can start investing.

[Cleaner44]

rice or silver

+1

[pacelli]

Gold just popped over $800 / ounce, you may be able to buy 1/10 oz or 1/4 oz of gold if shipping & handling fees aren't too high.

[Brian Defferding]

First off, I gotta say you're 10 steps ahead of the game investing so early. Good for you.

I say with every two or three dollars you put into the stock market, you should put one dollar in Gold. Traditionally (but not always) whenever the stock market goes down, gold goes up, and vice versa. Anybody who bought a lot of Gold in before Bush's Presidency has enough money to buy their own island. So if your stocks tank, your losses will be contained by the increase Gold's value. I'd start with a mutual fund of some sort, or a Roth IRA, and then with one-third of your money buy 1/10 oz. Gold coins from the Northwest Territorial Mint (http://www.nwtmint.com) or some other trusted Gold dealer. Continue this pattern for life, and your wealth will be secure.

[wd4freedom]

Guns and butter- soon to be the only elements of value in a distraught economic system.

[Dieseler]

Ignore this post.
$50.00 worth of seed goes a long way.
$100.00 would go even farther.
Just saying.
Now is a good time to start researching that back yard garden for next spring. The way things are going, who knows, you're planning could take a huge strain off you're family in a hard time.
Plan quietly to avoid ridicule of course but be prepared none the less if no one else in the household is. You could be the man when harvest time comes.

[JosephTheLibertarian]

I have $3000 to invest. Where should I put it?

[rockandrollsouls]

I have $3000 to invest. Where should I put it?

AIG


:p